Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 2
Committee: Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use
0:10 Let's go choir please good
0:10 morning and welcome to the New
0:14 York City hybrid hand and the
0:17 communion mint our material
0:19 substance use please sell and
0:21 all electronic devices at this
0:23 time
0:23 . You you have any questions
0:24 please use your hand one of us
0:26 is sergeant at arms repairing
0:28 assist you
0:29 to begin good morning everyone r
0:39 Tiffany aban chair of the New
0:40 York council's committee on
0:42 mental health and substance
0:43 use before we begin I'd like
0:45 to recognize that we are
0:46 joined by the following
0:48 council members council
0:49 members Schulman Lee all
0:51 divall arriola on zum Felder
0:54 and we are also joined by the
0:55 public advocate
0:56 . Today's oversight topic is
0:57 from crisis to care how New
1:00 York City connects New York
1:01 er's to mental health services g
1:05 two bills introduction 722
1:07 sponsored by council shulman
1:08 which would require the
1:09 quarterly reporting and
1:10 publication of mental health
1:13 emergency response data
1:13 relating to be heard and pre
1:16 considered introduction we
1:17 have a number from ok uh
1:21 sponsored by councilmember Lee
1:22 and myself which would would
1:23 establish a task force t
1:24 ostudy the current 908 system
1:26 and create a public education
1:28 campaign on mental health
1:29 awareness.
1:29 I want to begin today's
1:30 hearing by speaking briefly
1:32 about the case of jabez chuck
1:35 uh chuck robb ord e newyorker
1:38 from jamaica queens his story
1:40 reflects the broader systemic
1:42 challenges in how we respond
1:44 to and support individuals
1:45 living with a serious mental
1:47 illness.
1:47 Jabba's is 23 years old and
1:49 lives with schizophrenia and
1:50 receives treatment and
1:52 medication
1:52 . After a mental health crisis
1:53 in his family called 908 and
1:56 requested a mobile crisis team
1:59 and the team didn't arrive at
2:00 his home until two days later
2:02 . He wasn't taken to the
2:03 hospital and his family was
2:05 then advised to request
2:07 involuntary transport after
2:08 which jabez was discharged
2:09 after just three days.
2:10 His family attempted t
2:12 oenroll him in an intensive
2:13 daily treatment program but he
2:15 was placed on a wait list.
2:18 And I just want to point out
2:20 that a lot of what we end up
2:22 seeing and talking about and a
2:25 person life like this that
2:28 culminated in a police officer
2:30 shooting him while he was in a
2:32 mental health crisis.
2:34 People will watch the video
2:37 and say well I don't know this
2:38 is complicated it's justified
2:40 because this young man was
2:41 holding a knife but it does
2:42 not take into context every
2:45 single moment.
2:46 That him and his family was
2:48 failed that he could have had
2:50 access to a sustained
2:52 continuum of care that could
2:55 prevented the crisis and it
2:56 does not change the fact that
2:59 these officers were
3:01 fundamentally the wrong
3:03 responder period and it could
3:04 have had a fatal outcome and I
3:07 I mean we're lucky that he is
3:10 still alive today but also
3:11 that trauma is one that'
3:12 sgoing to last a lifetime for
3:14 him and his family and it is
3:16 an utter failure by our City
3:17 that that is how this
3:20 culminated
3:20 . I think this moment points
3:22 to one of the most persistent
3:23 gaps in our mental health
3:24 system and it's the space
3:26 between stabilization and
3:29 sustained care a hospital stay
3:30 or crisis intervention however
3:32 necessary is not a destination t
3:35 timely connection to programs
3:37 like intensive mobile
3:38 treatment assertive community
3:41 treatment long term community
3:42 based supports individuals
3:43 like jabez are left t
3:45 onavigate and often fragmented
3:46 system on their own and
3:48 families are left holding the
3:49 weight of that failure and on
3:51 the morning of January 26
3:53 jabba's experienced another
3:54 crisis his family once again
3:58 sought emergency assistance
3:59 and what followed was a tragic
4:02 encounter with law enforcement n
4:05 prevented
4:06 . And so this case illustrates
4:07 the profound consequences of
4:09 gaps in coordination and of a
4:10 system that too often treats
4:12 crisis response as the end of
4:14 care rather than the beginning
4:15 of it.
4:15 And when institutions are
4:17 under resourced families
4:18 cannot access timely support
4:19 and when weightless and red
4:21 tape block access to ongoing
4:22 treatment the burden falls
4:24 hardest on those who are the
4:27 most vulnerable.
4:27 And at its core connecting
4:28 New York er's to mental health
4:29 care is not just a public
4:30 safety issue it's a matter of
4:32 dignity people living with
4:33 mental illness are not
4:34 problems to be managed or
4:35 crises to be contained they
4:38 are our neighbors our family
4:39 members our colleagues they
4:42 deserve the same opportunity
4:43 as anyone else to live full
4:45 meaningful lives into the
4:47 active value value members of
4:49 their communities and when we
4:50 fail to provide timely
4:52 sustained and compassionate
4:53 care we are not just failing a
4:54 system metric we are telling a
4:56 person that they do not belong e
4:58 them other and that is a
5:00 message that no New yorker
5:02 should ever receive and we owe
5:03 it to jabez and to every New
5:05 yorker like him to do better
5:07 not only in how we respond t
5:10 ocrises but in how you ensure
5:11 that every person who needs
5:12 sustained mental health
5:14 support can actually access it
5:16 effective care means more than
5:18 stabilization it means
5:19 supporting people and building
5:20 lives that they find
5:22 meaningful maintaining housing d
5:24 participating fully in their
5:26 communities programs like
5:27 intensive mobile treatment and
5:28 a sort of community treatment
5:30 exists precisely to provide
5:31 that kind of holistic person
5:34 centered support and we must
5:35 ensure that they are funded
5:36 that there staffed and
5:38 accessible to all who need
5:39 them
5:39 . And I share this story t
5:41 ocenter the voices and
5:43 experiences of the New York
5:44 er's we serve
5:44 . Through this oversight
5:46 hearing we aim to strengthen
5:47 the very systems that connect
5:48 people to care from the first
5:49 call to 980 to the long term
5:52 treatment and community
5:53 connection that make a full
5:54 life possible.
5:55 That's what this hearing is
5:56 about so in closing I would
5:57 like to thank the
6:00 administration for being here
6:01 as well as the committee staff
6:02 who worked to prepare for this
6:04 hearing and my own staff and
6:06 I'm going to now pass the
6:08 microphone to council shulman
6:09 for a brief statement
6:10 . Thank you very much chair
6:12 and I just before I get into
6:14 my statement I want to echo
6:15 what the council members said
6:17 and also you know the we talk
6:19 about I used to work in the
6:21 health and hospital system
6:22 some years back and even that
6:25 bridge doesn't work because
6:26 folks come in and then they
6:29 because there's no money t
6:30 okeep them they don't keep themt
6:32 on the street so that's not
6:35 that's not a response that's
6:36 not an answer and the case
6:37 she's talking about there's
6:39 thousands of them like that so
6:42 I want to talk about good
6:45 morning everyone a two chair
6:46 cab on thank you for having me
6:48 here and members of the
6:49 committee on mental health and
6:51 substance use and council
6:52 shulman chair of the committee
6:53 on health I I appreciate the
6:56 opportunity to speak today
6:57 about this important
6:58 legislation that I have as
7:00 many of you know we are in the
7:01 midst of a mental health
7:02 crisis both locally and
7:05 nationally it's estimated that
7:06 about 23% of all u s adults
7:08 live with a mental illness
7:09 this is in line with the 25%
7:11 of adult New yorkers
7:12 experiencing a mental health
7:14 disorder in a given year.
7:15 Intro 7 22 is about
7:18 transparency and data which we
7:18 don't have interestingly
7:20 enough it would require the
7:22 office of community mental
7:22 health to report quarterly on
7:25 every 9 11 call identified as
7:27 involving a mental health
7:29 emergency including how those
7:30 assistance response division
7:35 be heard team responded and
7:37 submit that report to the
7:38 Mayor and City Council speaker s
7:42 legislation would require the
7:44 nypd and fdny to include the
7:46 unique identifiers generated
7:48 by their respective computer
7:50 aided dispatch systems and to
7:51 indicate whether be heard was
7:53 dispatched and able to respond e
7:56 we cannot improve what we do
7:57 not measure
7:58 . If we are serious about
7:59 building a public health
8:01 centered crisis response
8:03 system we need clear
8:05 accessible information about
8:06 where be heard is working
8:06 where it is not and why
8:07 . This data will also help
8:10 emergency responders better
8:11 prepare for emergency calls I
8:12 want to thank the committee on
8:13 mental health and substance
8:15 use staff for their work on
8:16 this legislation and I urge my
8:18 colleagues to support intro 7
8:19 22 thank you chair
8:21 . Thank you and now we hear
8:23 from public advocate jimani
8:25 Williams
8:25 . Thank you I always mention
8:26 my name is jemaine Williams
8:27 proper garrett for the City of
8:28 New York I'd like to thank
8:30 check oban and members of the
8:31 committee on mental health and
8:33 substitutes for holding this
8:34 very important hearing almost
8:35 one in four adult New York
8:36 er's experiencing mental
8:37 health disorder in a given
8:38 year mental illness affects
8:39 people across all communities
8:41 demographics wealthy and poor
8:42 young old black and white but
8:43 not everyone is able to access
8:44 treatment and not everyone who
8:46 accesses treatment gets the
8:47 kind of care they need there
8:49 are many reasons why New York
8:50 was who need mental health
8:51 care either do not or unable
8:52 to access it including cost
8:55 stigma language barriers and
8:56 logistics a report published
8:57 last year by do hm h found
8:59 that in 20 23 about 14% of New
9:02 York is almost a million
9:03 people reported that there was
9:04 a time in the past where they
9:06 did not get the mental health
9:07 treatment they needed as is
9:08 the case of course health care
9:10 broadly more broadly black
9:12 brown indigenous worse when it
9:13 comes to receiving effective
9:15 mental health treatment there
9:16 are few instances when the
9:18 police should respond to a
9:19 person in mental health crises.
9:21 More often the presence
9:22 presence of particularly
9:24 uniform only actually escalate
9:25 in already tense and
9:26 precarious situation most
9:27 recently we have seen this
9:28 play out in the shooting of
9:30 jeb shek party a young man
9:32 diagnosed with schizophrenia
9:33 experiencing a mental health
9:34 crisis
9:34 . According to his family who
9:36 called emergency services
9:38 requested ms not police miss
9:40 shock party was not a threat
9:42 until police arrived in the
9:44 presence escalated the
9:45 situation I am thankful that
9:46 tripod is alive and recovering
9:47 from being shot four times a
9:48 and I'm still decision t
9:51 ocriminally charge him at best
9:52 I've heard is to help him get
9:53 care but I'm not sure if that.
9:54 Was the best way I want t
9:57 oassociate myself with the
9:59 . Words of the chair about
10:00 very often we see the last
10:03 second that gets played out
10:04 without everything that
10:04 happened before what is
10:06 especially tragic about the
10:07 case of mr potty is the fact
10:08 that his family repeatedly
10:09 tried to connect him to crisis
10:10 care in the month leading up
10:12 to the shooting in of last
10:14 year mobile mobile crisis team
10:15 visited him and left without
10:17 transporting him to hospital
10:18 . Later that month police
10:20 transported truck party to a
10:21 hospital but he was discharged
10:23 after three days due t
10:24 ounderstaffing cycling through
10:26 hospitals without effective
10:27 connection to care is
10:29 Unfortunately common martial d
10:32 charlison go oh I'm sorry who
10:34 pushed melissa elissa gold in
10:35 front of a train in training
10:36 and 22 had the hospital at
10:38 least 20 times according to
10:39 his lawyer they either cycling
10:41 in our hospital and not of
10:43 rikers island mental health
10:44 care must go hand in hand with
10:45 housing a stable connection to
10:47 care is nearly impossible when
10:48 a person does not have a place
10:49 to live and the stress of
10:51 homelessness and effective
10:52 treatment.
10:52 As a part of of why 20 26
10:54 New York state budget going t
10:56 okathy hopeless insisted on
10:57 expanding the criteria t
10:59 oinvoluntary commit someone for
11:00 psychiatric treatment now the
11:01 interpretation that a person's
11:02 is unable to care for their
11:04 basic needs not just that they
11:05 present a danger to themselves
11:07 or others is enough t
11:08 oinvoluntarily ticket a person
11:10 for mental health evaluation
11:11 . A tool which while is
11:12 important should be a last
11:14 resort with this New law with
11:15 this law now place we need
11:16 forceful oversight to prevent
11:18 abuses to determine whether
11:19 people in the field can
11:20 accurately fairly equitably
11:22 assess individuals under the
11:23 New criteria and provide help
11:24 rather than perpetuate harm it
11:26 is also critical to ensure
11:28 that when someone is
11:29 hospitalized they are placed
11:29 on a continuum of care t
11:30 oensure that people are not
11:32 cycling through the hospitals
11:35 or homelessness as though it
11:36 can be a life saving tool is
11:39 important to also named the
11:40 limitations and potential
11:41 harms effective of immediate
11:45 insistence on involuntary
11:46 treatment hospitalization is
11:48 destabilizing and can cause a
11:49 portion to lose their job or
11:50 housing the goal of
11:51 hospitalization is not long
11:52 term care but short term
11:54 stabilization.
11:54 And a person who is
11:55 struggling with homelessness
11:56 or serious mental illness
11:58 prior to hospitalization is
11:59 less equipped to comply with
12:00 the longer term treatment plan t
12:04 additional community based
12:04 support.
12:05 Research shows that
12:06 involuntary commitment can
12:07 negatively affect a person's
12:09 earnings
12:09 . Which leads support outcomes.
12:12 Distrust with health care
12:13 which is problematic when a
12:14 person needs voluntary
12:15 continual care outside the
12:17 hospital
12:17 . Every person with a mental
12:18 health condition is different