CCHR Reviews Statewide Campaign to Restore Parental Rights under the Baker Act

2024-12-23 01:41:52 Legal / Law

1447

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit mental health watchdog dedicated to the eradication of abuses committed under the guise of mental health, launched a campaign in 2016 to prevent unjust involuntary examinations of children under the Baker Act.

According to the 2015 Annual Report of Baker Act Data prepared for the Agency for Health Care Administration there were 193,410 involuntary examinations initiated in calendar year 2015. An astounding 32,882 were initiated on minors and in Florida; a child may be removed from school grounds and sent for involuntary examination without parental consent or knowledge.

Spearheading a campaign at the beginning of 2016 to put an end to this violation of parental rights, CCHR has worked to educate families at hundreds of community events in addition to launching a postcard campaign designed to educate parents and guardians on their rights under the law reaching over 140,000 families in the Tampa Bay area.

The Baker Act, the mental health law in Florida which covers all aspects of mental health including involuntary examination and commitment, was originally designed to prevent the indiscriminate incarceration of individuals without just cause. This statute was named after Maxine Baker, the former State Representative from Miami who sponsored the Act and who stated, In the name of mental health, we deprive them of their most precious possession liberty.

Unfortunately, over the years, the Act that was intended to protect and preserve the liberties of the mentally ill has become abused and the abuse of this law has prompted CCHR to call for the Baker Act to be changed so that a minor cannot be sent for involuntary examination without parental consent.

Our Abuse Case Hotline receives numerous calls from parents whose children were sent for involuntarily examination without their permission or knowledge, said Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida. When we tell parents that the school can send their child for involuntarily examination without their permission, the parents are furious. It is time to change the law and restore parental rights in Florida.

CCHRs campaign educates citizens on the existing law and provides parents with a form they can fill out and file with their childrens school. This form uses existing state law to help protect parental rights. CCHR has distributed almost 20,000 forms to concerned parents in Florida. Families interested in learning more about how to protect their children, or to obtain a copy of the form, are encouraged to visit the CCHR center at 109 N. Fort Harrison or visit the CCHR website to [download the form](http://www.cchrflorida.org/florida-non-consent-forms/) online and [sign a petition](http://www.bakeractrights.org/) to stop the involuntary examination of children without parental knowledge or consent.

About CCHR:

Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections.

It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, 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. For more information visit, [www.cchrflorida.org](http://www.cchrflorida.org/)