Baker Act

He ended up at a VA Medical Center in Gainesville seeking a voluntary stay for mental health treatment. Instead, he was involuntarily held under Florida’s Baker Act. Six months later, he killed himself.

The state’s process for involuntary psychiatric evaluations is getting a major overhaul under legislation that’s cleared the Legislature this year, with advocates saying its long overdue.

Advocates say schools nationwide are misusing the practice in response to behaviors prompted by bullying or frustration over assignments. The hospital trips for psych evals, they say, often follow months of students' needs not being met.

After the school district agreed to pay $440,000 to resolve a lawsuit over its use of the Baker Act on students, some advocates want more protections for children.

The Baker Act is a state law that allows courts, law enforcement officers, and certain medical workers to order people who could be a harm to themselves or others to be taken to facilities for up to 72 hours.

One change allows parents of minors to skip a court review and voluntarily check their children into facilities as long as parent and child agree.

The proposal by Reps. Susan Valdes and Traci Koster would permit “licensed professional as determined by school board policy” to write notes that would excuse absences, and not just physicians.

Republican Sen. Aaron Bean describes his proposal as more of a “tweak” to the system, but some say there’s a lot left undone.

The collaborative project highlighted the stories of children sent into confinement by school officials, often without notifying their parents.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is the latest organization to call out the Baker Act’s use on children. The organization's Bacardi Jackson discusses the findings.