Danielle Regis urges bail reform and community mental health access

Good afternoon.

My name is Danielle Regis, and I am a senior supervising attorney in the mental health representation team of the criminal defense practice at Brooklyn Defender Services.

Thank you to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Chair Brooks Powers for the opportunity to testify today about mental health care in the city jails.

As a public defender, I have represented people in the Brooklyn Mental Health Court for nearly a decade.

The people I represent often encounter police when they are in crisis and seeking care, or when the absence of available care has led to the decompensation of their mental health.

Too often, untreated mental illness becomes criminalized simply because the appropriate systems of care were not accessible when they were needed most.

Jails are not therapeutic environments and are not appropriate settings for people to get meaningful mental health care.

In our written testimony, we highlight a number of concerns about mental health care provisions inside the city's jails.

But in my limited time, I want to highlight some upstream solutions to prevent people with serious mental health needs from entering jails in the first place.

First, bail amounts are regularly set without regard to what a person or their loved ones can afford.

Judges should make individualized decisions.

decisions when setting bail.

Under state law, bail is a tool that should only be used to ensure people return to court.

In practice, judges routinely set money bail that functions as a detention order.

Incarceration disconnects New Yorkers from their communities, resources, and support networks.

It means treatment, medication, and services are interrupted.

Next, we urge this committee with the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use to address the gaps in access to low and no-cost mental health and substance use treatment in the city.

Many of the people we represent have tried for years to access mental health and substance use treatment, but struggle to find providers who accept their insurance, speak their language, or have the skills needed to treat complex conditions.

They are often discharged from hospitals without proper follow-up care and lack appropriate resources in their communities.

People seeking care remain on wait lists for months or years for assertive community treatment teams, supportive housing, psychiatric visits, or other care they require.

Individuals are routinely discharged from psychiatric hospitalization with nothing more than a referral.

I'm sorry?

The time has expired.

You could finish your sentence, though.

Okay.

My apologies.

I just want to say the city can no longer rely on a broken or dysfunctional jail system to serve.

as the largest mental health treatment center.

Thank you for your time, and I welcome any questions.

Thank you.

Next, we will hear from Chris Payton.