NYAPRS Note: NYAPRS joined other mental health advocates, criminal justice groups, and lawmakers at the NYS Capital yesterday to urge the legislature to pass Daniel’s Law this session. In a statement, NYAPRS Public Policy Director said that “Daniel’s Law will give New Yorkers in mental health crises an appropriate proven path to getting the help they need and deserve by addressing their mental health, substance use and related medical needs by providing people with immediate access to those who are best suited to help them: Peers and EMTs.
NYAPRS has long championed and demonstrated the extraordinary power and effectiveness of peers in supporting people through crisis. That’s why we worked so hard with Senator Brouk, Assemblymember Gunther and OMH in helping to craft peer led crisis stabilization centers.
Passage of Daniel’s Law will help divert people in acute states of distress from avoidable admissions and incarcerations…and terrible tragedies like the heartbreaking death of Daniel Prude in March 2020. It must be an essential step in New York’s new crisis continuum….along with the new 988 crisis line, the stabilization centers and respite centers.
Finally, it will be an essential measure to aid people and families in crisis and their communities…especially for communities of color who have utterly been failed by state and local mental health systems for generations.”
New York Lawmakers Call For Mental Health Measure Named In Honor Of Daniel Prude
By Nick Reisman and Spectrum News Staff City of Albany Jan. 25, 2023
New York state lawmakers, mental health care experts and criminal justice advocates gathered Wednesday in Albany to push for the passage of a measure named in honor of a man who died while in custody of the Rochester Police Department.
The proposal would create state and regional mental health units that would handle mental health crises instead of police. Units would consist of mental health workers, peers and EMTs.
The legislation is named in honor of Daniel Prude, who died while in the custody of the Rochester Police Department. Officers responded as Prude was experiencing a mental health crisis.
“It would completely the change the crisis response system that we have today, and ultimately what would happen is when we do have mental health professionals show up to to these crises, is that people are going to have their lives saved,” said Democratic state Sen. Samra Brouk, a sponsor of the legislation.
The bill is being considered amid a broader call in the wake of the pandemic for a bigger focus on mental health care. Gov. Kathy Hochul this year has proposed billions of dollars to expand mental health care programs as well as housing for people who are at risk of homelessness.
“More people are talking about mental health now and we’re seeing more resources put into a system that has been completely left crippled,” Brouk said.
During the incident on March 23, 2020, several police officers restrained Prude. He was naked on the ground and police placed a spit hood over his head. Prude lost consciousness during the restraint. He was taken to the hospital and placed on life support. He died on March 30. An autopsy reported Prude had the drug angel dust in his system. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by asphyxia. Following an investigation into the incident, the officers involved did not face any charges.
“They placed a spit hood over his head,” said Rochester Democratic Assemblyman Harry Bronson. “There was no compassion, no humanity, when he was held down by police officers.”
Creating mental health teams could lead to more peaceful outcomes for those struggling with mental health.
“Daniel’s Law teams will be able to de-escalate the crisis situation right there on the street and then we would be able to connect people with appropriate services in the communiity,” said Luke Sikinyi, the policy director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.
Opponents of the bill have brought up concerns over the safety of responders without law enforcement present. Republican state Senator Pat Gallivan, a former law enforcement officer, is skeptical of removing police entirely from such situations. “Oftentimes, we have situations when someone has a mental health issue, it involves someone who is agitated, someone with a weapon, someone who may be walking down the middle of the street who poses a danger to public safety, a danger to the public,” he said.
But Gallivan acknowledges police need more mental health care training. “That doesn’t mean though that we shouldn’t do a better job of training our law enforcement officers to recognize people who are having mental health issues and appropriately deal with that individual,” he said.
Advocates push for passage of Daniel’s Law in Albany (spectrumlocalnews.com)
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How “Daniel’s Law” Could Transform NY Mental-Health Crisis Response
By Alexander Lekhtman Filter Magazine January 24, 2023
A bill reintroduced in the New York state legislature on January 20 would fundamentally change how the state handles mental health emergencies. In place of police officers being first responders, it would create special civilian teams throughout the state, trained in nonviolent response. Named “Daniel’s Law,” it’s inspired by Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who was killed by police in Rochester when experiencing a mental health crisis in March 2020.
Senate Bill 2398, as it’s also known, is sponsored by Senator Samra G. Brouk and Assembly Member Harry Bronson, both Democrats who represent Rochester.
On January 25, the harm reduction organization VOCAL-NY..(joined with NYAPRS and a broad array of allied groups held).. an advocacy day in Albany, urging the passage of Daniel’s Law “to end the criminalization of mental illness and substance use disorder, especially in Black and brown communities.”
Daniel’s Law would create a statewide council and numerous smaller regional or local councils, responsible for setting up “emergency and crisis response services” for incidents related to mental health, substance use disorder or disabilities. Rather than law enforcement officials, these councils would be made of people with direct experience or professional background in mental health care, medicine, substance use treatment, disability justice or emergency services.
“When we found out about the killing of Daniel Prude, [we] organized the community responses … but we also recognized that doing it in Rochester wasn’t enough.”
The state council would work with the state commissioners of mental health and addiction services to approve emergency and crisis service plans submitted by the regional or local councils. Its members would be appointed by the governor and state legislature, to include people with peer or professional experience. They would be tasked with ensuring that anyone in New York who experiences a crisis can receive appropriate care or treatment—with their consent and without being subjected to physical force, arrest or jail time.
An existing local program in Rochester informs this statewide plan.
“When we found out about the killing of Daniel Prude, [we] organized the community responses,” Stanley Martin, co-founder and organizer with Free the People Roc, told Filter. “We worked to create the crisis response team locally, but we also recognized that doing it in Rochester wasn’t enough, we wanted to make sure that people across New York state … and many others who have been killed by police while experiencing a mental health crisis, have a different opportunity to get the help they need.”
Daniel Prude was killed after his brother called the police in the early morning of March 23, 2020. Daniel had fled his house during an apparent mental health crisis. He had no permanent home, and had already been taken to the hospital by police the day prior, after his sister-in-law called for help, but was discharged.
During the subsequent encounter, several police officers restrained Daniel, who was naked in the freezing cold, on the ground and put a “spit hood” over his head. He stopped breathing after they held him down for two minutes. He died in the hospital a week later, after being taken off life support. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by asphyxia, but the officers involved have not faced charges.
The local or regional councils created by Daniel’s Law would develop crisis response plans, covering an emergency team and its professional standards, which would need to be approved by the state council. These local councils would receive state funding to cover all their costs, and no money could go to police agencies.
“We know it definitely will be cost-saving, not only financially but also in the lives saved from not having to interact with a police officer.”
“We know the amount will vary based on the region and that will only be determined after crisis plans are submitted,” Martin said. She and other advocates studied data from the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, a non police crisis response team started in 1989. “Their fiscal analysis has helped us understand what it might cost. We know it’s a very small fraction of what it costs for a police officer to show up. We know it definitely will be cost-saving, not only financially but also in the lives saved from not having to interact with a police officer who is not equipped to respond.”
Crisis responders’ specific training would include understanding how trauma works and sensitivity to different cultures. A dedicated phone line, 9-8-8, would notify these teams of a relevant emergency, and calls to 911 or 311 could also be routed to them if the caller requested it. The teams would be able to request assistance from a police officer if a person were believed to be at risk of causing “imminent serious physical harm” to others.
Martin said that research on these types of programs has show that it’s rare for crisis responders to find themselves in dangerous situations. For example, research on the CAHOOTS program indicates that of 24,000 calls the crisis response team answered in 2019, police backup was requested in just 311 cases.
Under Daniel’s Law, a police officer who encountered someone going through a mental health crisis could only intervene and take them into custody if that person were at risk of harming themself or others, and if a crisis responder were unable to respond. In such cases, the police would have to notify the local crisis response team, the local health officer and their police agency.