Mental Health Watchdog Hosting Webinar: Florida’s Foster Children and the Baker Act
According to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Center, every year, tens of thousands of foster youths suffer damage to their health because of being unnecessarily prescribed multiple psychotropic medications.
The headquarters for CCHR Florida are located in downtown Clearwater.
There are around 23,000 children in foster care in Florida. Nationwide about 50% will not complete high school and almost 95% will never earn a college degree.
Just as we see in the eldercare industry, those in charge of children can be stretched too thin or not given sufficient resources. This can then lead to the use of chemical restraint as a solution.”
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, June 1, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a mental health watchdog, is hosting a complimentary online event on June 4th, “Foster Kids & The Baker Act”. The event is being held to raise awareness and Case Workers, Guardian Ad Litem, caregivers and foster parents, are all invited to join the conversation about the flaws in the foster care system and how many of these children end up being sent for involuntary psychiatric examinations, called a Baker Act.— Diane Stein, President CCHR Florida
Additionally, more than half of foster care children received a psychiatric/mental health diagnosis, compared to just 16.6% of income-eligible kids on Medicaid. According to available information, one out of four children in the foster care system between the ages of 6 and 17 are administered at least one psychotropic drug.
During the event, attendees will learn:
- What foster children experience when they are thrown into the system and how this relates to the the parents, guardians and caregivers.
- Basic rights which are impacted by the foster care system.
- How the Baker Act is applied to foster kids.
- What steps can be taken to better protect these children from abuse.
The complimentary virtual event is being held on Saturday, June 4, 2022 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM and anyone wishing to register may do so by calling (727) 442-8820.
CCHR is dedicated to the protection of children and has been working to restore and protect the mental health human rights of all Floridians for decades. For information on how to protect your rights or to report a Baker Act please call 1-800-782-2878.
About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health,’” he wrote in March 1969.
Sources:
Children in foster care by age group in Florida https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/6244-children-in-foster-care-by-age-group#detailed/2/11/false/574,1729,37,871,870,573,869,36,868,867/1889,2616,2617,2618,2619,122/12988,12989
Higher Education for Foster Youth https://nfyi.org/issues/higher-education/#:~:text=Only%2050%25%20of%20children%20in%20foster%20care%20will%20finish%20high%20school.
Florida foster care and adoption guidelines https://www.adoptuskids.org/adoption-and-foster-care/how-to-adopt-and-foster/state-information/florida#:~:text=There%20are%20about%2019%2C000%20children,placement%20are%20without%20identified%20families
Moved 17 times in one year and involuntarily committed 40 times: The systems that failed a Florida teen https://www.news-press.com/story/news/special-reports/2020/01/09/mental-health-foster-care-system-florida-teen-anber/2837628001/
Human Rights Expert: Why We Need a Foster Child Bill of Rights https://www.newsweek.com/human-rights-expert-why-we-need-foster-child-bill-rights-1675978
Poor and Foster Care Children More Likely to be Diagnosed and Treated with Psychiatric Drugs https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/07/poor-foster-care-children-likely-diagnosed-treated-psychiatric-drugs/
Ensuring Foster Youth Are Only Prescribed Psychotropic Medication When in Their Best Interest https://www.pcori.org/research-results/2019/ensuring-foster-youth-are-only-prescribed-psychotropic-medication-when-their-best-interest#:~:text=One%20in%20four%20children%20in,drugs%20at%20the%20same%20time.
Diane Stein
Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
+1 727-422-8820
email us here
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