CCHR Florida is hosting a Parental Rights Webinar on the Mental Health Law
Tampa Bay area attorney and former Assistant Public Defender of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Carmen Miller, Esq., will be the featured speaker at the webinar on mental health rights.
The headquarters for CCHR Florida are located in downtown Clearwater.
It was reported during the Baker Act Task Force that an estimated 30% of the children being Baker Acted in Pinellas County alone did not meet the criteria.
As reported by the Baker Act Reporting Center, more than 37,000 involuntary psychiatric examinations were initiated on children across the state.
Currently there is the equivalent of one hundred Baker Acts initiated on a child every day of the year.
The webinar is designed to give parents a basic understanding of the legislation passed over the past two years to protect children and parental rights.
More than 37,000 involuntary examinations involving children were initiated in 2019 and many of those Baker Acts started in a school setting. Mental Health Human Rights advocates, such as CCHR, have long charged these seizures of children circumvented the rights of parents and pointed out that children are the fastest growing demographic. [1]
During the past two legislative sessions, the efforts of concerned citizens, CCHR and other mental health activists, helped to pass bills, including the School Safety Bill and the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which now offer new layers of protection - giving back to parents their right to choose when it comes to their children’s mental health. [2]
“Parental rights are fundamental and it is vital that parents know and understand their rights when it comes to directing the mental health of their children,” states Diane Stein the president for CCHR in Florida.
The learning objectives for the webinar include:
* Understanding some of the basic rights parents have in Florida,
* Learning the process of a Baker Act initiation at a school and what a parent can do to better protect their child.
* Reviewing options parents have concerning the mental health of their children
This will be an informative and empowering hour. Anyone interested in attending the event should call 800-782-2878.
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] Baker Act Report https://www.usf.edu/cbcs/baker-act/documents/ba_usf_annual_report_2018_2019.pdf
[2] Costly and Cruel
https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/com_special_report_baker_act_costly_and_cruel.pdf
Diane Stein
Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
+1 727-422-8820
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As a parent in Florida, you have the right to help your minor child in a time of crisis before the initiation of a Baker Act.
