Shady Mental Facility Is Trying To Keep My Son Locked Up

LOCATION: Florida

This post about my 16 year old son. All names are changed for privacy. I noticed that my son Bryan has not been himself for the past couple months since the school started. I tried talking to him but he had a hard time opening up despite me mentioning repeatedly that he can always tell me anything. on Monday he finally opened up and said that he feels depressed and has been having some suicidal thoughts in the past. Bryan has a very close relationship with me and my husband and he always trusts us with his problems. He just sometimes has a hard time opening up and expressing his feelings and problems. I called his primary doctor immediately and they advised me to take him to the emergency room. From the emergency room they transferred him The Mental Facility (MF for short) under Baker Act.

He was admitted to MF on Monday at 11:30pm. When I came home I read the reviews of the facility and they were extremely alarming. Most of them talk about insurance fraud and making patients stay longer than needed while not receiving adequate care. The next day (this Tuesday) I went to visit him during the allowed visitation hours from 3:30 to 4:30pm. While there with my husband we talked to him and he seemed very stable and we talked about his treatment plan. We got him a psychiatrist and a therapist he can see the same day he is released. He felt very good and pretty happy that he will get the treatment and things will be better.

Being aware that they like to keep people longer than necessary, I went to talk to someone and asked them for Bryan to be released right after 72 hours as mandated by law, and I mentioned that I got him a psychiatrist and a therapist to care for him. The person I spoke to said she is not sure that he can be released because he is defiant. I told her that I don't believe that is my son because he has no history of that kind of behavior. He is shy and very receptive to instructions. Then she slowly changed her mind and said maybe it was someone else. When we asked how Bryan looks like, she described a boy with blonde curly hair (my hair is blonde). Bryan has curly brown hair. We showed her Bryan's picture and then suddenly she said it was actually not Bryan who was defiant.

Today (Wednesday) I received a very disturbing phonecall from the facility. The person introduced themselves as a psychiatrist and that she is here to talk about Brandon (yes Brandon, not Bryan). So I corrected her and said his name is Bryan. She then said that he said in front of everyone that he wants to jump off the bridge and hang himself so they will have to keep him longer. This is a complete contradiction to the visit before and I am afraid that he is being mistreated in that facility. We need help to get Bryan out of there so he can get real care by real professionals and not people who want to just grab some money through insurance fraud. I am going to visit Bryan today again. Visiting hours are from 3:30 to 4:30pm. I already called Bryan's insurance to report insurance fraud. And I also emailed and explained the situation to his school counselor and I'm still waiting for her reply.

How do we navigate this situation?

If they don't release him within the 72 hours what should we do, assuming they don't file a court order? The representative from his health insurance company advised that after 72 hours expire we can sign Against Medical Advice (AMA) form and that they have to release him immediately and we will be responsible for his actions after that.

What should I do if they even refuse to release him with the AMA form? From their reviews this sounds like a real possibility to me.

What else can I do to advocate for my son Bryan?