State Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, speaks during a news conference last week in Albany.

In the wake of the state budget’s recent passage, Gov. Kathy Hochul has been trumpeting the state’s changes to involuntary commitment laws.

It’s a topic that has been near and dear to state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, including several floor debates with state Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan and chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Once voting was finished on budget bills in the state Senate, Krueger took to the floor to remind senators who had just finished three days of marathon sessions – and anyone else listening – that their work on involuntary commitment is only half finished.

“I worry that we’ve now told the public it’s all going to stop because we did this, but this isn’t going to stop the problem,” Krueger said. “The assignment is much bigger, and we didn’t get to that part of the assignment. It’s not enough. It’s actually guaranteeing that when someone is brought into a hospital based on an evaluation, that if they cannot take care of themselves or are risks to themselves or others or may have committed a crime, that the hospital shouldn’t be allowed to discharge them back into the streets. They should actually have to make sure services are there, a place is there, and that that person is then going there when they are stabilized when they’re determined not to need hospitalization. That’s not going to happen, because we didn’t put that requirement in the law. The requirement should be if somebody’s brought into your facility by the police or social workers and determined to be unable to control themselves, the hospital can’t discharge you until there’s a plan.”

The state budget adds language to New York’s involuntary commitment statute to define the ‘likelihood to result in serious harm’ to include a person at substantial risk of physical harm because their mental illness makes them unable or unwilling to provide for their own essential needs such as food, clothing, necessary medical care, personal safety, or shelter due to their mental illness. This change addresses gaps in the existing standard, which Hochul said in a news release brings New York into alignment with 43 other states with similar standards.

Also amended are regulations governing assisted outpatient treatment, otherwise known as Kendra’s Law. The Budget provides $16.5 million to enhance county-level implementation of assisted outpatient treatment programs and $2 million for the state Office of Mental Health to add staff dedicated to monitoring assisted outpatient treatment, enhance statewide training and provide additional support for counties and providers. The budget also modifies Kendra’s Law so that new petitions can be filed within six months of an order expiring in instances when the individual becomes disconnected from care and experiences mental health symptoms that substantially interfere with their ability to comply with treatment, or result in emergency treatment, inpatient admission, or incarceration.

“For too long, mental health was overlooked and stigmatized — but when I took office, I said no more,” Hochul said after signing mental health budget bills. “This year’s budget builds on our $1 billion mental health investment and ensures New Yorkers living with mental illness get the care they need and deserve.”

Borrello has advocated for Kendra’s Law changes since taking office in 2019, speaking on the topic several times on the Senate floor. Kendra’s Law is named in honor of Kendra Webdale of Fredonia, New York, who was tragically killed by a man with a long history of schizophrenia in a subway-shoving incident in New York City in 1999. She was a friend and schoolmate of Sen. Borrello’s during their years at Fredonia High School. In January, Borrello advocated for legislation he and state Sen. Diane Savino sponsored in 2022. Borrello served as a co-sponsor with state Sen. Jessica Scarcella Spanton when the most recent version (S.55058) was introduced this year. The bill would broaden the standard for involuntary hospitalization if an individual’s mental illness renders them unable to meet their own basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, or health care and strengthen Kendra’s Law by allowing longer hospital stays for people who fail to follow their court-mandated, assisted outpatient treatment. Current law allows for an involuntary, 72-hour hospitalization, a timeframe that is often inadequate to stabilize a patient. In these instances, the bill would allow mental health professionals to request longer hospital stays.

Part of what Borrello has advocated for was included in the state budget and signed into law. Krueger, however, says those changes are only part of the solution.

“I worry people are going to say to me, ‘Oh, well, this was supposed to be the solution, Liz.’ And in six months when it isn’t, they’re going to go, ‘What happened Liz?’ And in a year when it isn’t the solution they’re going to say, ‘I thought you told me this would work.’ So, for the record, I’m voting for this bill,” Krueger said. “There’s lots of good things in it, but I’m not going to tell anyone it’s all fixed and you’re not going to have crime on the subways and you’re not going to have mentally ill people on the streets because that’s simply not true, because we didn’t deal with the assignment of ensuring it was quality residential facilities, supportive housing with services, on psychiatric beds. That’s the part of the assignment we’ve got to get right before we can decide victory.”