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Mental Health Response Teams Proved Effective in New York City

Loaded on Feb. 15, 2022 by Casey Bastian published in Criminal Legal News March, 2022, page 9
Filed under: Alternative Sentencing, Mental Health. Location: New York.

by Casey J. Bastian 

No one should fear picking up the phone and asking for help. This is the premise of Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (known as “B-HEARD”), a recently launched mental health program in New York City. The philosophy of B-HEARD is that when people are experiencing a mental health crisis, they are entitled to compassion, safety, and treatment.

Similar concepts in other cities provided the program model, which attempts to remove law enforcement from the equation during non-violent mental health or drug and alcohol incidents. Instead, B-HEARD and similar programs send paramedics and trained social workers to such crises. Statistics show that 22% of the deaths attributed to police are made up of mental health-related calls. These tragic deaths have inspired communities around the nation to reimagine how to respond to these types of calls.

A solution seems to be emerging through innovative community safety programs like B-HEARD. The B-HEARD program ran its trial period from June 6 to July 7, 2021. The trial focused on the areas of Northern Manhattan, including portions of Harlem. During that trial period, 138 mental health emergency calls were routed through 911 to B-HEARD instead of to the police. As a result, there was a 13% increase in people accepting care, as well as a 32% drop in hospitalizations. These results illustrate the potential for the impact of programs like B-HEARD to be enormous.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (“NAMI”), mobile crisis programs like B-HEARD could prove critical for those in need of a more dignified mental health treatment response. NAMI also asserts that such programs reduce the danger to officers, as well as provide a more financially feasible alternative to incarcerating someone. Groups like B-HEARD and NAMI are advocating for the creation of a 988 number as a mental health version of 911. If B-HEARD continues its success, other cities may follow their lead. 

Source: mymodernmet.com

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More from this issue:

  1. Acquitted Conduct Sentencing, by Douglas Ankney
  2. Mental Health Response Teams Proved Effective in New York City, by Casey Bastian
  3. ‘Planning for Losing’: A Lesson on Justice Reform from Afghanistan, by Marc Levin
  4. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Defendant Satisfied Requirements of Confession and Avoidance, ‘Unintentional Self-Defense’ Jury Instruction Allowed Against Charge of Intentional Offense, by Douglas Ankney
  5. Fourth Circuit: State’s Failure to Plead Procedural Default Results in De Novo Review on Merits; Prosecutor’s Comments to Jury to Send ‘Societal Message’ Denied Defendant Fair Trial, Habeas Relief Warranted, by Dale Chappell
  6. Mental Illness and False Confessions: A Wakeup Call to Investigators, by Joseph Buckley
  7. Georgia Supreme Court Declares ‘Relevance’ Not Legal Standard for Suppression Determination Where Items Seized Outside Scope of Warrant, Clarifies Plain View Doctrine Proper Standard, and Overrules McBee, Walsh Line of Cases, by Anthony Accurso
  8. Michigan Supreme Court Announces 2011 SORA May Not Be Retroactively Applied to Registrants Whose Offenses Predated Its Enactment Because Doing So Violates Prohibition on Ex Post Facto Laws, by Douglas Ankney
  9. California Now Able to Decertify Bad Cops, by Edward Lyon
  10. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Although Subsequent Indictment Recites Same Language as Original Indictment, SOL Isn’t Tolled Where Subsequent Indictment Fails to Charge Same Conduct, Act, or Transaction, by Douglas Ankney
  11. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Abused Discretion by Refusing to Allow Withdrawal of Jury-Trial Waiver for Defendant Who Ultimately Rejected Plea Deal, by David Reutter
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  13. SCOTUS Announces Pursuit of a Misdemeanant Does Not Categorically Constitute an Exigent Circumstance Authorizing a Warrantless Home Entry, by Douglas Ankney
  14. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces New Framework for Enforcing Right to Effective Counsel in Post-Conviction Relief Act Proceeding, by Douglas Ankney
  15. Connecticut Supreme Court Overrules Aquino, Holding Appeal Not Moot Where Defendant Deported During Pendency but Unclear Whether Appealed Conviction Sole Basis for Deportation, by Douglas Ankney
  16. Nevada Supreme Court: Prisoner’s Claim He Is Now Actually Innocent of Death Penalty Sufficient to Overcome Proce-dural Bars to Habeas Relief, by Douglas Ankney
  17. California Court of Appeal: Peremptory Challenge to Judge in Habeas Case Subject to 10-Day Filing Period, Not 60 Days, Under § 170.6(a)(1), by Dale Chappell
  18. SCOTUS: Rehaif Error Doesn’t Automatically Require Reversal of Conviction, Plain-Error Test Must Be Satisfied for Re-lief, by Dale Chappell
  19. Oregon Supreme Court Announces Abandonment of Per Se Exigency Rule in Automobile Exception and Holds Warrantless Seizure or Search Must Be Based on Actual Exigent Circumstances, by Jacob Barrett
  20. Tenth Circuit, Joining Sister Circuits, Announces ‘Personal-Use’ Drug Quantity Doesn’t Constitute ‘Relevant Conduct’ Under Guidelines § 1B1.3(a) and Sets Forth Framework for Burden of Proof Analysis, by Douglas Ankney
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  23. Vermont Supreme Court Announces Proper Legal Standard for Warrantless Search of Home’s Curtilage, by Anthony Accurso
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  26. Rutgers University Pioneers New Jersey Innocence Project, by Casey Bastian
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  28. Sixth Circuit: Michigan’s Ordinarily ‘Adequate’ Contemporaneous-Objection Rule, in Unique Circumstances, May Not Procedurally Bar Federal Habeas Review, by Dale Chappell
  29. Non-Prosecution Policies Seem to Work in Baltimore, by Jayson Hawkins
  30. DEA Continues to Seize Money Without Proof of Criminality, by Casey Bastian
  31. Florida’s Catch-22 for the Innocent Defendant (and Others Wishing to Protect Their Right Against Self-Incrimination), by M. Eve Hanan
  32. Big Tech Using Third Parties to Sell Surveillance Tools to ICE and Border Patrol, by Anthony Accurso
  33. Pegasus Software: State-sponsored Spyware Usage Likely Infecting Billions of Phones, by Casey Bastian
  34. Armed Police Drones Are Coming, by Anthony Accurso
  35. News in Brief

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