NYS lawmakers to vote on involuntary commitment laws in push to address city’s mental health crisis

State lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul have reached an agreement on making it easier to involuntarily commit severely mentally ill individuals as part of the upcoming state budget. The details of the agreement were released recently, with several changes being proposed to expand the criteria for commitment and streamline the process.

Previously, individuals could only be involuntarily committed if they posed a substantial risk of physical harm to themselves or others. The new changes will now include a risk of harm to oneself due to an inability or refusal, as a result of mental illness, to provide for essential needs such as food, clothing, medical care, safety, or shelter.

Furthermore, the requirement for commitment has been updated to include sign-off from an examining physician and a nurse practitioner, instead of two examining physicians. These medical professionals will have three days to assess whether someone should be committed, making efforts to contact their medical providers and designated points of contact beforehand.

Despite initial resistance from both the state legislature and mental health advocacy groups, additional requirements have been added to ensure effective discharge planning and follow-up care for individuals after they are released from care. Psychiatric centers and local social services agencies will now be required to coordinate discharge planning to prevent individuals from slipping through the cracks.

In addition to these changes, a new behavioral health crisis technical assistance center will be established at the state level to develop protocols and best practices around involuntary commitment. Annual reports on the effectiveness of these measures will also be delivered.

While some mental health groups had proposed conducting critical incident reviews after severe incidents involving mentally ill individuals, a separate provision in the budget bill now mandates the state to complete at least one critical incident review involving a fatality every quarter. However, the findings of these reviews cannot be released publicly, leaving some critics concerned about accountability.

Overall, the new changes to involuntary commitment laws aim to strike a balance between protecting individuals and ensuring they receive the necessary care and support. The final budget package, which includes these provisions, will be up for voting starting Wednesday.