State mental health officials Wednesday said the state has enough open inpatient beds to handle Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to ease the criteria for involuntary committment, which would increase New Yorkers hospitalized with a mental illness.
The governor wants to make it easier to recommit a patient whose initial six-month court order for treatment has expired when they experience a relapse in symptoms that impacts the health and safety of others.
"We're talking about a small, small group of people," state Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan told reporters after a budget hearing Wednesday.
Hochul's proposal to strengthen Kendra's Law would allow providers to bypass subsequent court action to return a patient to intensive treatment.
Sullivan could not estimate the number of New Yorkers that will be impacted by the potential change.
"It could be several hundred to a thousand more individuals," she said. "But it depends on the individuals. I can't tell exactly."
But the commissioner said she's confident the state's inpatient psychiatric beds — which are at 83% capacity — could accommodate the proposed increase. The state has nearly 8,500 psychiatric beds, including about 4,000 in New York City and over 4,400 in the rest of the state, according to a 2024 report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office.
More than 80% occupied beds leaves about 1,400 open to take in extra patients.
"It's not going to overwhelm any number of hospital beds — it's not an issue," Sullivan said. "It's just to make sure this small group gets the compassionate, ultimate care they need, and you don't want to leave them at this high risk in the community."
More than $18 million in Hochul's budget expands the use of court-ordered involuntary commitment to remove people with a mental illness who pose a physical threat off the street. The proposal has received a lukewarm reception from many lawmakers, who Sullivan addressed for hours Wednesday at a budget hearing in Albany.
Hochul's budget includes $16.5 million for counties to use the statute more often and encourage more people with mental health issues to get help voluntarily. Over $2 million in the spending plan would be used to hire more state Office of Mental Health staff to assist local governments.
Sullivan said the law must be clarified because localities don't use court-ordered treatment as much as they should.
“It’s been very confusing for providers — they don’t really understand the use of it,” the commissioner said. "...Individuals who do commit people sometimes are reluctant because, even though case law supports this, the law itself isn't as clear."
The state has spent $1 million on an external study examining how effectively the state uses involuntary commitment and its impact on patients. The final study and recommendations will be completed next year.
Leaders of the legislature's mental health committees aren't sold on expanding the criteria in wake of recent crimes in the state that involved a mental health.
During the hearing, Senate Mental Health Committee chair Samra Brouk pressed the commissioner to wait until after its completion to make an evidence-based change to the involuntary commitment standard.
"It seems somewhat premature to be moving forward with changes to something that we have put a million dollars toward studying," the senator said.
Brouk and Assembly Mental Health Committee chair Jo Anne Simon have said they fear the expansion would put the homeless, victims of domestic violence or people in temporary housing, at higher risk of involuntary commitment.
Both chairs continue to push for more funding for the workforce, long-term housing and medical support and formal incident review panels.
"By and large, this is a very small number of folks... who are [often] the victims and not the perpetrators of violence," Brouk said. "But do you think we might be able to learn more and do better to serve them and create better safey in our subways and beyond if we were able to do those?"
Brouk sponsored Daniel's Law, which would require a crisis team be part of the emergency response to calls of a person struggling with mental health or substance abuse. She wants the budget to fund the program across the state after a successful pilot program in the city of Rochester.
Sullivan said the Office of Mental Health could implement the program statewide, but it's up to the Legislature.
"We'll be talking about that," the commissioner said. "We leave it to the policymakers to make the decision."
The details will come down to budget talks as several lawmakers pressure legislative leaders to fight against expanding involuntary committment, which disproportionately impacts people of color.
"We realize that we need to do something in this realm, but we want to ensure that we're not violating the rights of individuals," said Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, who chairs the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus. "It's easy to go on the street and take an individual and give them a bed for a day, but that's not sustainable and that doesn't provide a long-term solution. ...We want to provide support and remedies and thoughtful solutions."