Annette Christy
Title: Research Assistant Professor
Specialty: Florida’s Baker Act Data
Contact Information:
Department of Mental Health Law & Policy USF Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute
Phone: (813) 974-7419
E-mail this USF Collaborative Partner
Details:
Topics of expertise:
Florida’s Baker Act Data.
Educational and Professional Background:
Bachelor’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Purdue University. Master’s degree of Science in Research and Ph.D. in Applied/Experimental Psychology from Saint Louis University. National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors post-doctoral fellowship in Mental Health Services Research at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute. Active research grant with the National Institute of Mental Health.
What was your USF Collaborative Grant and what did you learn from it?
“We studied acute mental health care services for children in Pinellas County (FL) as well as statewide. This project was the first to look at patterns of mental health services for children who experience a short-term, involuntary or ‘Baker Act’ examination and to explore some of the factors that may affect the lives of these children and the system more generally. This is an important topic given that approximately 16 percent of the 100,000-plus Baker Act examinations initiated each year are for children.”
News you can use:
“The report from the USF Collaborative grant presents seven key findings including information about system findings, certificate and evidence type of the examination, seasonality of Baker Act examinations for children, repeated examinations, the likely importance of a history of trauma, as well as useful information about the use of therapeutic foster care and intensive case management services. This report and others relevant to the Baker Act data may be found at http://bakeract.fmhi.usf.edu. FMHI receives no dedicated state resources for the processing of over 100,000 Baker Act forms for the state and the analyses of these data, representing a public services by FMHI for the state.”
What do you think is the biggest issue in your field right now?
“The biggest issue right now is trying to understand how various factors, services, and/or systems work together to change people’s lives. My research involves studying multiple aspects of mental health services and mental health law. The longer I work in this area the more I realize that finding answers to how to improve the lives of persons with mental illness and the system more generally involves a complex web of inter-related factors. While looking at the Baker Act data is an important first step, it must be investigated within the context of multiple other factors.”
What have you learned from your research that you wish every professional knew?
“How little we know about involuntary examination and treatment for children, both at a local, state and national level and how much we can contribute to this knowledge with our skills and access to data at FMHI. The importance of strong working relationships with community partners, essential to conducting this research, can also not be stressed enough."
