baker act

Parents have long fretted about schools’ ability to circumvent them in critical health decisions regarding their children. Now, those loopholes are getting smaller after the legislature approved provisions requiring parents be notified before their child is sent for an involuntary psychiatric exam. It's part of a years-long effort by parents rights groups and mental health advocates to curb the use of the state's Baker Act on children.

When it comes to children, Florida's law regarding involuntary commitments for psychiatric treatment is applied inconsistently.

Data shows children who are committed under the Baker Act often are referred by school officials. School shootings and other incidents have placed more pressure on officials to intervene.

Each year, about 36,000 children in Florida are involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluations under the state's Baker Act and disabled kids are becoming increasingly ensnared.

The number of children who are taken for involuntary psychiatric evaluations in Florida increases every year. This is the first story in a five-part series about how the state's Baker Act affects children.

The arrest of a six-year-old girl with special needs in Jacksonville earlier this month is renewing calls to change Florida's Baker Act. The child was…

Happy New Year Sundialers, here’s a rundown of the Thursday, Jan. 2, episode of Sundial:Tampa Bay Times’ Investigation Looks At The ‘Baker Act’The Tampa…

A commission that's investigating the Parkland shooting met privately Thursday to review the confessed gunman's confidential health records.But first, the…

Alarmed by his repeated visits to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and his infatuation with his sibling’s notoriety as a mass murderer, prosecutors…

Florida lawmakers are debating several measures aimed at preventing mass shootings, and some law enforcement officials are calling for another one:...

Between summer 2015 and 2016, kids under the age of 18 in Florida were subjected to an involuntary psychiatric exam 32,000 times – almost a 50 percent…

A half dozen homeless people in Miami-Dade County were involuntarily committed to the hospital for evaluation as Hurricane Irma continued its course…