Florida’s behavioral health safety net system, overseen by seven regional Managing Entities, ensures that uninsured and underinsured Floridians can access essential behavioral health services regardless of their ability to pay. More than $1 billion goes into this robust system of care, which meets individuals’ acute and long-term behavioral health needs in both crisis and non-crisis settings and supports housing, transportation, and employment.

A recent statutorily required audit of the Managing Entities and the safety net system of care found no significant instances of Fraud, Waste or Abuse, proving the accountability, transparency and strength of this system.

House Bill 633, passed during the last Legislative Session, requires an independent audit of the Managing Entities. Last week, the Department of Children and Families presented it at a Committee meeting to share the audit results.

Bill Hardin, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Substance Abuse & Mental Health, remarked that the audit identified commendable practices and identified enhancements within the system.

During his presentation, Mr. Hardin emphasized that Managing Entities statewide operate at an administrative rate of less than 3% of the total allocations in appropriations and grants totaling $1.2 billion.

He then noted that commendable practices included responsiveness, which is due entirely to the Managing Entities’ past and ongoing transparency and efficiency. This responsiveness facilitated the efficient execution of the audit.

The auditors also noted highly engaged leadership teams among the Managing Entities and overwhelming support from behavioral health providers in the Managing Entity Services network, as indicated by anonymous surveys.

While there were no significant findings of waste, fraud and abuse, areas for improvement within certain processes were identified. Each Managing Entity has independent findings, enabling them to continue enhancing the behavioral health safety net system.

House Bill 633 also called for the streamlined collection and reporting of essential data that shows significant outcomes, services and the return on investment in the state’s behavioral health safety net system. Managing Entities have developed a dashboard to comply with this requirement, and it is now on the Department of Children and Families website.

While Florida’s Managing Entities operate with extreme efficiency at a statewide 3% administrative rate, additional administrative resources will enable them to invest in the recommended enhancements.

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Natalie Kelly is CEO of the Florida Association of Managing Entities.

AT&T is expanding its 5G network in Florida and increasing service speeds.

The company has added 40 new cell sites in the Sunshine State in the past three months and provided 200 upgrades to expand 5G mobile phone and data coverage across Florida. Those upgrades are being provided to residents using data for computers and mobile phones, as well as for businesses. The public safety network known as FirstNet is also being upgraded as part of the AT&T project.

“Bringing these new sites online reflects our commitment to invest in the infrastructure that keeps Floridians connected,” said Joe York, President of AT&T Florida.

“Every new site we activate strengthens the experience for the people who live and work here while also giving first responders on FirstNet the dedicated coverage and capacity they rely on. We’re proud to continue expanding our network in these communities and to support the critical work happening across Florida to improve public safety, economic opportunity, and quality of life.”

The Florida AT&T enhancements will also bring Band 14 spectrum to the impacted areas. Band 14 is the high-quality data spectrum dedicated to FirstNet. It’s the only nationwide network for communications for public safety agencies. Band 14 is used in emergencies and utilized exclusively by the agencies subscribing to FirstNet.

FirstNet was established by Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. It was built by AT&T in a public-private partnership with the FirstNet Authority for nationwide communications for public safety agencies.

Between 2020 and 2024, AT&T poured $5.5 billion into wireless networks in Florida to enhance reliability coverage and speed for both residential and business services.

The new AT&T cell sites are located in about two dozen counties, including Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Franklin, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Polk, Sarasota, St. Johns, Volusia and Washington.

It didn’t take Elijah Manley long to capitalize on what he sees as an unscrupulous misstep by the Congresswoman he’s running to unseat in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.

Just days after Florida Politics reported that U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is fundraising off of federal charges that she stole millions in COVID funds, Manley is also asking for campaign donations while citing the report.

“Yup, she tried to pull a fast one on you,” a fundraising email from Manley’s campaign said.

“The thing is, we can’t count on the establishment media to get this story in front of every voter. But we can count on each other.”

The email, which includes a big “DONATE” button, then provides a link to the Florida Politics report, asking readers to share it, adding, “Let’s make sure everyone in our district knows the truth.”

Asked for comment, Manley sent a text: “The #SCAMQueen is trying to take voters’ hard-earned money in the middle of an affordability crisis to pay for her criminal legal fees. Unfortunately for her, the voters in FL-20 are not naïve. They know a SCAM when they see one.”

A grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick in November, accusing her of stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to bankroll her 2021 congressional campaign. Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, has maintained she is innocent of wrongdoing, calling the charges “unjust” and “baseless” and a form of “retaliation” for her vote to release files connected to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Notably, none of the 426 other members of the U.S. House was indicted after voting “yes” on that release last month.

Hostilities between Cherfilus-McCormick and Manley, 26, have persisted for months. In September, the Congresswoman sued Manley for $1 million, accusing him of defamation for spreading “blatant lies” about her record and reputation. The suit cited a video Manley’s campaign published of him saying, among other things, that Cherfilus-McCormick “took $5.7 million from taxpayers” and a letter he wrote to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel pointing to an ongoing House Ethics Committee probe of her.

In the letter, Manley wrote that while he once “rooted for” Cherfilus-McCormick, he no longer does because “the Democrats’ collapse in our state has coincided with her election and the many ethical and legal scandals she brought to Congress.”

The two then got into a heated exchange in October at a Broward Young Democrats meeting that ended with Cherfilus-McCormick slinging the classic insult at Manley: “Your mama.”

The ongoing lawsuit isn’t the first time the Congresswoman has sued a foe for keeping word of the accusations she faces alive. In July 2022, she sued another one of her Primary foes this year, 68-year-old Dale Holness, for $1 million over campaign texts that told voters she embezzled $6 million from taxpayers to “buy a seat in Congress.” That suit has been listed as “inactive” since mid-2023.

Two Republicans, Sendra Dorce and Joseph Rodenay, are also running this cycle.

CD 20 spans a majority-Black area in and around western and central Broward County, with a small portion of southeast Palm Beach County. It includes all or part of Fort Lauderdale, Lake Park, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, North Lauderdale, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Riviera Beach, Sunrise and Tamarac.

It’s Florida’s most Democratic-leaning congressional district, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+22.

Cherfilus-McCormick, the first Haitian American woman from Florida elected to Congress, has represented Florida’s 20th Congressional District since January 2022. She won her seat in a Special Election following the death of Alcee Hastings. Last year, she was re-elected unopposed.

The 2026 Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.