Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery thanks the New York State Legislature for rejecting Governor Hochul’s proposal to expand involuntary commitment in their one-house budget proposals. This decision reflects a commitment to voluntary, community-based services that respect individual rights while providing effective support for those in crisis. We know our state does not need to sacrifice people’s rights to promote community safety and are pleased to see the legislature concurs.
“These are things that are going to be discussed at length,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins told reporters this week. “We understand that the people are rightfully concerned, and we are too, which is why we invested more in mental health. We just want to make sure we get it right and it will be a broader conversation.”
“Coercive treatment has a consequence, and one of those consequences is that there is a much heightened likelihood of suicide post hoc,” Assembly Mental Health Committee chair Jo Anne Simon said Thursday.
While the Legislature has signaled a willingness to negotiate with the Governor’s office, the Alliance and other advocates will continue to push for a compromise that does not expand involuntary treatment but rather prioritizes:
- Increased funding for voluntary programs that provide real alternatives to coercion.
- A flexible 7.8% rate enhancement for community-based agencies and their workforce to sustain essential services.
- Improved coordination across the mental health system to ensure people receive timely and appropriate services and supports.
- Greater system accountability through the mandating of Mental Health Incident Review Panels, which would evaluate critical incidents and recommend corrective actions. These panels must be required—not optional or at the request of government—to prevent future failures and improve the system for those in crisis.
- More funding for Enhanced Voluntary Services, ensuring that more communities can provide comprehensive, person-centered services as an alternative to forced outpatient treatment.
Critically, the Alliance will be fighting to ensure Governor Hochul agrees to the Legislature’s proposal of $22 million for Daniel’s Law start-up programs, with a clear plan to phase in a statewide non-police crisis response system in the coming years.
“We also need to make sure that we are removing barriers to getting that mental health care and those mental health services, and a huge piece of that is who shows up when one of those mental health crisis calls comes in,” Senate Mental Health Committee chair Samra Brouk said.
New Yorkers deserve a mental health system built on voluntary services, robust community support, accountability, and respect for human rights. We will continue working to ensure that the final state budget reflects these priorities. Stay tuned to this Enews to learn ways you can join our efforts.
Read below for recent coverage of the Legislature’s decision to reject involuntary treatment expansion, including comments from legislative leaders, Alliance CEO Harvey Rosenthal, MHANYS CEO Glenn Liebman, and OMH Commissioner Ann Sullivan.
Albany Dems Reject Gov. Hochul’s Plan to Tackle NYC’s Mental Health Crisis
By Vaughn Golden | New York Post | March 14, 2025
Albany Democrats are rejecting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to tackle New York City’s spiraling mental health crisis — setting up a legislative fight to be duked out behind closed-doors over the next few weeks.
The state Assembly and Senate either entirely omitted or scrapped parts of Hochul’s bid to expand involuntary commitment laws in their respective counterproposals to the governor’s budget plan released this week.
“We want to come to some recognition that people who need help, get the help that they need. We’ve always been supportive of that,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) told reporters this week.
The lower chamber’s one-house budget proposal omits Hochul’s proposal around expanding the necessary criteria to compel mentally ill people into psychiatric care.
But it includes provisions for strengthening hospital discharge planning and requiring review panels after serious incidents where mentally ill people fall through the cracks or harm others.
Heastie acknowledged that Albany needs to do something to deal with violent mentally ill people, especially in the subway.
“We want people to feel safe on the on the subways. Subways should not become temporary living places for people who have mental health issues,” Heastie said.
The senate’s one-house budget plan didn’t delve into details, but sources suggested Democrats in the chamber are willing to work out a compromise.
Mental health groups – many of which are pushing against the involuntary commitment component of Hochul’s bid – had mixed reactions to the counterproposals, but were generally hopeful that negotiations will result in a compromise.
“You can improve people’s lives and keep everybody safer without having to go to more forced treatment,” Harvey Rosenthal, CEO of the Alliance for Rights and Recovery told The Post.
Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State, says he’s particularly optimistic to see the Assembly include a provision to require the incident review panels in its plan.
“We believe that a critical incident review panel will help create a level of accountability when tragic incidents occur,” Liebman said.
“We are pleased that the Assembly added the incident review panel to their one house bill. We will advocate strongly for inclusion in the final budget.”
Mental Health Commissioner Defends Hochul’s Push to Expand Involuntary Commitment
By Kate Lisa | Spectrum News | March 14, 2025
After decisive rejection by the Legislature, the head of the state Office of Mental Health on Thursday defended Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal to ease the criteria for involuntary committment, which would increase New Yorkers hospitalized with a mental illness.
The Senate and Assembly did not include the proposal in each chamber’s one-house spending plans released earlier this week — aligned to fight the governor’s push to keep severely mentally ill patients in hospital care.
“These are things that are going to be discussed at length,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins told reporters this week. “We understand that the people are rightfully concerned, and we are too, which is why we invested more in mental health. We just want to make sure we get it right and it will be a broader conversation.”
Hochul proposal to expand the state’s involuntary commitment statute would clarify what information clinicians should consider when deciding the likelihood a person with a mental illness would “result in serious harm,” and include the person’s inability to provide for their essential needs, including food, clothing, medical care, safety or shelter due to their condition.
It would also make it easier to recommit a patient whose initial court order for treatment has expired.
“Coercive treatment has a consequence, and one of those consequences is that there is a much heightened likelihood of suicide post hoc,” Assembly Mental Health Committee chair Jo Anne Simon said Thursday.
Simon said more money for voluntary programs would keep people safer, and it would be difficult to have the trained workers to implement Hochul’s proposal successfully.
But the governor and her top aides are doubling down — ready to defend expanding involuntary comittment during budget talks.
State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan said the change would impact a small number of people with a mental illness who pose a risk to themselves or others.
“Forty-three other states have this in their statute because over time, they found it to be important to have this to help this small group of individuals that you really want to make sure have the chance to live a healthy life,” Sullivan exclusively told Spectrum News 1.
Lawmakers proposed more for mental health crisis response teams and a 7.8% cost of living increase for mental health and human services workers — up from the governor’s slated 2.1% hike.
The Senate and Assembly also proposed $22 million to implement Daniel’s law pilot programs statewide, which would require a crisis team respond to emergency calls involving a mental health issue or substance abuse.
“We also need to make sure that we are removing barriers to getting that mental health care and those mental health services, and a huge piece of that is who shows up when one of those mental health crisis calls comes in,” Senate Mental Health Committee chair Samra Brouk said. Brouk said she knows of cases in the state where people received better mental health services after being involuntarily committed — and it shouldn’t be that way.
Sullivan argued the change would not criminalize homelessness and involuntary commitment is used as a last resort. Lawmakers kept proposals in Hochul’s budget to spend $10 million to open up to seven new clubhouses and four for youth to help people with serious mental health conditions, and $4 million to create a hospital-based “peer bridger” program and expand Intensive and Sustained Engagement, or INSET, teams.
“But another piece is, sometimes, to help people who, despite having offerings of all those services, seem to have difficulty accepting them and due to their mental illness, are put in a position of harm,” Sullivan said.
The commissioner said the state has enough open in-patient psychiatric beds — about 1,400 — to accommodate the proposed increase, even though hundreds were cut by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Across New York state right now, we have 85% occupancy — that means they’re 85% full,” Sullivan said. “That’s a good number for a hospital.”
Simon said she agrees with the commissioner that the proposed change would impact a small group, but fears the expansion would lead to more people getting committed improperly. “She’s not wrong that it’s actually a very small number of people, but it’s getting to that small number of people,” the assemblywoman said. “You have too much wiggle room around the edges, let’s say right, of people who are going to be harmed by the fact that they’re picked up and brought to a hospital, as opposed to them really needing that.”
The Legislature also removed the governor’s proposal to give $16.5 million to counties to invoke the statute more often and connect people with mental health issues with voluntary programs.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the lower house tries to avoid injecting policy in the yearly spending plan. The chamber proposed a $256.5 billion budget.
“I do think we want to come to some recognition that people who need help get the help they need,” Heastie said. “We’ve always been supportive of that. We’ve always felt that jails (are) not the place to help people with mental health issues and I think you’ll see us address that. We want people to feel safe on the subways. Subways should not become temporary living places for people with mental health issues. We also have to deal with homelessness and every person who is homeless is also not 100% connected to mental health issues, but I think we have to do something.”
Heastie said he expects criminal justice issues and the involuntary commitment debate to be the most significant sticking points that could delay the budget, which is due April 1.