The Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has been recognized for its efforts to protect mental health human rights and address coercive psychiatry practices in the state. CCHR Florida was one of four finalists in the 2024 Impact Communications Awards in the Activism category.
Coercive psychiatry, which includes involuntary examination, commitment, and treatment, had become a major source of mental health human rights violations in Florida. CCHR Florida’s volunteer network focused on exposing the abuse of the state’s controversial Baker Act law, which allows for hundreds of thousands of involuntary psychiatric examinations each year.
As a mental health watchdog, CCHR has long fought to restore basic human rights in the field, including informed consent regarding psychiatric diagnoses, risks of treatments, the right to medical alternatives, and the right to refuse harmful treatments.
Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida, developed a communications strategy involving investigative news stories and social media to expose Baker Act abuses. By teaming up with like-minded organizations, they created a grassroots movement that led to laws reducing the number of Baker Acts for three straight years.
In total, the campaign reached tens of millions, resulting in positive changes that obtained the goal of protecting mental health human rights.
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