Savino hopes to expand Kendra’s Law on mandatory mental-illness treatment - SILive.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island lawmaker plans on introducing legislation that would look to expand and improve Kendra’s Law, which allows courts to order an individual to supervised mental-health care — in some cases, they are temporarily committed to a hospital.
State Sen. Diane Savino, who is spearheading the bill, wants the law to allow longer hospital stays for individuals who may require more treatment, as well as require involuntary, temporary commitment to a hospital.
“The missing puzzle piece here is to better provide treatment,” Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn) said.
Under Kendra’s Law, individuals who have refused or are unable to participate in treatment may be involuntarily admitted but can only be held in a hospital for 72 hours in an emergency setting.
“It’s recognizing that just because an individual may no longer exhibit that behavior — they’re calm in the emergency room — doesn’t mean they’re anyway less of a threat [to themselves or others],” Savino said. “That’s what we’re trying to fix now.”
She added that the way the law is interpreted leaves a gray area as to what it means to be a danger to yourself. The bill will also look at establishing a standard like other states that a person can be a danger to themselves if their illness makes them incapable of getting basic needs like food, shelter, clothing and medication.
Savino spoke of a “revolving door” of individuals with mental illness — sometimes homeless — who are released after the involuntary hold period, but are still a risk and most likely will continue to go through the system.
She also wants more family involvement introduced into Kendra’s Law, particularly, the ability for them to petition to the court directly for a longer hospital stay.
Acquiring more mental-health beds is a priority as well.
“[NYC has] closed more than 400 psychiatric beds in the past 10 years,” Savino said. “Reduced the reimbursement rate for psych beds to non-profit hospitals like SIUH (Staten Island University Hospital), RUMC (Richmond University Medical Center) to a lower rate, so it’s almost a disincentive to maintain those beds.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced a commitment of $27 million to this year’s coming budget to restore psychiatric beds.
“Is it enough? I don’t know, but it’s certainly a start,” the state senator added. “We’ve got to find ways to get supportive housing [as well].”
Kendra’s Law went into effect in 1999 after Kendra Webdale, 32, was pushed to her death into the path of an oncoming N train in Manhattan by a man suffering from schizophrenia. Early this year after 40-year-old Michelle Go was killed in a similar way at the Times Square station, the mayor and other elected officials have called to strengthen the law.
“After you hear from the victims’ family, then you hear from the family of the individual who committed the crime. You hear the same thing, ‘we didn’t know what to do, we tried for years. We had no where to turn,’ ” Savino said.
PLANS AFTER LAST TERM?
Almost two weeks ago, Savino confirmed that she would not seek re-election this year for her Senate seat and has endorsed her former deputy chief of operations, Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, to succeed her.
When asked by the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com about future plans following her final term, the state senator was cryptic on what might lie ahead.
“When I’m ready, I’ll tell people what I’m going to do,” she said. “I have a few opportunities, but we still have a lot of work to do in this current session.”
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source: https://www.silive.com/news/2022/02/savino-hopes-to-expand-kendras-law-on-mandatory-mental-illness-treatment.html
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