42 forced to go to hosp in December under mayor’s psych plan for homeless
City outreach workers brought at least 42 New Yorkers to hospitals against their will in December as part of Mayor Adams’ controversial new mental health initiative, administration officials said Monday.
Officials including senior members of the NYPD, FDNY and Department of Health disclosed the figure while testifying before a City Council oversight hearing on the new initiative.
Announced by Adams in November, the policy instructs NYPD officers and outreach workers to bring people into hospitals for evaluation — regardless of consent — if they appear “mentally unwell” and “likely” to cause harm to themselves or others. That directive is far broader than previous standards, and some mental health experts and homeless advocates have slammed the policy as overly aggressive and potentially legally problematic.
Jason Hansman, a deputy director in Adams’ Office of Community Mental Health, testified before the Council that the actual number of involuntary hospital transfers in December was likely higher than 42 because that number only covers a certain outreach category.
“It’s very fragmented and very dependent on the type of removal,” Hansman said of the data the administration maintains on involuntary transfers.
The 42 recorded transfers were conducted by the city’s mobile crisis teams, which are made up of social workers and other behavioral health professionals, said Jamie Neckles, a senior official at the Department of Health.
Any transfers conducted by NYPD officers over the same time period would not be included in the data subset, Neckles said. NYPD officials at the hearing said they did not have data available on any transfers carried out by its officers.
The administration officials declined to provide specifics about the 42 transfers, including details about where they took place.
Democratic Council members at the hearing were irked by the lack of data.
“I am deeply, deeply concerned about the plan,” said Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban, a progressive Democrat and former public defender, adding that she believes the policy will result in draconian “sweeps” of homeless people.
City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams concurred and said he is troubled by the fact that the policy does not appear to be paired with a boost in resources for hospitals to accommodate more patients. He added the policy opens the door to involuntarily hospitalizations of people “even if they pose no risk of harm to themselves or others,” and raised concern about a history of NYPD officers being heavy-handed with people suffering from mental health issues.
“It could not only be dangerous but also a waste of resources,” Williams said.
Juanita Holmes, the chief of the NYPD’s Training Bureau, vowed that the department has devised a training program for how officers should interact with individuals suffering from mental illness.
She said 87% of all patrol officers have undergone the training, which includes a 25-minute interactive lecture and a video.
In an appearance on NY1 before the Council hearing, Adams defended his plan and stressed that he wants it to primarily be carried out by mental health professionals, not cops.
“This is a humane program that’s not being led by police officers, it’s being led by mental health professionals, and it is not something for anyone who’s dealing with a mental health issue, it is an individual who has reached a level that they cannot take care of their basic needs and they’re in danger to themselves,” he said. “That is the right thing and a humane thing to do.”