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Education Dive
Special needs students often pay price in efforts to strengthen school safety
Florida laws intended to flag potential threats early are impacting
students with disabilities, as seen in highly publicized incidents of
young students institutionalized following "tantrums."
Naaz Modan
Feb. 24, 2020
It was nearing 8:30 p.m. on October 24 when Jessica Davis called the police, searching for her missing teenage son.
“They had no answers for me,” Davis said.
After multiple calls to the school and the police department, she only
knew a few things for certain: Jaden, who was attending Duval County
Public Schools at the time of his disappearance, climbed on the bus
that morning but never made it home — and that no one, including the
school her son attended, would answer her questions.
Four days later, when Jaden, who had already been diagnosed with ADHD,
was discharged from a mental health holding facility where he was sent
from school, Davis got her answer: Her son had been “Baker
Acted.”
How the Baker Act comes into play
The Florida Mental Health Act of 1971, commonly known as the "Baker
Act," allows for minors with a suspected illness to be involuntarily
admitted to a mental health facility and examined if a law enforcement
officer or other official decides the student poses an immediate threat
to themselves or others.
The statute has proven useful to treat children or adults who show
suicidal, homicidal or other aggressive behaviors, like pulling a
knife, that could result in bodily injury.
But increasingly, schools in Florida are using the statute against
special needs students — especially those with behavioral or
developmental disabilities — without parental consent. And it's
happening during incidents that parents, lawyers and advocates believe
could instead have been de-escalated through proper intervention.
Up until the recent passage of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Public Safety Act, criteria under the Baker Act prevented students with
disabilities from being involuntarily held at mental health facilities
under the 1971 statute if they had family members or friends who could
intervene and help prevent any threat of substantial harm.
Stephen Talmadge, a Baker Act attorney and psychologist, said children
in the cases he sees are often just having “temper tantrums.” Other
times, the statute is invoked against students on the autism spectrum
after they are triggered by surroundings or interactions.
Children with autism face challenges with social skills, repetitive
behaviors, or speech and nonverbal communication because of their
disability. Other behavioral and developmental disabilities also come
with symptoms that can be exacerbated if educators and staff aren’t
adequately trained to address their needs.
Jaden's IEP, in fact, suggests the school was already aware of some
teachers who did not "know how to handle him when he gets distracted,"
and that "instead of finding productive ways to help, they can escalate
the situation."
Many cases also involve the statute being used as a disciplinary tool
for students or their parents, according to lawyers. Lynn Ambert, whose
son is high-functioning but autistic, reported being threatened with
the Baker Act if she failed to pick up her child from school after a
“bad day” or otherwise help school officials get her son’s behavior
under control.
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