Building a better Baker Act, one legislative session at a time
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
August 21, 2023 Monday
ROP Edition
The Baker Act was groundbreaking when it first passed in the early 1970s because it created new protections for individuals with mental illness while getting them treatment. Today, it is still a very important part of Florida law for that same reason.
The Baker Act allows individuals believed to have a mental illness who are dangerous to oneself or others to be deprived of liberty so that they can be medically assessed and stabilized. It’s a complicated law, and it interacts with many other laws governing schools, nursing homes and hospitals – places where individuals may be found in serious need of help.
How the law applies, especially where children are involved, has been a major source of controversy, and that was one reason, back in 2017, I passed my first piece of legislation, House Bill 1183, in the Florida House of Representatives. The bill created a Baker Act Task Force to investigate the use of the Baker Act on minors, with particular focus on children sent for medical evaluation by school authorities. I felt as though I had hit a significant milestone in just my first year in the Legislature.
The task force met for six months after the bill was signed into law and provided a list of recommendations to the Legislature. Once these recommendations were provided, I knew my work on mental health for minors was not done. To the contrary, it had only begun.
In 2019, I filed bills based on several of the task force’s recommendations, House Bills 361 and 363, both of which were passed and signed into law. I followed that up in the 2020 legislative session with House Bill 945, which requires the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration to identify children who are frequent users of crisis stabilization services and to meet the behavioral health needs of such children. This bill, signed into law by the governor, also created protocols for Mobile Response Teams (“MRTs”) for de-escalation of behavioral health events at schools, a measure lauded in a statewide grand jury report assessing our state’s mental health framework.
This year, the Baker Act has continued to be one of my top issues as I proposed House Bill 829, on operation and administration of the Baker Act.
House Bill 829 requires the Department of Children and Families to update and maintain key information resources that help the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers, school administrators, clinicians, facility directors and others who implement the Baker Act to understand the law and act correctly. It was also passed and signed by the governor, and it will preserve an individual’s liberty while ensuring those who truly need treatment will get it.
Looking forward to my final year in the House of Representatives before being term-limited, I plan on continuing my quest to improve the mental health framework in our state. I filed another bill on this subject this year that did not pass, which would increase behavioral health performance requirements for Medicaid managed care plans covering children. In 2024, re-filing this bill and making sure children get the help they need will be among my top priorities.
State Rep. David Silvers,
D-West Palm Beach, represents District 89 in the Florida House of Representatives.
More work ahead on Fla. mental health laws
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
August 17, 2023 Thursday
1 Edition
Florida has experienced a significant increase in psychiatric crisis hospitalizations of children and teens in recent years, and an increase in those children being repeatedly hospitalized in the same year.
The 2024 legislative session will be my last before I term out of the Florida House, and I plan on continuing my quest to improve the mental health framework in our state. I plan on refiling legislation from the 2023 Legislative session that increases Medicaid requirements for managed care plan behavioral health performance for children.
The Florida Medicaid program has a significant role in behavioral health care because it insures a disproportionate share of the children are repeatedly hospitalized for behavioral health problems.
My first piece of legislation in 2017, House Bill 1183, focused on mental health for minors, particularly with regard to the Baker Act statute. The bill passed both chambers and was signed into law by then Gov. Scott. As a result of the legislation, a Baker Act Task Force was created to investigate the use of the Baker Act on minors with particular focus on children sent for medical evaluation by school authorities.
The task force met for six months after the bill was signed into law and provided a list of recommendations to the Legislature. I filed, passed, and had signed into law legislation from the 2019 session that implemented several recommendations provided by the Baker Act Task Force, House Bills 361 and 363. In the 2020 legislative session House Bill 945 passed, requiring the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Healthcare Administration to identify children who are high users of crisis stabilization services and to meet behavioral health needs of such children. For the 2023 Legislative Session, I focused on mental health legislation by proposing, passing, and having signed into law House Bill 829, Operation and Administration of the Baker Act.
The Baker Act was groundbreaking when it first passed in the early 1970s because it created protections for individuals with mental illness while getting them treatment. The Baker Act allows individuals believed to have a mental illness and dangerous to oneself or others to be deprived of liberty so that they can be medically assessed and stabilized. It’s a complicated law, and it interacts with many other laws governing schools, nursing homes, and hospitals – places where individuals may be found in serious need of help.
House Bill 829 requires the Department of Children and Families to update and maintain key information resources that help the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers, school administrators, clinicians, facility directors, and others who implement the Baker Act to understand the law and act correctly. Doing so will preserve an individual’s liberty while ensuring those who truly need the treatment will get it.
Increasing Medicaid requirements for managed care plan behavioral health performance for children is my next priority.
The legislation is extremely important in addressing the shortfalls in our mental health care system, as it would require the Agency for Health Care Administration to establish network requirements for each type of behavioral health provider serving Medicaid enrollees and improve its testing of behavioral health provider networks.
State Rep. David Silvers is a Democrat who represents District 89 in Palm Beach County.
Your Turn
Rep. David Silvers
Guest columnist
David Silvers launches 2026 campaign to succeed Lori Berman in SD 26
Democratic Rep. David Silvers is running for Senate — though it’ll be a few years before Palm Beach County voters see his name on a ballot again.
Silvers, who has served in the Florida House since 2016, filed paperwork to seek the seat representing Senate District 26 in 2026, when Democratic Sen. Lori Berman terms out.
Between when he reaches his own term limits in the Legislature’s lower chamber next year and then, he intends to spend time with his family while preparing for his campaign and contributing to local advocacy efforts.
“I am excited to announce my candidacy for (SD 26),” Silvers said in a statement Tuesday, shortly after the Florida Division of Elections listed him as an active candidate.
“In the Florida Legislature, I’ve worked with my colleagues to champion smart policies that benefit Palm Beach County and our state. I’m incredibly proud of the efforts made on mental health and criminal justice reform, in addition to supporting public education, women’s rights and our senior families.”
Last week, Silvers confirmed he was canceling a bid for Senate District 24 to avoid a “costly Democratic (Primary)” with Palm Beach Commissioner Mack Bernard. Bernard and Sen. Bobby Powell, who currently represents SD 24, are hoping to swap seats next year.
“I’m proud to support Commissioner Mack Bernard for (SD 24) and look forward to working with him in the future,” he said at the time.
He then also confirmed plans to succeed Berman in 2026 in SD 26, which spans a large portion of Palm Beach County, including parts of Belle Glade, Boca Raton, Briny Breezes, Delray Beach, Gulf Stream, Highland Beach, Ocean Ridge, South Bay and Wellington.
A cable, e-commerce and publishing executive who currently represents House District 89, Silvers sponsored six bills during the 2023 Legislative Session.
Despite being in the minority, the Lake Clark Shores resident made up for it in effectiveness. Of the six measures Silvers carried this year, five passed and two already received the Governor’s signature despite Democrats being outnumbered more than twofold in the Legislature.