"What Happens When a Child is Baker Acted?" CCHR Florida Answers the Question
Tampa Bay area attorney and former Assistant Public Defender of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Carmen Miller, Esq., was the featured speaker at the seminar on mental health rights.
The Florida chapter of CCHR is a non-profit mental health watchdog dedicated to the protection of children.
The headquarters for CCHR Florida are located in downtown Clearwater.
Involuntary examinations are being initiated on children without parental knowledge. The parent finds out AFTER their child has been Baker Acted.
Restoring Human Rights & Dignity in the Field of Mental Health
Mental Health Watchdog has received hundreds of calls from parents whose children were sent for involuntary psychiatric examinations without their knowledge.
Carmen Miller said of her seminars, "I want to empower parents and the public with the knowledge of what the Baker Act is and how it can be and is being abused so that they are aware of their rights under the law".
In 2018 an astounding 36,078 involuntary psychiatric examinations were initiated on children in Florida, an almost 19% increase over the past four years. [1] Called a Baker Act, an involuntary examination of a minor allows for a child to be taken into custody and transported to a psychiatric facility without parental consent or knowledge.
Over the past several years, CCHR Florida has worked to ensure that parents, guardians and caregivers are consulted before a child is Baker Acted. As a result, numerous law enforcement offices across the state have adopted internal policies requiring that parents be consulted before the Baker Act can be initiated on a child.
CCHR Florida's public seminars on the Baker Act and other mental health topics are regularly held at their center on 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave. They are complimentary and open to the general public. To reserve a seat at the next seminar please call (727) 442 8820 or visit https://www.cchrflorida.org/events-list/.
About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health,’” he wrote in March 1969.
Sources: [1] https://www.usf.edu/cbcs/baker-act/documents/ba_usf_annual_report_2017_2018.pdf
Diane Stein
Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
+1 (727) 422-8820
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CBS This Morning: Florida law faces scrutiny after child involuntarily sent to mental health facility
