State Sen. George Borrello says a recent state Comptroller’s Office audit of Kendra’s Law shows progress has been made, though more work needs to be done.

Kendra’s law set the initial statutory framework for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment in August 1999 following the death of Kendra Webdale from Fredonia in January 1999 when a man with a history of mental illness and hospitalizations pushed Webdale onto the tracks in front of a New York City subway train. Webdale, who was initially from Fredonia, was personally known by Borrello, which has inspired Borrello to be an avid supporter of expanding and strengthening Kendra’s Law.

Since Kendra’s Law took effect it has been periodically reviewed by the state Legislature, which has led to the law being extended through the legislative process until June 30, 2027. Despite the extension, a 2022 state Comptroller’s Office audit led to numerous recommendations for the state Office of Mental Health to implement throughout the state. Some of those recommendations have been implemented, according to a follow-up audit by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office, while some haven’t been fully implemented.

Borrello said the improvements are positive, but noted the need for much more work to properly implement the protections from Kendra’s Law. Borrello said when Kendra’s Law is implemented properly, it has been repeatedly proven to have a host of positive benefits. Borrello noted benefits such as reduced suicide attempts, fewer hospitalizations, lower rates of arrest and violent incidents, and more stability for individuals and families. All of these have been proven to come with proper implementation, but Borrello added the success of Kendra’s Law is dependent on the coordination between a range of entities such as state and local agencies, courts, providers, and families. A lack of such coordination has led to poor effectiveness of the assisted outpatient treatment implementation throughout the state, according to Borrello.

The investigative audit was prompted after an incident in January 2022, where a woman named Michelle Go was pushed onto the tracks to her death by a man with a history of mental illnesses, similar to the events of Webdale’s killing. The 2022 audit would lead to six recommendations for better implementation of Kendra’s Law. Of these recommendations, the comptroller noted that three have been implemented, two have been partially implemented, and one has yet to have any implementation whatsoever. Borrello claims that this partial action is continuing to prevent efficient assisted outpatient treatment from taking place.

“The comptroller’s follow-up analysis makes one thing clear: while there has been progress, New York still has a long way to go in ensuring that Kendra’s Law is implemented consistently and effectively across our state,” said Borrello. “That is why I have supported legislation to make Kendra’s Law permanent and strengthen it, including extending the involuntary hospitalization window that is triggered when someone fails to comply with their AOT order. The current 72-hour limit simply does not allow enough time to stabilize someone who is in crisis.”

Recommendation one from the comptroller audit directed the OMH to develop guidelines defining what qualifies as “timely”. This will allow local governments and offices to use this as a legal benchmark for establishing procedures on when an assisted outpatient treatment investigation must be completed by. The comptroller lists this recommendation as only being partially implemented. This is because between February 2024 and June 25, 2025, only eight out of the 62 total counties in New York revisited their procedures. The comptroller report also notes that officials did not expressly state that updated procedures implemented the six-month time frame that was suggested. Recommendation five has also only been partially implemented according to the comptroller report. This recommendation stated the Office of Mental Health needs to ensure that local governments take action so that assisted outpatient treatment orders that are due to expire will be renewed with no lapses in services. The report notes that local governments must petition a court to renew an assisted outpatient treatment at least 30 days before it is set to expire. In the initial audit, the comptroller found that not all of these reviews had been completed in time, leading to the suggestion.

There have been no actions from the Office of Mental Health to implement recommendation four, according to the comptroller’s report, which suggested the state review and, where considered necessary, clarify existing guidance about significant event reporting, which are incidents that help to identify if a person’s condition is worsening. DiNapoli’s audit said doing so would improve the ability to capture, and appropriately share, information and the completeness, accuracy, and comparability of the reported information. Office of Mental Health officials noted that the plan is to completely revise the way that significant events are reported, and have held internal meetings to discuss the matter. While the Office of Mental Health provided the comptroller with meeting invitations and agendas that showed the matters were discussed, no minutes were given to the comptroller regarding what was discussed in these meetings. Due to this, and the efforts remaining in planning stages, the recommendation has been marked as not implemented. Borello noted that these inconsistencies have continued to undermine the effectiveness of the law.

“I am encouraged that OMH has taken steps to address several of those issues, but significant gaps remain. One of the most concerning is the continued inconsistency in ‘significant event’ reporting — arrests, hospitalizations, and other incidents that help identify when an individual may be deteriorating. Without reliable reporting, it becomes impossible to intervene early and prevent tragedy,” Borrello said. “Even the best laws only work if they are implemented faithfully. As long as there are breakdowns in the AOT process, New York’s mental-health crisis cannot be fully addressed.”