NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Eric Adams announced a $55 million expansion to a non-police mental health emergency response pilot program on Tuesday.
The new budget will allow the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD), which now covers parts of Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood and the South Bronx, to expand to Central Brooklyn, Eastern Queens and more South Bronx precincts, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
“Not every emergency call needs the police,” said Adams during a sweeping budget announcement. “B-HEARD teams deescalate tense situations and connect people in crises to the care they need.”
City Council had initially requested $61 million to expand the program, but this lower figure was still applauded as a step forward by advocates.
“You know I did something right because [New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams] stood up and applauded me,” joked Adams after announcing the expansion.
B-HEARD was started in June 2021 in response to protests against police violence and a string of incidents in which the NYPD killed people during mental health crises.
A 2018 report from the Public Advocate’s Office found the NYPD killed at least 15 people experiencing mental health crises between 2015 and 2018.
“NYPD officers are usually the first to arrive on the scene in spite of the fact that most officers are not properly trained to deal with these difficult situations,” said the report. “These circumstances run the risk of escalating, leading to unnecessary uses of force and involvement with the criminal justice system.”
The program is jointly operated by the FDNY, NYC Health and Hospitals and the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health. The teams are unarmed and comprised of trained mental health professionals, EMTs and FDNY personnel.
They’re dispatched via 911 for reports of suicidal ideation, substance misuse, mental illness and physical health problems that can indicate mental illness.
Early data indicated B-HEARD teams are doing a better job than police in getting care to New Yorkers and posed less of a threat while doing so.
The teams have never killed anyone, and in 95% of cases people accepted care from B-HEARD compared to 82% from police, according to data from the first month of the program.
B-HEARD only sent 50% of those in crisis to the hospital, compared to 82% that police sent, indicating the teams were able to successfully treat patients in the field.
The program also reduced the amount of work for police, freeing up resources to be used elsewhere.
Limited funding for the program means that even where the teams are active though, not all eligible mental health calls are routed to B-HEARD. So far during the pilot, dispatchers routed only 22% of mental health calls to the teams.
The program hopes to reach a 50% response rate for mental health crises in the precincts it’s active.
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