Florida's involuntary treatment law is known as the Baker Act (F.S. 394, Part I). The Baker Act Reporting Center receives, processes and analyzes statewide Baker Act data. We have received data on short term, involuntary examination since 1997 and on involuntary inpatient placement orders and involuntary outpatient placement orders since 2005. The Baker Act requires that these data be submitted to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. We receive these data on behalf of the AHCA. Data reporting requirements from the Baker Act are summarized in this report. There are additional data reporting requirements in the Baker Act that require the Clerks of Court to send copies of certain forms to the Florida Department of Children and Families. This information is also contained in the report mentioned above.

The Florida Department of Children and Families maintains a website with information about the Baker Act. It can be found here.

We use these data to produce the statutorily required annual report of Baker Act data for the AHCA, multiple ad hoc reports for various stakeholders, and to conduct research and other policy analysis. We take data security very seriously. Paper and electronic data are protected with multiple layers of security and individually identifying information is never released in reports or research findings. Our receipt, retention and use of Baker Act data for annual reports, ad hoc reports, and basic descriptive analyses is approved and reviewed annually by the USF Institutional Review Board.