Baker Act
 

Can an elderly non florida resident visiting a relative in Florida be Baker Acted?

Probably. Think the criteria is a danger to self or others, not residence of anyone involved.

Tell me what the Baker act is.

Yikes...please email me at kittygilchrist gmail..or pm your phone number.
I know enough to help you through this. In short, yes, on a phone call the sheriff sends deputies to assess.
Depending on circumstance you may need to ask a judge to issue an order.

Yes, they can be Baker Acted if they fit the requirements of the statute within the lawful jurdiction of the detaining officers. Out of towners are subject to the same laws as full time residents.

Baker Act


None of the Villages is in this County, but I would expect that the same kind of procedures follow in Lake, Marion and Sumter Counties.

For people who don't want to look this up, baker act is a law under which a person may be committed for mental health treatment without their own consent.
The Villages Counties have a crisis stabilization unit where outpatient assessment is available if the person is willing to be brought there to be assessed. Here are the locations.


North Florida Behavioral Health Partners: Provider Directory

If the individual will not go voluntarily, two options remain....deputies will come make an assessment (i do not like this option due to lack of credentials, but it is what we have), the last is for statements by family and friends to be presented to a judge to ask for a court order to commit.

It must be evident that the person is a risk to himself or others if the commitment does not take place.

If the OP wants further advice, please pm or email me.

are you a mental health care professional? your response sounds so responsible and calm.

Experience is a powerful credential.
 

I love you, Kitty, but give me a break. Deputies "lack credentials?" I have successfully talked people out of jumping off of bridges, and convinced others to put down the guns they were about to shoot themselves with. I even once disarmed and Baker acted a fellow deputy who was in uniform, taking his Service pistol. Experience can be a pretty good credential. What you may not remember about the process when deputies Baker Act people is that the in-processing at the confinement facility includes an assessment by a professional "with credentials." The confinement is not on the word of the deputy only.

Don't sell the deputies short.

anyone can be baker acted

I love you too Carl and happy New Year. I spent a year assessing schizophrenics, then went to work at a college where the licensed mental health counselors did not know to ask such things as:
"Do you get messages over the radio?"
"Do you have a mission from God?"
"Do you hear people talking to you that others can't hear?"

In my opinion, even such credentialed professionals as. these do not have the experience to assess danger to others.

i wonder if most deputies know the average age of onset for schizophrenia or what questions a psychiatrist would ask to diagnose schizophrenia? .if not, then yes, they lack credentials to diagnose danger, largely due to the fact that a paranoiac is not going to fall for direct questions about their intent to harm because they think YOU are the one who has the intent to harm.

I am an Assisted Living Administrator in the Stat of Florida. You can only Baker Act someone if they are exhibiting the behavior when the police or appropriate person such as the doctors arrive. I have had residents with significant behavioral issues but unless you get someone there during the time the incident is happening, it is very difficult, as it should be, to Baker Act someone.

We do need checks and balances in case some of the seven deadly sins arise within families, cliques, at the office etc. Anyone can misuse the system especially if they have the power to do so. This applies certainly to the Baker Act and people who might use it for nefarious designs. I will bet "she's crazy" comes up a lot in nasty child and senior care custody disputes.