Categories: New York City
03.25.2025
The week of March 23rd, the Network joined Daniel’s Law Coalition and Correct Crisis Intervention Today (CCIT-NYC) for a Week of Action marking five years since the killing of Daniel’s Prude to commemorate his memory and advocated for a peer-led mental health system in New York State and City.
On March 23rd, the Network joined a vigil to commemorate Daniel Prude and others killed during a mental health crisis and to call for the passing of Daniel's Law (S.3670 / A.4617) is a bill designed to transform the way New York responds to mental health and substance use crises, by ensuring that peers (people with lived mental health experience) and EMT's are first responders. Assemblymember Monique Chandler-Waterman joined and said “We need voluntary, intentional services that are person-centered, community led, with peers. They need to be localized in our community by us.”
On March 24th, the Network joined CCIT-NYC for a #PeersNotPolice rally on the steps of City Hall in advance of the New York City Council Committees on Health and Mental Health, Disability and Addiction preliminary budget hearing to urge the City to include $4.5M for well-paid peer-specialists in the City budget to fund peer responders on B-HEARD, the City’s mental health crisis response pilot program.
Council Member Sandy Nurse said, “We are calling for $4.5M for 60 peer specialists. Let’s recruit, train and retain them by giving them a permanent staff line and get benefits and be part of the city's actual response.”
Chair Linda Lee said, “We need to look at the whole continuum. Our system is broken. We need to ensure we are increasing all the supportive services we need! Peer to peer works!”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said, “We need to move from being tough on crime, to being serious about safety. Being serious about safety means stop having a criminal response to someone who is having a medical episode. We see what happens time and time again and it’s not lost on me that most of the people it happens to are Black and brown New Yorkers who do not have the resources to get the services that they need.”
Evelyn Graham-Nyaasi, CCIT-NYC Steering Committee member said, “We don’t need another person to die. B-HEARD Is missing a very important component of the team: peers, people with lived mental health experience. It’s time to add peers to B-HEARD teams”
Matt Kudish, Executive Director, NAMI-NYC Metro said, “Police are not trained. We need to see people who understand what individuals are going through to avoid hospitalization, jail and the endless cycle of homelessness. We must do better and involve peers on B-Heard teams to start saving lives instead of ending them.”
Ruth Lowenkron, Director of Disability Justice, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) said, “we insist on voluntary services, social services, and transforming the mental health crisis response to ensure peers are the responders. Peers now.”
Remarks were also provided by: Jordyn Rosenthal, Director of Advocacy, Community Access; Susan Shervington, Civil Rights Union Leader, VOCAL-NY; Sharon McLennon Wier, Ph.D., MSEd., CRC, LMHC, Executive Director, Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York; Tanesha Grant, Parents Supporting Parents NY; and Nasriah Fair, the Brotherhood Sister Sol.