Florida's Baker Act
Parents often wonder where to find help when a child or teen may need inpatient mental health care under Florida’s Baker Act.
The doors of our Emergency Center are always open. However, our hospital is not a Baker Act Receiving Facility or licensed by the state of Florida to provide inpatient psychiatric care.
In the Emergency Center, physicians and nurses evaluate the child for any medical problems that need immediate care. When an otherwise healthy child is brought to our Emergency Center with thoughts of harming themselves or others, they will need a behavioral health receiving facility’s services. Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital does not provide this service, so the child will need to be transferred to another facility. There are times when the wait for transfer can last many hours and the search for an available facility may extend throughout Florida and into surrounding states.
Although Johns Hopkins All Children’s will always provide an emergency medical examination to any person that comes to our Emergency Center and stabilize any emergency medical condition we detect, taking your child directly to a Baker Act Receiving Facility can help avoid this delay.
You can search for help available in your zip code by searching from the Department of Children and Families Get Help page. Additionally, here is a list of Baker Act Receiving Facilities, plus crisis information phone lines for the state and by county:
If your child has a life-threatening emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Regional Facilities
For a mental health crisis, take your child to the nearest Baker Act Receiving Facility for an evaluation:
Under 18:
Personal Enrichment Through Mental Health Services (PEMHS)
727-541-4628
11254 58th Street, Pinellas Park, FL 33782
Mease Dunedin Hospital
727-733-1111
601 Main Street, Dunedin, FL 34698
Suncoast Behavioral Health
4480 51st Street W, Bradenton, FL 34210
Gracepoint
5707 N 22nd Street, Tampa, FL 33610
Age 18 and Above:
St. Joseph’s Hospital
813-554-8500
3001 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33607
St. Anthony’s Hospital
727-825-1100
1200 7th Avenue N, St. Petersburg, FL 33705
Largo Medical Center
727-587-7667
201 14th Street SW, Largo, FL 33770
Windmoor
727-541-2646
11300 US Highway 19, Clearwater, FL 33764
Crisis Support
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Florida Alliance for Information and Referral Services
This service is an entry point to the 2-1-1 referral network system. For more information, visit their website at www.flairs.org/.
United Way, 2-1-1 Tampa Bay Cares, Pinellas
Phone: 2-1-1.
If calling from outside of Pinellas, but you are a resident of Pinellas, call 727-210-4212.
United Way, 2-1-1 of Manasota: Sarasota, Manatee & Desoto
Phone: 2-1-1.
If calling from outside of the county, but you are a resident of the three counties, call 941-308-4357.
United Way, 2-1-1 of Pasco County
Phone: 2-1-1.
If calling from outside of the county, but you are a resident of Pasco, call 727-845-3030.
2-1-1 Crisis Center of Tampa Bay – Hillsborough County
Phone: 2-1-1.
If calling from outside of the county, but you are a resident of Hillsborough, call 813-964-1964.
United Way of Central Florida, Polk, Hardee, and Highlands
Phone: 2-1-1.
If calling from outside of the county, but you are a resident of the three counties, call 863-648-1500 or 800-881-8929.