PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Peggy Herrera, Mental Health Advocate from Freedom Agenda
0:26:27
·
145 sec
Peggy Herrera, a mental health advocate and member of Freedom Agenda, shared her personal experience with the current mental health crisis response system and criticized the B-HEARD program. She emphasized the need for a more comprehensive and empathetic approach to mental health crises, highlighting the shortcomings of police involvement in such situations.
- Herrera called for all mental health crisis calls to be directed to B-HEARD instead of the police, citing her traumatic experience when she called for help during her son's crisis.
- She stressed the importance of having peers with lived experience involved in crisis response to help de-escalate situations and make individuals feel safe.
- Herrera suggested extending B-HEARD's operating hours to 24/7 and expanding its presence in all boroughs and schools to better address mental health needs.
Peggy Herrera
0:26:27
Good morning, everyone.
0:26:28
My name is Peggy Herrera.
0:26:30
I am a member of Freedom Agenda, a mental health advocate, a youth counselor with incarcerated youth.
0:26:39
Most importantly, I'm a mom, a survivor who's child was taken through gun violence 2 years ago.
0:26:45
And while I thought I lost the fight, today I'm here to fight.
0:26:51
Thank you for having me here today.
0:26:55
I just I'm very confused when it comes to be heard.
0:26:59
Because I don't understand how be heard is a is a medical response put in place for people who are in crisis or having a mental health crisis or mental health issue.
0:27:12
And so I don't understand how they separate someone who's having a crisis from someone who is not.
0:27:17
I believe that those who are having a deeper crisis need a different level of care.
0:27:23
Right?
0:27:24
Someone is sick, it's either sick or you're not.
0:27:27
And I don't think that guns help the situation, uniforms do not help the situation.
0:27:32
In August 2019, I called for help while my son was having a crisis.
0:27:37
I specifically said I wanted the ambulance there police showed up, and we all know how they show up.
0:27:42
When they showed up, I did not want them to come in, afraid of all the stories I've heard, afraid that they would kill my son.
0:27:49
By the end of the ordeal, I was in handcuffs, I was dragged away screaming, my son was beat up, I my son never got the help he needed, and I spent the night in jail.
0:27:59
We need to consider the way we're doing things.
0:28:02
All crisis, all mental health calls should go to be heard.
0:28:06
There should not be any mental health calls that go to police because they do not escalate the situation.
0:28:11
They are not trained to respond to a mental health situation.
0:28:16
A person in crisis should feel safe.
0:28:19
Crisis doesn't have a time frame.
0:28:21
I think the 16 hours should be 24 hours.
0:28:24
We don't know what time a person's going to have a crisis.
0:28:27
So I think it should be constant in every borough, in every school.
0:28:31
You know that most of our schools and most in Ryke's Island, they're filled with people, with mental health, struggles, and issues, and we need to start to process and make people better.
0:28:41
So we need peers, not police.
0:28:44
We need people with lived experience that can help someone to deescalate the situation.
0:28:49
Help them process it and help them feel safe.
0:28:52
Thank you.
