Florida Baker Act – Back in the news. 7 year old boy Baker Acted...

This time the Baker Act involves a 7 year old boy.

The parents are outraged that their son was baker acted.

What happened?

Largo Police Department responded to a school for a student that was throwing a tantrum.

The police reported that the boy had to be removed from his 2nd grade class room. During his tantrum the boy stepped on a teacher’s foot and allegedly tore up a room and even went as far to batter a school administrator.

Now the boy will have to spend at least 72 hours in the hospital under a baker act and be seen by a child psychologist.

Sadly the parents weren’t notified of the tantrum, they were notified that their child was removed from the school and taken to the hospital under a baker act. Mom states she could have corrected the situation if the school and police would have allowed her to do so, but that did not happen. Now mom is scared to allow her 9 year old daughter and her 7 year old son to attend school. Mom states they are scared to death to return.

What are your thoughts about this case?

Granted I realize some kids can be out of control but to be baker acted?

This case would have definitely been better received if they had done a better job reporting some actual psychological problem the child may have had.

Battery is defined as the unlawful touching. So did the kid simply touch a school administrator? Or was there some type of assault and battery? Not that I’m saying it’s ok for a student to ever touch a teacher or school administrator, but I also think there is a major difference in battery and being an actual threat.

To be baker acted you have to present a threat to yourself or to others, are we to believe that the school staff was incapable of handling an unruly student?

Was this just the school’s quick and easy way to deal with an unruly student?

I guess we will never know the answer to that question. But at some point and time the police, mental health people and the system has got to reform the entire baker act process.

People with no problems at all can be baker acted and never once treated or diagnosed with a mental health disorder. The baker act is yet another widely abused way for certain people to get rid of a problem in a quick and quite manor.

For example, this case, was there actually a psychological problem with the child?

Or was it like the many nursing homes that want to “free” themselves from certain patients for a few days so they have a demented patient baker acted for a change in mental status. Which still to this day dementia is still the same, but the nurses us that excuse every single day so they can get a break from that unruly dementia patient.

This list could go on and on and on. The baker act in my opinion is the most abused legal action.

Sadly enough, the police or doctors (are the only people allowed to issue a baker act) are not even held accountable for bogus baker acts that they issue on a daily basis.

How awesome is that, anyone they deem in a psychological crisis they sign a paper and the person is then involuntarily yanked from society and forced to be in a baker act receiving facility for at least 72 hours.

Even to make matters worse, the police don’t have to have any training to determine if you are suffering from a psychological problem. If you don’t act normal, they can stretch the meaning of a threat to yourself or other in ways most people would never believe.

Now in Pinellas County, it was a daily event to transport baker acted patients all over the state to get them in an approved baker act holding facility. Yes I mean all over the state. Since there are regulations stating only certain facilities can hold a baker acted patient.

One has to wonder if this case was an example of the baker act being abused once again or if the child actually suffers from a psychological problem and needed treatment and counseling.

Unless the mom responds to my blog, we will never know. I’m sure the police and school, regardless of how wrong it was, will stand behind the baker act in this case and fight to the death to prove they done the right thing for the student.

Except for the simple fact that now we have 2 children terrified of returning to school; wonder how the police and school can justify their actions in creating a situation that now has students terrified to go to school.

Next we will probably read that mom was arrested for failing to have her children in school.

Florida Baker Act

Florida Baker Act (AKA BA-52)

This post addresses the issues with the Baker Act Process in the state of Florida. Since I have lived in Florida, I have always been under the impression that the Baker Act process was actually a process to provide help and assistance to people when the stress of life becomes overwhelming.

I was sadly mistaken.

Working in the medical field I know we have people every single day brought to our hospital under a baker act. They may be brought in by police or ems. Since the police are required to complete a baker act, they usually always escort them to the emergency room.

First, a little more about baker acts that some may or may not know. A Baker Act in Florida is a court order that can involuntarily hold an individual for up to 72 hours.

Once a the paper work is completed a Psychiatrist will interview the person and determine if they will rescind the baker act or keep the patient for the full 72 hours or if an additional court order is required and that order can hold a person against his will for up to 6 months.

Now of course since we live in an area with a lot of homeless people, they love the baker act and it reflects in how often they are baker acted. When they want food, shelter, and clothing or want to get into the ER to take whatever they want, they call 911 and get EMS and police on scene. They know the drill; they say the right things and they get a free 3 day stay at a local baker act receiving facility. Then they take full advantage of the room service offered by the hospital. These people also usually have to endure many costly procedures to determine they are an alcoholic or drug addict and they tie up a lot of resources that are needed for actual patients.

From time to time when all the baker act facilities are full in our county, the patient will be shipped to anywhere in the state. This will be determined by what baker act facility has a bed. Does not matter about your condition or ability to pay, you get a ride by an ambulance to where ever in the state says they can take one more patient.

Could you imagine being baker acted in St. Petersburg and when you finally get releases you are in Miami or Tallahassee? Sadly the legit patients that need these services are transferred all over the state while the homeless get to stay close to the homeless shelter or tent city they reside in.

The police are also victim to the multiple nursing homes in our area. The nursing home wants to get rid of a patient for a few days, they call 911 and EMS and Police arrive and now your 90 year old grandma suffering from dementia is now transported to the hospital under a baker act. Of course the nursing home reports violent behavior from grandma and tells the police they cannot handle this situation and grandma has got to go for a psych evaluation. The nursing home, which should be able to medicate grandma and keep her there, has figured out a way to get rid of your unruly grandma for at least 3 days.

The nursing home gets a break from her and grandma and the family is billed for all the necessary treatments grandma needed. When in fact the doctor or Psychiatrist could medicate grandma and have the same outcome as they would by taking her to the hospital. Of course the same situation applies here as with the homeless people. Grandma, in her altered mental state will have to endure many costly medical tests to determine she suffers from dementia, which we all knew from the very beginning of this process. This adds up quickly when you look at the ER cost. I think it was 4,000 just for a ct scan and regardless if grandma is sent in once or once a day she will probably have that scan done over and over since the nursing home staff is reporting some altered mental status.

Yet we wonder why medical cost is so outrageous. Sadly dementia is a common problem among the elderly and regardless of how many times the nursing home sends grandma to the er, that is not going to change.

Sorry, have to rant and rave for a couple minutes about the homeless and nursing homes taking advantage of this process.

Once a person arrives at a baker act facility, I have always been under the impression they would be evaluated and treated accordingly if the Psychiatrist found cause to hold them for the entire 72 hours.

I have a friend that was recently baker acted. From the start of this process everything seemed to go wrong. First from the police responding to the scene and they took very little information and never followed up to get statements as they said they would. The friend took off on foot and they called a dog and tracked him down and not once did he make any suicidal statements to the police. Yet based on a 911 call they baker acted him and took him away to PEMHS (Personal Enrichment Mental Health Services)

Once there he was sent to a second location for a morning evaluation by the Psychiatrist. The psychiatrist talked to him the next morning and read the police report and informed him he would have to stay for the full 72 hours based on the police report. Which was erroneous since they never even took a statement from any of the witnesses.

Not once in the 72 hour period was my friend mentally evaluated. Not once was he treated with medications, not once was he diagnosed with any mental health disorder. So what happened to the evaluation and treatment and or diagnosis?

I was able to visit him during the time he was there and we talked about everything that was going on there.

I was even able to talk to his nurse who was an awesome person at 70 and still working full time and she could only say that he needed a time out and hopefully he could take this time to consider why he ended up there.

This entire process is costing we the taxpayers (I would dare say in the) millions with little to no reimbursement from the patients. The sad part is even with the cost associated with this treatment process we cannot even expect the patients to receive proper treatment of which ever mental disorder they may suffer from.

So what is the point in the Baker Act process? Here in Florida is a quick way for a homeless person to get shelter and nursing homes to get rid of unruly patients.

I honestly hope and pray that not every one was treated the same as my friend was during his 72 hour time out.

This process is suppose to be in place to provide services and treatment and make determinations if the patient needs to stay in a treatment facility or they can be treated as an out patient. My friend was not even given a referral of anyone to follow up with.

Now he will have to deal with the fact that the BA-52 will be a part of his permanent record and that he was housed there without any evaluation, treatment or diagnosis. He has already lost a job over the baker act and now gets to deal with any potential employer finding he was baker acted and held for 72 hours and sadly a potential employer will never know he was never treated or diagnosed with a mental health disorder. He has however already felt the impact of the ba-52 being placed on his record.



Want to know more about the Baker Act Process, click here


Want to know more about PEMHS, Click here