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An Act Of Desperation


	DAVID KADLUBOWSKI/Tribune photo
	In more than 16,000 cases last year, families, schools, courts and mental health counselors used the Baker Act to send children to psychiatric crisis units, a five-month investigation by The Tampa Tribune has found. Allowing for children picked up more than once, that amounts to roughly 35 of every 10,000 children in the state. It can be a terrifying ordeal for children and often leaves youth and families still in need of help. Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Part 4 Send Your Comments

The Series: Part 1

Out-of control children increasingly are confined under the Baker Act, a measure intended to prevent forced stays in mental institutions.
Full story
Experts: Handcuffing Children Not The Answer
For 11 Children, Crisis Center Is Shelter
A Look At The Centers

The Series: Part 2

Children's Problems Fall Into Schools
Schools, on the front lines, report to the law when safety becomes an issue.
Full story
Related
Florida Dept. Of Education
Education coverage

The Series: Part 3

Medications Can Fan Flames
Drugs intended to calm troubled children backfire into more visits to the crisis centers.
Full story
Related
Hopelessness And Abandonment
Children 'Cycling Through System'

The Series: Part 4

Programs Turn To Prevention
Mobile crisis units, counselors and aid in navigating the help system works wonders.
Full story
Related
Persistence Pays Off For Family

Centers: A Closer Look

A Closer Look At Centers
The state has designated four places in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties where children can be taken under the Baker Act.
Full story
Related
Dept. Of Children & Families
Agency For Health Care

Getting Help

How To Find Help
Click the link below for a list of telephone numbers for regional, statewide and national centers that provide help and information if your child is emotionally disturbed.
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About This Series

To research and write this special report, Lindsay Peterson reviewed hundreds of research, court and law enforcement documents; spoke and exchanged e-mail with more than 100 people; and conducted more than 50 in-depth interviews - many with children and their parents.
Full story

Source: The Tampa Tribune
Online producer: Rochelle Williams

Maxine Baker/Tribune File photo (1974)

Experts Question Baker Act Practices
Florida's growing practice of using the Baker Act to lock up emotionally disturbed children is poorly understood and needs review, a University of South Florida study suggests.

Full story

Act Intended As Safeguard

MyFlorida.com: Baker Act

Interactive

Comments:
Share your insights, opinions and comments with Tampa Tribune reporter Lindsay Peterson.
Send your comments

Graphics

A Rising Rate
Police Action
Where Crisis Erupts
Again And Again
Where The Dollars Go