General Resources / Legal Resources / Medical Resources / Briefing Papers / State
Activity
Hospital Closures / Preventable
Tragedies / Press Room / Search Our Site / Home
HOW YOU CAN HELP WITH BAKER ACT
REFORM:
Write to your legislators
Even a handful of letters can have a tremendous impact on your legislator and their decision whether to support Baker Act reform. Letters do not have to be long-winded or full of statistics - in fact, short letters with personal stories are the most likely to be read.
Identify who your legislators are
One easy way to do this is through Congress.org. This link will take you to the page for Florida state legislators, where you can enter your ZIP code and get the names of your legislators. Once you know who your legislators are, this site give you the option to write all of your legislators in a form on their web page, with one click.
Write and send your letter
The correct method of address is:
The Honorable (Name of Legislator)
Florida State (Senate or Assembly)
State Capitol Building Room _____
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
The salutation is "Dear Senator (Last Name)" or "Dear Assemblywoman/Assemblyman (Last Name)"
TIPS FOR WRITING A GOOD LETTER
DO NOT ...
EXAMPLE LETTER TO A LEGISLATOR:
NOTE: This letter is provided only to give you a sense of how a letter sounds and looks. Please use your own words.
The Honorable (Name of your Senator or Assemblymember)
Florida State (Senate or Assembly)
State Capitol Building Room (#)
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300Dear Assemblywoman/Assemblyman/Senator _____________ :
Reform of the Baker Act will allow Floridas mental health treatment laws to provide earlier and more continual treatment for people with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who are too ill to access services voluntarily. Please support this vital legislation.
My brother, Frank, is like many people with schizophrenia. He does not realize he is ill. We use to think "lack of insight" (anosognosia) was willful denial because of the stigma involved with mental illness. Newer research shows that for many people the inability to recognize their own need for treatment evolves not from denial but from brain dysfunction itself.
Because Frank does not realize he is sick, he sees no reason to accept the services that are available. Instead he revolves through hospitalizations, homelessness and incarceration. A supportive, supervised, and mandated outpatient treatment program like the one included in pending Baker Act reform is Frank's only hope. It can find him treatment, point him toward recovery, and bring him back to us.
I ask you, plead with you, to support revision of the Baker Act. My brothers health and future depend on it. Please feel free to contact me for more information.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
(Your address)
(City, State, Zip code)
(Phone number)HOW YOU CAN HELP
write a letter to the editor | write to your legislators
Florida Baker Act main page
general
resources | legal resources | medical
resources | briefing papers | state activity
hospital closures | preventable
tragedies | press room | search
| home
The contents of TAC's website are copyrighted by the Treatment Advocacy Center unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved and content may be reproduced, downloaded, disseminated, or transferred, for single use, or by nonprofit organizations for educational purposes only, if correct attribution is made. TAC is an I.R.C. � 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. Donations are appreciated and are eligible for the charitable contribution deduction under the provisions of I.R.C. � 170. Please note that TAC does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies or entities involved in the sale, marketing, or distribution of such products.
Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), 200 N. Glebe Road, Suite 730, Arlington, VA 22203 703 294 6001/6002 (phone) | 703 294 6010 (fax) | www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org (website) [email protected] (general email) | [email protected] (press contact) [email protected] (webmaster) |