NYAPRS Note: Support today’s Albany news conference opposing expansion of Kendra’s Law (see attached)! Take 1 minute today to click on two links to urge key state legislators, including the leaders and your local legislators, to protect the rights of New Yorkers with mental illnesses who will be forced to accept services that they may not want or need instead of getting more of the ones they do, if Governor Hochul’s proposed changes to New York’s Mental Hygiene Law are adopted by the Legislature.
We’re only 3 days away from an anticipated budget agreement: PLEASE ACT NOW!
Dear friends and colleagues,
We’re writing to you today to ask you to take immediate action to protect the rights of New Yorkers who are diagnosed with a mental illness.
Governor Hochul has proposed drastic changes to New York’s Mental Hygiene Law that would severely limit some New Yorkers’ rights to make life and treatment decisions on their own. New amendments to Kendra’s Law that are found in the Governor’s FY 2023 Public Safety Package would force more people into psychiatric treatment that they may not need or want, by expanding the criteria to include people who are having difficulty securing food, shelter, and clothing.
There is extensive evidence that voluntary access to quality mental health services of choice will promote health, safety, and recovery, without equal proof that coercive commitment orders are responsible for successful outcomes. Yet countless New Yorkers would be subject to involuntary treatment orders if the proposed amendments are approved.
These amendments are being presented as a public safety measure, unjustly portraying people with mental health issues as violent and dangerous. The truth is that our community is 11 times more likely to be a victim of violence.
We need your help! Please take a minute (literally!) to tell key New York State Senators and Assembly Members to vote NO on the Governor’s amendments by clicking this link.
Thank you and please forward this email to all your colleagues and friends!
#ForcedTreatmentIsNotTreatment
R U T H L O W E N K R O N, E S Q.
Director, Disability Justice Program
N Y L P I
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
151 West 30th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001-4017
Tel: (212) 244-4664 Fax: (212) 244-4570 TTY: (212) 244-3692
RLowenkron@NYLPI.org
http://www.nylpi.org
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