Alliance Note: This week, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery held a press conference at the State Capitol alongside faith leaders, disability justice advocates, independent living and mental health organizations, and criminal justice reform groups. Together, we called on Governor Hochul to reject harmful expansions of involuntary commitment and instead invest in proven, voluntary, community-based mental health and substance use services.
The press conference came as budget negotiations remain stalled, with the Governor’s push to expand involuntary commitment standing as one of the key remaining points of contention. We commend the State Senate and Assembly for rejecting these proposed expansions in their respective budget proposals and for instead backing smart investments in services like Daniel’s Law peer-led crisis response teams and supportive housing.
The message from the community was clear: We do not need to choose between public safety and protecting people’s rights—we can and must do both. Forcing treatment won’t solve the root causes of crisis and it will make disparities in services even greater, with involuntary treatment already disproportionately affecting communities of color. Access to voluntary care, stable housing, and well-supported outreach services is the best way to improve our community safety.
We thank everyone who joined us to speak out and stand up for dignity and services many of our communities do not have access to. We will continue to push until the final budget reflects what we know works—and rejects what we know does not.
Alliance Executive Seminar Program Will Address Uncertain Times with a 50% Rate Reduction to $99 and National and State Policymaker Panels
Attend the Alliance Executive Seminar to learn more about the ways in which New York State and New York City are addressing the current mental health crisis, including prevention efforts and funding for recovery programs that have been in recent state and city budgets, as well as proposed in the upcoming ones. We will also have a keynote about recent federal policy changes are affecting mental health services and how best to navigate them.
Navigating Unprecedented Federal Policy Challenges
With national leaders including Chuck Ingoglia (National Council for Mental Wellbeing), Jennifer Mathis (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law), Paolo del Vecchio (former director of SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery), Caren Howard (Mental Health America), and Harvey Rosenthal (Alliance CEO).
Taking on the Mental Health Crisis in New York State and New York City
Featuring state and city leaders including Moira Tashjian (NYS Office of Mental Health), Dr. H Jean Wright II (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), Lara Kassel (Medicaid Matters NY), Ruth Lowenkron (NY Lawyers for the Public Interest), Jihoon Kim (InUnity Alliance) and Alliance VP of Public Policy Luke Sikinyi.
We understand that budget uncertainty has affected everyone. That’s why we’ve reduced registration for the Alliance Executive Seminar to just $99 — to make it more accessible to those on the front lines.
Register for the conference here and for the Marriott Hotel here.
See below to learn more about current budget negotiations.
Advocates Rail Against Hochul’s Involuntary Commitment Proposal
By Katelyn Cordero | Politico | April 16, 2025
As budget negotiations drag on, mental health advocates and Democratic lawmakers are railing against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to expand on regulations for involuntary commitment. Instead, they are calling for the state to pass Daniel’s Law, address staffing shortages in the field, and bolster funding for outreach programs and stabilization centers.
State law limits involuntary treatment to occasions when a person is at substantial risk of physically harming themselves or others. Hochul’s proposal would also allow for its use when individuals are at risk of harming themselves if they can’t provide for their “essential needs such as food, clothing, medical care, safety, or shelter” due to a mental illness.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the issue is one of the remaining sticking points in three-way budget talks with Hochul and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. He told reporters on Tuesday that they are still working through a few minor issues, such as what happens to individuals after they complete treatment.
“I think there’s a couple of issues that the staff is trying to work out … like discharge plans, also when there’s a serious situation that needs to have the Office of Mental Health to really examine these things,” Heastie said. “It’s just smaller issues, I’d say, in the grand issues of involuntary commitment, I think that’s in a good place.”
Assembly Health Committee Chair Jo Anne Simon said the state needs to enact Daniel’s Law, which would ensure that a mental health professional responds to a person in crisis instead of a police officer. But she said even if they enact Daniel’s Law, that would not be enough. She said the state needs to invest in housing for individuals struggling with mental health issues or experiencing homelessness as part of the solution to the problem.
After Discovery Battle, Mental Health Debate Expected to Take State Budget Stage
By Kate Lisa | Spectrum News 1 | April 15, 2025
With a compromise on discovery changes in reach, New York state leaders are expected to return their attention to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s controversial proposal to expand forced psychiatric treatment for New Yorkers with severe mental health conditions.
Religious leaders from around the state rallied in the Capitol on Tuesday opposing the governor’s plan to change involuntary commitment criteria — a stance most Democrats in the Legislature have taken since Hochul announced her policy agenda in January.
“I have seen what happens when people go without proper treatment, when people are discharged without the proper guidance and connection to community resources,” said chaplain Victoria Phillips, CEO of Visionary Ministries. “…This governor has a duty to stand up and make sure all constituents are protected. I just want to say forced treatment is not the answer. When people are not given the proper resources, they cannot thrive.”
Hochul is standing firm on her top budget priority to make it easier to commit a mentally ill person who poses a risk to themselves or others into a hospital for treatment. She wants to clarify the information clinicians should consider, including a person’s inability to provide things such as food, clothing, medical care, safety or shelter when deciding a person’s condition would “result in serious harm.”
Critics argue there’s inadequate services to force people into, and won’t improve public safety.
“You can’t send more people to hospitals when all the hospital is able to do, at best, is de-escalate and then send people on their way to what?” said Ruth Lowenkron, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest’s director of disability justice. “What are you solving? Let’s be realistic.”
Hochul said at an unrelated event in Kingston on Tuesday that her involuntary commitment changes were once viewed as dead on arrival, but leaders have made progress.
“[We’re] making sure that we have standards in place so we can take people who really need help to ensure they get the support they need at a hospital,” the governor told reporters.
The involuntary commitment proposal debate took a backseat to other criminal justice reforms in the last week, but legislative leaders say conversations about the policy continue at the staff level.
State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris told Spectrum News 1 that the governor’s office, Senate and Assembly have exchanged budget language about the issue, but need to settle on a compromise.
“We would like to get it done and hopefully the other two parties do too, and we can get there,” he said of a final budget deal.
Lawmakers passed a fifth budget extender Tuesday, making the annual spending plan more than 15 days late.
Mental health advocates who rallied with the religious leaders said the budget should include more funding for supportive housing and other services.
Both the Senate and Assembly want over $20 million to implement Daniel’s Law, or create crisis teams across the state to assist emergency calls.
Forced inpatient treatment disproportionately impacts people of color.
Assembly Mental Health Committee Chair Jo Anne Simon said while there are open beds in the state, it’s often difficult for people who are eligible for psychiatric care to get it.
“So where are they? They’re without services and they’re in the subway or on the street,” Simon said.
The assemblywoman said the involuntary commitment standard was designed for a hospital.
“It’s very difficult to take a standard that works in a hospital situation and import it to the street and ask police to figure that out that they’ve trained,” she added.
The governor has said she’ll stand her ground as long as it takes on her hard-line budget priorities aiming to improve public safety — including changing involuntary criteria.
But lawmakers at the forefront of the mental health fight say they also won’t back down.
“I’m prepared to go until May,” Simon said.