NYC policymakers renew focus on serious mental illness
Originally published in
Politico
on
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Mayor Eric Adams is seizing the moment to again lend momentum to a bill spearheaded by a key adviser to his administration, Brian Stettin, that has languished in Albany since its introduction near the end of the 2023 legislative session.
The legislation would also enable psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists and clinical social workers to evaluate patients for involuntary hospitalization and require them to take more factors into consideration when making that decision, such as “credible reports” of their recent behavior. Right now those decisions have to be made by a doctor.
The measure stalled thanks in part to its lack of a Senate sponsor, but state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton recently said she plans to introduce it in her chamber. Its original sponsor, Assemblymember Ed Braunstein, said he plans to reintroduce it come January.
