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The Orlando Sentinel

January 23, 2003

Reprinted with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

LETTER
Needed Change

Alice Petree, Sanford

The Orlando Sentinel was right on point in Sunday's editorial "Sensible change." The proposed change in the Baker Act to allow court-ordered outpatient treatment can save lives and likely provide a savings in tax dollars. This change is targeted to a small population of people with severe mental illnesses who repeatedly end up in jail because they do not have insight to their need for medical intervention.

In the year 2000, 15 percent of people subject to the Baker Act accounted for one-third of all Baker Act cases. The number of Baker Act cases requiring expensive emergency intervention can be reduced with the available option for court-ordered outpatient treatment.

Clearly, this year our legislators should give support to cost-effective efforts that improve the quality of life for Florida's citizens.

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