I was invited to update the Sarasota Ministerial Association this past Wednesday on our lawsuit against big pharma. The Association has been helpful in our efforts to address chronic homelessness and their members have been called upon far too often to console families following a drug overdose death.

To update everyone else, the City of Sarasota is one of 1,600 cities, counties, states and Native American Tribes involved in litigation against Big Pharma over their two decades role in the over-prescribing of opioids in pursuit of big profits. This practice has created the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history.

With what began in 1996 as a drug for severe pain related to cancer, Purdue Pharma and other drug companies expanded the use of Oxycontin and marketed opioids as ubiquitous painkillers, which could be safely prescribed for even moderate pain, with a less than 1 percent chance of addiction. Those claims were not backed by science and addictions skyrocketed. Meanwhile, sales of Oxycontin grew quickly from $50 million in 1996 to well over $1 billion by 2000. Profits soared.

In 2017 the Center for Disease Control estimated there were nearly 60,000 opioid-related overdose deaths. As prescriptions began to be reduced, black market opioid products began to fill the void.

Cities are parties in this litigation because as with so many things, city and county employees are on the ground and on the front lines in dealing with problems. Police, fire, EMS and public hospitals are typically the first to respond to drug overdose emergencies and you, the taxpayer, have been absorbing the costs of this “man-made plague”.

Our multi-district suit is scheduled for trial in Ohio this September.

We obviously don’t know what the outcome will be, but just this week the first big case was settled in Oklahoma where a state case was settled out-of-court for $270 million. $12 million of the settlement will go to Oklahoma cities and towns.

It’s too early to know what may happen with our case, but Florida is a much larger state than Oklahoma.

If Florida cities prevail in our case against Big Pharma, policy makers should strongly consider using settlement funds to build the facilities necessary to effectively treat addictions. Our aging jails are full, and Florida remains 50th of 50 states in funding mental health and related substance addiction programs. Keep your fingers crossed we win.

The Ministerial Association has committed their prayers.

Tom Barwin is Sarasota City Manager. Email him at Thomas.barwin@sarasotafl.gov. 

Untreated mental illness in children and young adults can devastate individuals and destroy their families. Its impact also extends throughout our community, costing us all dearly. A new study released Tuesday put that economic cost at $86 million a year here in Sarasota County. That’s a conservative estimate, too, according to the experts who quantified it. Plus it says nothing of the negative impacts that are impossible to value.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of South Florida and commissioned by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. An “environmental scan” of mental health services for young people up to age 24 in our community, it aimed to identify current strengths and gaps and prioritize ways to make the system work more like, well, an actual system.

This research was about much more than pegging the financial price of untreated mental illness. It assessed existing services, detailed unmet needs, identified strengths to build on and documented barriers to improved mental well-being. It recommended benchmarks and indicators to better evaluate community services and measure success. Most importantly, it laid out strategic policy recommendations to systemically improve mental health care for Sarasota County youth.

To some extent, the study confirms shortcomings we have long suspected. So many of us have personal stories about the mental health challenges affecting young people in our lives. At Tuesday’s event to introduce the findings, I talked briefly about my daughter’s two adopted sons and the lingering effects of their experience in foster care. Teri Hansen, my counterpart at the Barancik Foundation, recalled a successful executive in town who struggled for months to get his daughter the help she needed.

Two brave mothers in attendance each talked candidly about the ordeal of trying to find and sustain proper care and support for their respective daughters, who suffer from mental-health issues. To call their experiences Kafkaesque, while accurate, also risks trivializing the raw and heartbreaking emotional toll they continue to pay.

Every such story testifies to the need for a mental health care system that works for our children and their families. Which is where the value of this research scan materializes. The 67-page report quantifies what we have, what is missing and where specific help is needed most. Financing a complete system of care will require more effective use of existing funding streams as well as finding new revenue sources—many of which demand such quantified, validated evidence.

Our community has already made progress taking a similar “systems change” approach in other areas. Consider the homeless crisis response system now being collaboratively managed by government, law enforcement and nonprofit agencies. It started with commissioning an expert—the Florida Housing Coalition—to help assess and quantify our current situation and customize a strategy melding national best practices with local strengths and circumstances. Then we got down to working the plan.

This new study also puts our entire community on notice. I think back to Gulf Coast’s early work with All Faiths Food Bank in commissioning a child-hunger study of Sarasota and DeSoto counties and a spatial mapping project to chart needs and evaluate the food-distribution system. While many already working on the issue understood its prevalence, the study helped the rest of us catch up. The simple figure that more than 50 percent of Sarasota County students received free or reduced-price school lunches floored so many people here who had no idea. Now that stat is much more widely known, and All Faiths Food Bank and its many partners have transformed our hunger-relief system.

Doing the same for youth mental health won’t be easy, no doubt. The system is even more complex, and it touches more people. As several leaders interviewed for the study noted, mental health impacts every other system in our community. But that is why we all must act. Because we all must own our piece of the solution.

The researchers made clear that we have a strong field of committed agencies working hard to serve our youth. Now we have a common starting point and language to better coordinate, enhance, and supplement those services. Together, we can create a best-practice system that gives all young people in need accessible, appropriate, compassionate care. For their sakes—for all of our sakes—we can’t afford not to.

Mark S. Pritchett is president/CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. 

I have shared that Ringling College of Art and Design cultivates creativity, the one human skill that cannot be automated. I have asserted we provide students with the skills to apply technology in innovative ways to express their creativity, be it a painting, a movie or a business plan. I have described the ways we empower our community to relearn how to be creative. I have declared throughout this series Ringling College matters because we help our students and our community build these right-brain skills I believe will be so crucial to success in the fast-approaching Creative Age.

In this installment of the series, I will describe reason No. 4 Ringling College of Art and Design matters. Here it is: It is a visual, visual world.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” “I am a visual learner.”  We have all heard people we know say these phrases; perhaps we have even said them ourselves. It turns out LOTS of people are visual learners and that is why a picture IS worth a thousand words.

Businesses have also learned about the importance of visual communication. We have seen a meteoric rise in the popularity of image-based platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. We have seen businesses move to image-heavy advertising and websites.

What is the cause of this explosion of image-based communication? It is happening because businesses realized this vital fact about their consumers – they are indeed visual learners.

I know you are likely thinking: Of course the President of Ringling College of Art and Design would argue the world is heavily visual. After all, focusing on visual communication in its various forms is our bread-and-butter. We are among the top tier of art and design colleges exploring visual communications across our 13 different disciplines and with numerous kinds of media. Unsurprisingly, our college community is filled with visual learners and communicators.

The important point, however, is that those students pursuing an education in creative fields and their faculty are not the only visual learners. There is no way this relatively small population could drive the creation and sustain the success of so many image-heavy offerings or account for the 100-percent annual increase in mobile consumption of video content reported by Forbes. That kind of trend has to come from a larger community. And it does. According to the Social Science Research Network, 65 percent of us are visual learners.

Why does the fact that many of us learn visually matter? Why do I include it in my series about why Ringling College matters? It matters because understanding how people learn, retain and act on information helps us to communicate our messages more effectively and meaningfully to those viewing or listening to us. Knowing how the majority of our audience will best process our messages informs the ways we choose to present information.

Think about the impact of that realization. Sure, it can help us sell more products; but, it can also help us advance as a society. Imagine the progress that we can make in addressing societal challenges by using visual communications – a language that we now know is broadly understood - to frame discourse around difficult topics and concepts. Well-designed images and visuals can cross languages, cultures, perspectives and geographies in ways words and translations can never hope to do. In short, visual communicators are more effective communicators.

At Ringling College, we truly believe in the potential of visual communication, for business and entertainment and for social progress. We prepare our students for that world in which their creativity can have a bigger purpose. We teach them to speak a language many others understand – the language of images. We teach them to use their creativity to craft visuals that tell stories, convey intangible concepts, impart messages, spark discussion and help solve problems.

Once we are able to communicate in a way most people can understand, regardless of language, culture or perspective, well, then we can change the world.

Dr. Larry R. Thompson is president of Ringling College of Art and Design. 

The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast presents the final PMP Alumni: Around Town performances of the season, featuring graduates of The Perlman Music Program on April 4 and 7. April’s Perlman Music Program Alumni String Quartet features violinists KJ McDonald and Rinat Erlichman, violist Hannah Geisinger, and cellist Derek Louie. The first show will take place at the Historic Spanish Point and the second show at the Beatrice Friedman Theater. Tickets may be purchased online at PMPSuncoast.org or by calling 941-955-4942. 

The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast

The Jewish Family and Children’s Service Building made a final call for donations of personal care items on March 29 to give to homeless veterans as part of their 8th Annual Stand Down event, scheduled for April 13 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. More than 150 veterans are expected to attend, who will each be handed a backpack with daily essential items, including hygiene, clothing, blankets and non-perishable food. This year, more than 50 partner agencies will come together to help America’s heroes live healthier and more productive lives. For more information, visit www.jfcs-cares.org or call 941.366.2224.       

JFCS of The Suncoast

Pura Vie, a wellness spa centered around timeless, Ayurvedic natural healing practices and treatments, is bringing a Bohemian-inspired night market to the Rosemary District on April 5. The event will celebrate the spirit of “La Vie Bohemé” with unique local artisans to bring the community together in support of local animal rescue group, Royal Pet Rescue. Attendees can enjoy shopping various unique artisanal goods and products. Live music, food and drinks from The Overton, free gourmet frozen pops, and donations and raffle tickets to benefit Royal Pet Rescue.

Pura Vie Spa

Attendance for the 2018 Siesta Key Crystal Classic was up almost 10% from 2017 – 65,225 attendees despite the red tide. Based on data research and surveys, the total economic impact of out-of-county visitors to the 2018 Siesta Key Crystal Classic was estimated at $10,500,000. 37% of attendees overnighted in hotels or condominiums generating over 19,000 room nights for the area. 41% were Sarasota County residents, 17% were Florida residents outside of Sarasota County, 36% were from out of state, and 6% were International residents. 98% of attendees reported that the festival met or exceeded their expectations. 

Siesta Key Crystal Classic

Don’t miss Child Protection Center of Sarasota’s signature event, Blue Ties and Butterflies, designed to build awareness about CPC's mission in the prevention, intervention, and treatment of child abuse. The event encompasses a live auction held at Michael’s on East, with prizes that include a vacation package for two to the final rounds of the 2020 Masters in Augusta, GA, a stay for two and VIP access to the 2020 Kentucky Derby, an exclusive culinary experience dinner for eight by Michael and Terri Klauber, and original artwork designed exclusively for the event by local Cuban artist Clara Reynardus de Villanueva.   

Child Protection Center of Sarasota

As part of the school district’s emphasis on mental and behavioral health, Sarasota County Schools wants to remind the community about free and confidential resources available to anyone in need of a counselor 24/7. The Crisis Text Line, launched in 2013, is now available nationwide. Anyone with a phone can text ‘HERE4U’ to 741741 and be immediately connected with a trained counselor. The service is available to all students in Sarasota County through a grant from Barancik Foundation. Signs are displayed in school bathrooms, media centers and hallways to remind students of the free and confidential service. 

Sarasota County Schools

CareerSource Suncoast will be furthering apprenticeship in Manatee and Sarasota counties thanks to a $100,000 investment from the state workforce board. The local agency intends to enroll 30 apprentices and create three new apprenticeships within the next year. They will be targeting manufacturing after becoming the first local workforce development area in the state to sponsor an apprenticeship in 2018. The CareerSource Florida Board of Directors last month approved the first statewide Apprenticeship Policy for Florida’s workforce system to support the continued expansion of apprenticeship opportunities in Florida. 

CareerSource Suncoast