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A House panel on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill aimed at keeping Floridians with mental illnesses out of the criminal-justice system. The House Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee supported the measure, filed by Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, that would create a statewide framework for counties to offer treatment-based mental health courts. Many counties have mental-health courts, but they have varying eligibility and program requirements. (Menzel, 12/3)

Top state and federal leaders in Ohio say much work is needed to combat a largely hushed public-health crisis: suicide. The Dispatch explored suicide’s toll in a six-day series, “Silent Suffering,” published Nov. 17-22. Those stories, available online at Dispatch.com/suicide, detail a mental-health-care system that doesn’t have the money or resources it needs to combat this growing problem. Suicide-prevention experts offered solutions, but many require that all levels of government — local, state and federal — invest in the solutions to save lives. (Riepenhoff, Wagner, Kurtzman and Rowland, 12/6)

For Rev. Donna Allen’s congregation in West Oakland, the New Revelation Community Church is a place to share with other African-Americans and to find support when facing life’s small and big crises. And for Allen, one of the most important messages is that their community has too often ignored the scourge of mental illness. (Day, 12/7)