Cynthia Rodriguez Moderator
NYLPI & DRNY are co-sponsoring a moderated panel discussion on mental health crisis response and the urgent need for reform and to remove the police from our crisis response systems. People who experience a mental health crisis should receive appropriate services which will de-escalate the crisis and ensure their wellbeing and the wellbeing of all other New Yorkers. Only those who are trained in de-escalation practices should respond to a mental health crisis, and the most appropriate individuals to respond are peers (those with lived mental health experience) and health care providers. Police, who are trained to uphold law and order are not suited to deal with individuals experiencing mental health crises, and New York’s history of its police killing 18 individuals who were experiencing crises in the last five years alone, is a sad testament to that.
- Panelists will discuss the current state of crisis response in NYC, share their own personal lived experiences and discuss proposed reforms and alternative systems where people experiencing mental health crises are not criminalized and instead crisis response teams consist of those trained to de-escalate, connect people with long-term healthcare services and other community resources, and can avert future crises.
This virtual event will also include time for comments and discussion.
Closed Captions and ASL interpretation provided.
