Currently there is the equivalent of one hundred Baker Acts initiated on a child every day of the year.
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.
The mental health law currently allows for individuals of all ages, including children, to be taken into custody and sent for an involuntary psychiatric examination.
This webinar will discuss new laws passed in the 2021 Florida legislative session concerning parental rights, the Baker Act and how to protect children.
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, January 11, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is sponsoring a live complimentary seminar at their headquarters in Clearwater on the topic of parental rights and what a parent can do to protect their child from unlawful seizure and abuses of the Baker Act. The seminar will be held on January 20th from 6:00-7:00 at 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave. Clearwater, FL 33755.
During the 2021 legislative session Florida lawmakers passed two bills that greatly increased the protection of children and parental rights – the School Safety Bill and the Parents’ Bill of Rights. At the vanguard of the fight to pass these bills, CCHR Florida worked tirelessly to ensure that it would be parents who would ultimately determine their children’s welfare and decide what was appropriate treatment regarding their children’s mental health.
These bills were passed on the heels of a period between 2018 through 2019 that saw over 37,000 Baker Acts initiated in Florida on children, many without the knowledge or consent of parents.
Until now, calls for reformation of the Baker Act have fallen on deaf ears, despite the trauma it inflicts. Citing the surge in the number of children being taken into custody and reports received from parents on the CCHR abuse hotline, Diane Stein, president of the Florida Citizens Commission on Human Rights, notes that "the Baker Act was never intended to be used on children” and that “it is a serious source of mental health human rights violations.”
This seminar will educate attendees on the abuses that have occurred, what rights exist and how a parent can use these new laws to protect their children. It will also review options parents have concerning the health and mental health of their child. For more information or to reserve a seat please 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 Reporting Center https://www.usf.edu/cbcs/baker-act/documents/ba_usf_annual_report_2018_2019.pdf
Diane Stein
Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
+1 727-422-8820
email us here
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