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FLORIDA
Testimony supporting Baker Act reform

Florida Senate Committee on Children and Families
February 20, 2002

Testimony by Mary T. Zdanowicz, JD
Executive Director of the Treatment Advocacy Center

The Sheriffs don't want to expand the Baker Act - they just want to make it work. The Baker Act is a runaway train speeding down the wrong track. Since 1997, there has been nearly a 40 percent increase in Baker Act cases. There was a 19 percent increase last year alone. The 15,000 new cases last year cost $43 million more for emergency evaluations alone (using Department of Children and Families cost figures).

The Sheriffs' proposal has two key provisions:

First, it is narrowly tailored to affect individuals with multiple prior Baker Act episodes and arrests (or one that resulted in physical violence) who are substantially likely to be Baker-Acted anyway. This allows early intervention for people who have established histories of dangerousness rather than waiting for the "real and present threat of substantial harm" required by the Baker Act.

Second, the Sheriffs' proposal keeps people from revolving through the Baker Act door by ensuring that when they leave the Baker Act facility after 8 days or less, the court can require that they participate in treatment, if it is available.

The bill that you have before you today is different from the one that was filed and used for the Senate staff analysis. The Sheriffs have consulted with various interest groups and have made major concessions that are reflected in the strike-everything amendment before you. The Sheriffs even incorporated amendments suggested by groups that said they would never support the bill, but the Sheriffs still tried to address their concerns. The list of concessions made for mental health providers, consumers, public defenders, the courts and the Department of Children and Families is almost as long as the bill.

There were more than 50,000 adults Baker-Acted in 2000, but approximately 7,500 of them were Baker Acted multiple times. These individuals accounted for a full one third of all Baker Act cases. The 7,500 adults could become eligible for the proposed new Baker Act criteria, but this is not an increase in cases because they are only eligible if it is substantially likely that they will deteriorate to current Baker Act criteria. Based on other states' experiences, there will be substantially fewer people affected by the bill. New York implemented a similar bill in 1997, which has survived constitutional challenge, by the way. The doomsayers predicted that 7,000 people would be affected the first year. In reality, there were only 225 petitions. Now they have about 220 petitions each month. That is equivalent to less than 3 percent of total Baker Act cases.

If there were petitions for all 7,500 recidivist adults, and services were available so they could be required to participate in treatment, Baker Act cases could be reduced substantially. With a court order and at least 3 mental health contacts a month, the need for Baker Act can be reduced by 57 percent. For the 7,500 recidivist adults, there could be a cost savings of $34 million in emergency evaluations alone. It would also reduce arrests and violence - getting people with severe mental illnesses off the criminal justice track and back on the track to mental health.

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