CCHR Claims Families Rights are being Eroded by the Baker Act

CCHR has provided Florida families with almost 23,000 Baker Act Non-Consent forms which when completed by parents and delivered to their child’s school, puts the school on notice that the parents do not give permission for their child to undergo psychiatric examination or treatment.

Clearwater, United States - February 20, 2017 /PressCable/ —

In 2015 alone, over 193,000 people, including some 32,000 children, were taken against their will (in many of the children’s cases, without their parents’ consent), to psychiatric institutions for evaluation under Florida’s Baker Act[1]. In an effort to raise awareness of this issue, the Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) of Florida regularly participates in community events where they provide concerned families with information on the law and their rights.

CCHR Florida will provide an information booth at the popular Pierce Street Market, the downtown Clearwater waterfront “local makers’ market”, on February 25, 2017 from 10 am to 4 pm. The market is open on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month through May 2017 and CCHR will be there every month educating visitors on the mental health law and their rights.

In addition to providing information on the law, CCHR provides families with a Baker Act Non-Consent form which when completed by parents and delivered to their child’s school, puts the school on notice that the parents do not give permission for their child to undergo psychiatric examination or treatment. (A full copy of the Non-Consent form, in both English and Spanish, can be found at www.cchrflorida.org/florida-non-consent-forms.) While these forms cannot legally stop the school from Baker Acting a child, they do encourage the school to inform the parents about what is happening to resolve the problem without resorting to involuntary psychiatric examination.

CCHR representatives will be on hand at the Pierce Street Market to explain the law and how it has impacted thousands of Florida families, in many cases as a result of an offhand remark made by a child, or a minor act of disobedience that could be handled readily by parents.

Diane Stein, President of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida headquartered in downtown Clearwater, said, “Since launching this campaign, CCHR has provided Florida families with almost 23,000 Baker Act Non-Consent forms and the goal is to double that number in the next few months.”

While many incidents involving the Baker Acting of children go unreported, Channel 13 WMAZ in Macon, Georgia reported on one egregious case that occurred last February in New Port Richey. A 7-year-old autistic boy in a special needs class was handcuffed by police, detained, and an attempt was made to send him to a mental health hospital for involuntary examination.

His mother said, “”They should change that, especially a child with a brain injury. They put him on his stomach on the floor and put handcuffs behind his back. I’m frustrated, and angry, very angry”[2]

Stein said, “The Baker Act was designed to strengthen the due process and civil rights of persons in mental health facilities. However, it’s being used unjustly against Florida residents, including children. Persons who are ‘Baker Acted’ are isolated from their friends and family in a facility for up to 72 hours and possibly given dangerous psychotropic drugs. Parents need to know how to prevent this from happening to their children.”

CCHR Florida maintains a help line (1-800-782-2878)that family members anywhere in Florida can call and get help and also holds a 1-hour seminar monthly as a public service for anyone interested in how the Baker Act works and what their rights are under the law. These services are free of charge. For more information please call 727-442-8820 or visit www.cchrflorida.org.

The Florida Chapter of CCHR is home to the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death museum which is a targeted focus on psychiatric abuses both locally and throughout the world. The museum presents the unvarnished history of psychiatry across fourteen audio-visual displays, each revealing another aspect of psychiatric abuse and violations of human rights. This entirely self-guided tour includes documentaries and displays of psychiatry’s most harmful treatments. It is the definitive resource on historical and contemporary psychiatric theories and practices.

The museum is free to the public and is open 7 days a week at 109 N Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater. For more information, visit Psychiatry: An Industry of Death or call 727-442-8820

About CCHR: CCHR was founded upon the research and discoveries of L. Ron Hubbard, a humanitarian who exposed the psychiatric industry as oppressive and detrimental to society. He said: “While we still have something left for which to fight, all public societies and groups should unite to halt the tyranny and oppression which threatens to engulf us and destroy forever the society on which we depend.”

CCHR has produced seven award-winning documentaries, 7 million DVDs in 18 languages of which have reached 120 million people with exposés of over drugging in the military, the irreparable harm of electroshock, and labeling and drugging of children. Copies of these DVDs are free to the public.

SOURCES:

[1] bakeract.fmhi.usf.edu/document/BA_Annual_2015.pdf

[2] 13wmaz.com/story/news/2016/02/12/fla-family-outraged-after-autistic-boy-handcuffed/80315694/

Contact Info:
Name: Diane Stein
Email: publicaffairs@cchrflorida.org
Organization: Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
Address: 109 North Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater, Florida 33755, United States
Phone: +1-727-442-8820

For more information, please visit http://www.cchrflorida.org/

Source: PressCable

Release ID: 171586