Rachel Golden says task force recommendations remain unimplemented and urges Intro 134
Rachel Golden, a psychologist and task force member, says the 2022 task force report made detailed recommendations on intake, housing, mental health, reentry, staffing, and accountability. She says virtually none have been implemented and urges Intro 133 with amendments and a prompt hearing on Intro 134.
Good afternoon.
My name is Rachel Golden, and I am a member of the task force and have been since 2022.
I'm a psychologist and forensic evaluator and have worked extensively with people in custody in our city jails and state prisons.
In August of 2022, the task force published a comprehensive report on the treatment and housing of TGNC and NBI people in DOC custody.
The report did not just identify problems.
It offered detailed recommendations on intake, housing, mental health and wellness, reentry, staffing and accountability.
Those recommendations were grounded in the experiences of TGNC NBI people in custody and in years of work by directly impacted members, advocates, and agency representatives.
Four years later, virtually none of these recommendations have been implemented, and we are not aware of corresponding changes to DOC's housing policies.
TGNC and BI people are still routed through gender misaligned intake, denied safer housing, and left without a meaningful and transparent way to challenge those decisions.
The fiscal year 26 denial figures show that the problem is continuing, not resolved.
This is why the council should have heard 134 today.
133 renews the task force and advisory body.
134 addresses the underlying policies that this advisory body has spent years asking the city to change.
134 would actually establish enforceable protections around gender-aligned housing, clearer procedures, and review when a request is denied, and greater transparency and accountability.
accountability in DOC's decisions.
The non-governmental advocates of the task force have identified Intro 134 as our number one legislative priority.
Renewing the task force while declining even to hold a hearing on its central recommendations risks asking impacted people and advocates to repeat the same work without an actual path to implementation.
The task force can document and recommend as we had since our inception, but it cannot compel DOC to change.
If the council is serious about addressing the conditions TGNC and VI people face inside, it should pass Intro 133 with the Advocates'amendments, and it should promptly hold a public hearing on Intro 134.
The city should not treat continuing the task force as a substitute for action.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, and thank you to this panel.
We'll next have Zachary Katson-Nelson with Independent Rikers Commission, Victor Herrera from Freedom Agenda, and Darren Mack with Freedom Agenda.