We will continue to advocate against the misuse of Florida’s Baker Act laws. Handcuffing and transporting children in the back of a police car from school, as required by Palm Beach School District Police policy for every Baker Act, is a traumatic experience for a child. Parents should be informed immediately if their child is at risk of a Baker Act.  Children whose parents or caregivers are available to provide help should not be Baker Acted.  Elementary-aged children should not be Baker Acted.  Children with developmental disabilities, whose behavior is a manifestation of their disability, should not be Baker Acted. Our schools and law enforcement should be better trained.  Our children, especially our children with disabilities, deserve better.

An autistic child melts down. An officer makes a decision. A family suffers the consequences. A mental health law is being used more frequently across Florida on children who are not mentally ill.

Tampa Bay Times, by Leonora LaPeter and John Pendygraft, Published Dec. 8, 2019

Increasingly in Florida, students with autism or who are simply acting up in class are being involuntarily detained for mental health evaluation under the Baker Act, which is intended to be used by police officers and some mental health professionals for people who are having a mental health crisis. The number of children involuntarily committed has doubled in the past 15 years, to about 36,000 a year, and more than 4,000 are under the age of 10. “I’m seeing officers and administrators who use the Baker Act as a tool to get kids out of school,” said Shahar Pasch, an attorney from West Palm Beach. “It’s across the board, across the state, the whole Baker Act system is being abused.” Tampa Bay Times. Parents of students who were detained under the Baker Act share their stories.

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Outside his classroom, A.J. Plonsky dropped his backpack on the pavement and curled himself into a ball.

It was the 12-year-old’s first day at a new school. A kid from math had ignored him in the noisy cafeteria at lunch, so he sat alone and cried. By the time he got to science class, where he sat in the wrong seat, A.J. used his fingernails to dig a long, bloody scratch in his arm.

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