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Controversial NYC Plan May “Medically Arrest” Homeless Individuals
There are approximately 80,000 homeless people in New York City. Many of them are veterans. In an effort to address the city’s rising crisis, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has implemented a new mental health agenda. The legislation would allow NYPD officers and other authorized officials to involuntarily hospitalize homeless individuals who “appear to be mentally ill and display an inability to meet basic living needs even when no recent dangerous act has been observed.”
Some activist claim this directive contradicts many common interpretations of mental health law, where individuals cannot be involuntarily hospitalized unless they are violent, suicidal, or at risk of imminent harm. Although the mayor acknowledged that “case law does not provide extensive guidance,” his administration cites state law granting the city the authority to remove and hospitalize such individuals.
The belongings of a homeless US Army veteran on a park bench near the starting point of the annual Veterans Day parade in Manhattan. (Photo courtesy of Glynnis Jones)
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Mayor Adams stated that his plan would address the longstanding gaps in the city’s mental health policies however, his office is facing immense backlash from civil liberties groups who say that Adams’ plan violates constitutional rights.
The mayor’s office has yet to release further details, and there is currently no information regarding the implications for the city’s homeless veterans. Since 2011, New York City has reduced veteran homelessness by nearly 90% after a significant push from former mayor Bill de Blasio.
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Although the city has claimed to have eliminated chronic veteran homelessness, the exact number of veterans remains impossible to track, given the nature of homelessness. Furthermore, homelessness has four categories (transitional, episodic, chronic, and hidden) which are not always followed, measured, and reported the same way.
In August, Mayor Adams supported the Bruckner Boulevard Project, an affordable housing program that would reserve 22 homes for veterans; this is the one socioeconomic program aimed at veterans that the mayor has supported since taking office.
It remains to be seen if his administration will continue to fund and expand upon existing mental health and housing programs for homeless veterans. Furthermore, there are still questions about how the new mental health policy will directly address the needs of post-GWOT veterans suffering from mental illness and how the Department of Veterans’ Services will intervene in involuntary hospitalization cases.
This past Veterans Day, the mayor announced his support for Operation Green Light. The city supports the veteran community in this project by changing some lightbulbs to green, from November 7th through 13th.
