By Kyra Gurney Of the Miami Herald Handcuffs and a psych exam for a 7-year-old? Schools do that too often, parents say. A 7-year-old at Miami’s Coral Way K-8 Center was handcuffed, put in the back of a police car and taken to a hospital for an involuntary psychiatric exam after he hit and kicked a…
Every day someone who lives in Florida or a visitor to Florida is taken for involuntary psychiatric examination. Baker Act initiations occur so the POSSIBILITY of an adverse outcome is avoided. A Baker Act initiation often is only to avoid liability by police officers, or emergency room physicians, or mental health professionals. Many Baker Act…
My firm has a process so a person who should not be held under the Baker Act gets discharged quickly. A person should be released if the criteria for a Baker Act examination are not met. If the person has been living independently, has a support system available, and has had no prior mental health…
