." An involuntary examination is an involuntary admission to a facility for a person who may be mentally ill (not to exceed 72 hours). 394.459(9) and 396.112(1), F.S. Finally, as pertinent to your inquiry, Florida courts have held that the Public Records Law is to be liberally construed in favor of open government, that exemptions from disclosure are to be construed narrowly and limited to their stated purposes, and that any doubt as to the existence of an exemption should be resolved in favor of disclosure rather than secrecy. Both are physical impossibilities. “You know we’re just not taking kids and putting them in handcuffs and putting them in a mental health facility because they say they want to harm themselves,” he said. Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute Publication, Baker Act Series #253-5 . 394, F.S., are public records subject to s. 119.07(1)(a) in the absence of an applicable statutory exemption. "If you have any kind of outburst, if you have any kind of emotion whatsoever and you are not just an order-following automaton, they will Baker Act you.”. Section 396.072(2), F.S., authorizes a peace officer to take such intoxicated and apparently incapacitated person into "protective custody," provides that such person may be detained in a municipal or county jail or other detention facility for up to 72 hours, and further states that nothing therein shall prevent the use of any such jail or detention facility as a "treatment resource" to the extent authorized under other provisions of Ch. See s. 394.455(14), F.S., as amended by s. 11, Ch. However, a public record which is "presently provided by law to be confidential," or which is "prohibited from being inspected by the public, whether by general or special law," is exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1)(a). “I don’t think you can over-react when it comes to a kid threatening suicide. And they locked him in the psych ward.”. "I had tears streaming down my eyes because I knew what was going to happen.". By contrast, the Public Defender’s office routinely handles such adult cases.
Moreover, it further appears that s. 394.459(9)(f), F.S., in requiring any law enforcement agency that receives information pursuant to that subsection, which is titled "CLINICAL RECORD; CONFIDENTIALITY," to maintain such information as a nonpublic record, has reference only to information contained in the clinical record which may be released or disclosed pursuant to one of the exceptions to confidentiality enumerated in s. 394.459(9)(a)-(h), F.S. . He later joined the Army National Guard. Over the last 10 years, the rate of Baker Act committals involving children has more than doubled in Southwest Florida. "To have our child essentially kidnapped from school and locked up in a mental ward was the most frightening situation we have ever faced.". The first happened when he was 10 years old, following a temper tantrum in elementary school. 396, F.S. . Baker Act (Mental) A process established by Florida Statutes Mental Health Act by which a person whose current mental state poses a danger to that person or to others may be taken to a mental health receiving facility for an involuntary examination. But it helped. Fla., 1984), approved, 468 So.2d 218 (Fla. 1985). The reasons for that aren't entirely clear, though it's possible that parents and guardians simply acquiesce to doctors' recommendations. The exact details of what happened immediately after this 2017 exchange are uncertain. While s. 396.072(2), F.S., provides that nothing therein prevents the use a municipal or county jail or other detention facility as a treatment resource, it does not appear from the supplemental information submitted to this office that your agency considers any detention facilities under its control to be a "treatment resource," as defined by Ch. For now, it remains a program that only responds to a minority of Baker Act cases in the region — a fact likely owing to its modest size and that it is still relatively unknown to the public. It appears from the provisions of s. 394.463(2)(a)2. and s. 394.459(9), F.S., that only this latter "Report of Law Enforcement Officer" form, which is statutorily required to be included in the clinical record of a patient, is confidential and statutorily declared not to be a public record. It was annoying, Sarah said.
119. Solan’s mother, Hilary, doesn’t buy that. In Charlotte, they jumped from 894 to 2,688 per 100,000 children. They also — each, in separate interviews — are quick to note that such cases are largely triggered by school resource officers, not school administrators. Often. More: How daily meditation helps kids from some of the toughest Fort Myers neighborhoods, More: Wine festivals in SWFL raise millions for kids mental health, but philanthropic gaps show between Collier and Lee, And: Unequal treatment: Children's mental health dollars vary across state, Southwest Florida. ), and in the absence of the use of any municipal police department's detention facilities as a "treatment resource" as permitted under s. 396.072(2), I am unable to conclude that the provisions of s. 396.112(1) and (2), F.S., making "registration and other records of emergency services and of other treatment resources" confidential and prohibiting disclosure of "treatment records," operate to exempt the type of routine forms prepared by your agency, in connection with a taking into protective custody pursuant to Ch. The Florida Mental Health Act of 1971 (see: Florida Statute 394.451 - 394.47891) is commonly known as the "Baker Act," and allows for the involuntary institutionalization and examination of an individual (sometimes called and emergency or involuntary commitment). Assistant Attorney General, Read Attorney General Moody's Week In Review. made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency;" and s. 119.011(2), F.S., defining "agency" to include in pertinent part "any . 119, F.S., requires every person having custody of a public record to permit inspection and examination of the record by any person desiring to do so at reasonable times, under reasonable conditions, and under supervision by the custodian or his designee, and further requires the custodian to furnish a copy of the record on payment of the fee prescribed by law or, if no fee is prescribed, on payment of the actual cost of duplication, as therein defined. Jim Smith Over the last 10 years, the rate of Baker Act committals involving children has more than doubled in Southwest Florida. Stacey Brown, a practicing mental health counselor in Fort Myers who won a Golden Apple in 1998 when she worked as a school counselor for Lee County's school district, said many outbursts leading to Baker Act evaluations might better be solved by simply talking to kids about what's behind their outbursts. A law enforcement officer shall take a person who appears to meet the criteria for involuntary examination into custody and deliver him or have him delivered to the nearest receiving facility for examination.
Moreover, s. 396.112(2), F.S., provides in pertinent part that, with limited exceptions, "[n]o part of the treatment records shall be disclosed without the consent of the person to whom it pertains . Things didn’t change until, after that second psychiatric committal at The David Lawrence Center, she found a new therapist and a treatment plan that focused on changing behaviors and negative thinking patterns. Lake Trafford Elementary School in Immokalee determined that Myda Carmago's 8-year-old was suicidal in February after he allegedly threatened to choke himself with pieces of ripped paper and hold his breath until he died. Sarah still says it was a miserable experience. 394.4781 Residential care for psychotic and emotionally disturbed children. "They should have access to a lawyer.".