More than two decades after voters were promised a new facility to treat people with mental illnesses, rather than warehousing them in the county jail, the Miami-Dade County Commission gave final approval on Tuesday to open the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery. The vote was unanimous.
After the vote, visitors and commissioners alike gave a standing ovation to retired judge Steve Leifman, who has spent his career fighting to provide care and treatment to those in the criminal justice system suffering from mental illness.