Episode Details

In this episode of the CUNY Forum we discuss the thorny issue of mental health policy. We seek to answer the following questions: How, and when, is it appropriate to intervene when people are thought to pose a threat to themselves or others, and should police be part of that intervention? What should the city or state do to provide effective policies that both protect taxpayers and the individual? Are existing programs, many that have been announced with great fanfare, working?

This issue forces itself into public consciousness most acutely when there is a dramatic incident. For instance, the mass murder of 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, where the perpetrator had multiple contacts with police and health authorities but still was allowed to purchase the automatic rifle he used in the killings, or the case of Jordan Neely, a homeless street performer who had been diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia and was choked to death on the subway by a man who said Neely was acting in a threatening manner to straphangers.

Nevertheless, it is a fact that mentally ill people are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime. Ever since the movement 50 years ago to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill, we continue to confront how society, the government, families, police, you name it, should deal with a problem that is not going away.

The issue is one that is increasingly permeating New York families' households at a time when budget cuts threaten the reduction of services that are already perennially under-funded.

If you or a loved one is in need of help, please review the following sites for resources for Mental Health Care:

1. https://www.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/student-services/counseling/
2. https://www.nyc.gov/site/mopd/resources/mental-health.page
3. https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/nyc-well.page
4. https://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/
5. https://omh.ny.gov/

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