Nothing drew my eye quite like the headline New York City to Involuntarily Remove Mentally Ill People From Streets from the New York Times. I quickly read through its entirety, as my doubts and reservations mounted the further I progressed in the article.

Mayor Eric Adams recently announced a new effort to remove the homeless who suffer from severe mental illness by involuntarily hospitalizing them. The primary focus group is to include those who are a danger to themselves or others and who suffer from untreated mental illness, though those who pose no risk of harm to others are not to be excluded.

Since January, the New York City mayor has cleared homeless encampments, has been an advocate for bail reform (which makes it easier to keep people in jail), and has even argued “many New Yorkers do not feel safe, particularly in Black and Latino neighborhoods”.

The mayor’s intentions might be set in the right place, but his justifications and policies are misplaced.

I agree that those who suffer from severe mental illness should be treated, but they shouldn’t be hospitalized against their will, especially if they aren’t hurting or threatening anyone. Involuntarily hospitalizing someone who suffers from mental health issues will only lead to trauma and distrust of those who are attempting to help them. Chief executive of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Harvey Rosenthal, stated the sentiment clearly, “the mayor talked about a ‘trauma-informed approach,’ but coercion is itself traumatic”. Mental health advocates have also brought up that the programs available to help those suffering have shrunk, and Adams is over-reliant on the police.

Even though Governor Hochul might have agreed to add 50 new psychiatric beds to help address the shortage of psychiatric beds, there are thousands more on the street who won’t receive care. The systems that are currently in place are overtaxed and underfunded; they won’t be able to “coordinate on discharge planning with providers in the community” if they can’t help those they currently care for.  

If mandated outpatient treatment, involuntary hospitalizations, and the number of available psychiatric beds does increase, who will pay for this? How will they enforce mandated outpatient treatment? How will the homeless afford pricey medications? What happens when they are ready to be discharged but there is no place for them to go in an already taxed system? Even on treatment, those with mental health issues can face relapses and episodes, with the city already acknowledging, “the case law does not provide extensive guidance regarding removals for mental health evaluations based on short interactions in the field”. How will they determine who needs serious treatment from those who are having a momentary relapse?  Treatment is only as good as long as they are in facilities, but the cycle will no doubt continue once they are pushed back out on the street.

Why not focus on New York City’s growing income disparity? Or address the cost of housing or the lack of beds available in shelters? Why did the mayor not address the fact that mental health issues are perpetuated by the lack of mental health facilities to both the unhoused and housed? His new policy has created more problems than it has solved. 

What bothered me the most in this article and reading the remarks from Eric Adams, was the way Adams addressed the homeless and those who suffer from mental illness. While arguing for their care, he perpetuated hurtful and negative stereotypes. The evident lack of human respect and understanding was made clear.