Hochul proposes expanding involuntary commitment

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed changing the legal criteria for involuntary commitment on January 3. By so doing, she hopes to address concerns about public safety in the subway.

Hochul floated expanding involuntary commitment laws so that more people could be hospitalized against their will when they endanger themselves or others. The change would address a gap in care, according to the governor, ensuring that people receive treatment before a crisis.

Involuntary commitment is a legal process that hospitalizes or treats someone with a mental illness against their will. This process aims to help people who cannot or will not seek care, and usually involves an evaluation from a mental health professional or a court. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has called it "a serious deprivation of liberty that can be justified only in the narrow circumstance where there is mental illness and an imminent physical danger to the person to be committed or to others, evidenced by observed behavior, and where there is no less restrictive alternative."

The governor acknowledged lack of support for New Yorkers with mental illnesses. She linked violent crime to untreated mental health issues, especially among the homeless. "I took office after nearly half a century of disinvestment in mental health care and supportive housing, which directly contributed to the crisis we see on our streets and subways," Hochul said.

But civil liberties advocates and mental health professionals criticized the governor's proposal. For example, the NYCLU argued that focusing on involuntary commitment would overlook the lack of adequate care, housing, and services that causes crises.

Already, law enforcement agencies "routinely involuntarily commit individuals. What exactly happens to these New Yorkers after they are involuntarily committed is not clear and isn’t made publicly available," warned NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “The current system already fails those subject to involuntary commitment. They are bounced from one under-resourced facility after another before returning to the street."

And Glenn Liebman, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in New York State, argued that a real solution would require improving community-based mental health services and hiring more staff in the mental health field. "We should be focused on systemic issues around a vastly underpaid workforce, community services, appropriate discharges, and creating a responsive incident management review team to identify where the system failed and what we can do better in the future," he said.

Expanding involuntary commitment would continue a cycle of inadequate care and recidivism, they said, urging the state to invest in voluntary programs that have already proven effective. But the debate was already ongoing in New York before Hochul recommended the change.

Introduced by State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember-elect Micah Lasher in November, the H.E.L.P. Act (S9954) would empower more mental health professionals—like psychiatric nurse practitioners and clinical social workers—to evaluate patients for involuntary hospitalization. The legislators said that it would streamline the process for getting people the care they need.

But the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest opposed expanding involuntary commitment back in December, specifically outlining their opposition to the H.E.L.P. Act. Forced treatment often fails, they said, and the state should focus on improving voluntary services and eliminate police as first responders for mental health calls.