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Sarasota Herald Tribune
Family member Rhonda Atkins: Baker Act reform
would aid many
My 25-year-old daughter received
a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, a severe mental illness, 10 years ago. For much of those
10 years she was not being treated, and her condition steadily deteriorated. But she
refused treatment, as do many with severe mental illnesses,
because she didn't believe she was ill. Not getting consistent treatment resulted in
self-medicating, which led to greater deterioration and increased suffering.
Sheriff Donald Eslinger:
Time to reform Baker Act
Baker Act reforms are a top priority for
the Florida Sheriffs Association because law-enforcement officers are too often asked to
act as mental health professionals when someone with a severe mental illness is in a
crisis.
Orlando Sentinel
Advocate Larry Bacon:
Baker Act reform
As a member of the criminal-justice community for 30
years, I have seen firsthand the effect that untreated mental illness has on the system
and the community.
Letter to the editor,
Family member Alice
Petree: Untold story
The Orlando Sentinel published a "My Word" on
June 20, 2000, written by Thomas Provenzano's sister on the eve of his execution in which
she states " . . . I could get help only if he did something violent. When he did
become violent, however, help came in the form of a death sentence." I understand all
too well this tragic ending ...
Letter to the editor,
Sheriff Donald Eslinger:
As tragedies mount, proven solution is ignored
Florida's Baker Act keeps
families from getting help for loved ones with untreated severe mental illnesses until
they become dangerous, and then limits that help to inpatient treatment.
Advocate Marianne Link: Prescription for
tragedy
Until mentally ill adults can be
required to take their antipsychotic medications,
we will only see more of these tragedies occur.
Letter to the editor,
In the year 2000, 15 percent of
people subject to the Baker Act accounted for one-third of all Baker Act cases.
Letter to the editor, The
[M]y husband, Seminole County Deputy Sheriff Eugene Gregory, was killed in a similar
altercation with a man with an untreated mental illness .... How long must we wait? How
many more lives must be lost?
Letter to the editor,
Law-enforcement officers are sworn to serve and protect. Yet sometimes the laws thwart
that goal. This is never truer than when we must intervene when a person with a severe
mental illness is in crisis.
E. Fuller Torrey and Mary Zdanowicz: Not
treating mental illness is dangerous and deadly
Florida's Baker Act has forced Florida's mentally ill to live on the outer edges of
society, becoming nothing more than castaways left to fend for themselves in heavy
psychosis on city streets and in jails and prisons.
Mary Zdanowicz and Bruce Rheinstein:
Florida's mentally ill are being left out in the cold
Most people think that the era of closing large, state psychiatric hospitals and dumping
the mentally ill on the streets is a thing of the past.
Nearly 100 times a day,
Letter to the editor,
Family member Alice
Petree: Reform is overdue
I strongly support the opinion
that Baker Act reform is long overdue. My brother, Alan Singletary, was the man who killed
Seminole County Deputy Eugene Gregory in 1998.
Letter to the editor,
Advocate Linda Gregory:
Help the mentally ill
I read with interest the Feb. 3 article titled "Bush backs
reform of mental health law." I am so thankful for a governor who realizes the
need for Baker Act reform.
Letter to the editor,
Family member Ceida
Houseman: Baker Act reform is necessary
My brother-in-law, Alan Mark Houseman, was killed by
Tampa police after he was mistaken as a suspicious person. In fact, he was a paranoid schizophrenic, off his medication, and less than one
block from home.
Letter to the editor,
Dr. E. Fuller Torrey: Let's reform the Baker
Act
Legislators should swiftly pass House Bill 1197 [and Senate Bill 2748] to reform
Florida sheriffs Ken Jenne
and Donald Eslinger: Without reforms, problems mount
Mary Zdanowicz: Reform Baker Act to help
mentally ill
While there are many benefits to
the Broward County Mental Health Court ("Faith, mother, court put man back on right
track," "Justice that works -- mentally ill defendants avoid the revolving door
of jail, get their lives back on track through mental health court's assistance";
"Well-meaning court can't rescue everyone," Nov. 24) the question still remains:
Why are so many people with untreated mental illness in the criminal justice system in the
first place?
Sun-Sentinel,
Family member Mary
Gonzalez: Reform Baker Act
I have been anxiously following the progress of the
Baker Act reform, which will allow court-ordered outpatient treatment for people with
untreated mental illness. I have a severely mentally ill son who is completely unaware of
his illness. The doctors who have seen him and I have tried to convince him of his need
for treatment, but it has been impossible.
Letter to the editor,
Family member Pat Webdale:
Treat mentally ill, don't delay passage of the Baker Act
Four years ago, my beautiful daughter was killed by a man with an untreated mental
illness. Her death happened while
Letter to the editor,
The family of a 67-year-old woman is ordered to leave its home to protect the neighbors.
Nothing practical has changed. The mentally ill person, her family and the new neighbors
still remain victims of untreated mental illness.
Letter to the editor,
Advocate Rachel Diaz: Reform Baker Act to
help the mentally ill
Letter to the editor, The
Florida Judge Steven Leifman:
Reform Baker Act to save lives
Let the standard be need for treatment, not the level of danger posed before courts can
intervene. Then let mental health professionals, not law enforcement, manage patient care.
Advocate Ceida Houseman: Baker Act Support
I would like to take this opportunity to thank The
Tampa Tribune editorial staff for its support for the reform in the Baker Act. The
editorials in support of the reform made a huge difference in making people aware of the
need for reform.
Tampa Tribune, July 20, 2004
Psychiatrist Nestor E. Milian: Our right to
remain mentally ill
The mentally ill have gained much in the way of their
rights and personal liberties in the last 25 years. What they have lost on the way is the
possibility of reasonable treatment when they become so ill that they do not realize they
are in danger.
Tampa Tribune, February 21, 2004
Advocate Ceida Houseman:
Reforms are coming
Last year, Alan Mark Houseman, my brother-in-law and a paranoid schizophrenic off his
medication, was killed by a Tampa Police officer while his family awaited his pick up as
ordered by the courts through the Baker Act.
Letter to the editor, Tampa Tribune, February 16, 2004
Advocate Rachel Diaz:
Courts' help is needed
Lack of insight in mental illness is, so far, a nontreatable symptom of psychosis. Half of
all patients with mental illness can't comprehend that they are sick and understandably
refuse treatment.
Letter to the editor, Tampa Tribune, January 7, 2004
Advocate Linda Gregory:
Reforms are needed
My husband's death changed my life forever. And
unfortunately, this type of tragedy continues, and that breaks my heart. Baker Act reform is a public safety issue, but even more, it offers
a humane way to provide treatment and support to people who have illnesses that impair
their decision-making.
Letter to the editor, Tampa Tribune, January 5, 2004
Family members Ceida
and David Houseman: Florida's Baker Act fails mentally ill and their families
Alan Mark Houseman was killed in an encounter with a law enforcement officer March 8. Alan
had schizophrenia and was off his medication. The day before he died, we had yet again
filed papers to have him committed against his will under
There
is no way under the current Baker Act to require someone who needs it to stay on
medication while living in an assisted living facility. And to make it worse, nothing can
be done to get treatment for a resident who refuses it until he or she becomes dangerous.
Five years ago,
There is a serious downside
to not adopting the Baker Act reforms proposed by the Florida Sheriff's Association:
continued arrests, homelessness, victimization, violence and suicide by people who,
because of their mental illness, do not recognize their own need for treatment.
Letter to the editor, The
Mary Zdanowicz: The Need for Reform
It is not the reform
proposal, but the current Baker Act that creates a ``second-class citizenry'' by
preventing the state from providing sustained community services for Floridians who are
too sick from severe mental illnesses to appreciate their need for medication and
treatment.
Letter to the editor, The
Family member Rhonda Atkins: Law needs repair
Nearly half of the people with untreated severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia
and bipolar disorder, lack insight into their disease. Many, like my daughter, refuse
necessary treatment because they don't think they are sick.
Letter to the editor,
Last year, law enforcement handled more Baker Act cases than burglaries, initiating
approximately 100 each day. Couple that with the fact that there are more than 10,000
inmates with severe mental illnesses in Florida jails -- more than four times as many as
in our remaining psychiatric hospitals -- and it isn't difficult to see that we are in an
urgent situation.
Letter to the editor,
Daytona Beach News Journal
Advocate Rosanna Esposito: Baker Act needs to be reformed
Even with the best services, jail diversion programs and police training initiatives,
there will still be a small but significant group of people who continue to cycle in and
out of treatment until the law is updated to allow treatment for those who are too ill to
recognize their own need.
Letter to the editor, Daytona Beach News Journal, February 23, 2003
Mental health provider CEO
Wayne Dreggors: Assisted treatment for mentally ill
We are deeply concerned about our state's mental health system and our lack of funding for
services such as outpatient counseling. However, we also see every day the consequences
arising from people with serious mental illness who lack the insight to comply with
treatment outside of an inpatient setting.
Letter to the editor, Daytona Beach News Journal, January 7, 2002
Florida Today
Sheriff Donald Eslinger: Baker Act reforms
will bring savings
The Florida Sheriff's Association appreciates FLORIDA
TODAY's continued strong editorial page support for Baker Act reform, which will remedy a
deficiency in current law by allowing a court to order someone to mental-health treatment
on an outpatient basis. However, this new law was designed to be implemented using
existing services -- its success does not require new funding as implied by the July 27
editorial headlined "Help for mentally ill: Court-ordered treatment could be
effective, but lawmakers failed to fund it."
Florida Today, August 6, 2004
Wisconsin Psychiatrist Magazine
Wisconsin doctor Darold Treffert: Assessment of the Rand
study on outpatient commitment
No matter how comprehensive, accessible and pleasant the clinic might be, even with the
retractable roof, plentiful bathrooms and pleasant staff, some persons with severe mental
illness will still require "assisted" treatment because of some fixed, false
belief, a delusion for example, that it is instead a dangerous or even poisoned place and
not to be trusted.
The
El Nuevo Herald
Legislacion necesaria
This letter, asking for the community's aid in
reforming the Baker Act, is written in spanish by advocate Rachel H. Diaz.
El Nuevo Herald, March 11, 2004
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