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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jennifer Parish, Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy at Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project
6:08:06
ยท
3 min
Jennifer Parish testifies against excessive spending on the Department of Correction (DOC), highlighting its failure to keep people in custody safe and healthy. She urges the council to redirect funds from DOC to community-based mental health services and other support programs.
- Parish exposes the practice of "deadlocking" in specialized mental health units, where individuals with serious mental illnesses are kept in solitary confinement for extended periods.
- She suggests that eliminating DOC's uniform vacancies could save $149 million, which could be used for supportive housing, mental health programs, and fully funding the Board of Corrections.
- Parish emphasizes the need to end cruel treatment of people with mental health needs in jails and invest in community-based alternatives.
Jennifer Parish
6:08:06
Good afternoon.
6:08:08
My name's Jennifer Parish and I'm the Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy at the Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project.
6:08:14
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
6:08:16
And I'm here today to urge the council to oppose excessive spending on the Department of Correction.
6:08:22
Year after year the city pours billions of dollars into this agency which cannot fulfill its fundamental obligation of keeping people in its custody safe and healthy.
6:08:33
In fact, its decades long track record of failing to meet constitutional standards even with years of outside oversight has led to the possible appointment of a receiver to take control of the jails.
6:08:45
I want to highlight for you a recent example that makes clear why funding for the department should be reduced.
6:08:51
Despite the mayor's repeated claim that solitary confinement does not exist in the jails, in October former correctional health services social worker, Justina Rizwinski, revealed that not only does solitary confinement in the jails exist, but that it's being used in the most egregious ways.
6:09:10
Notably in the specialized mental health units where people with the most serious mental health needs are housed.
6:09:16
She documented and the CHS leadership confirmed a practice referred to as deadlocking in which correction officers lock people with mental health concerns.
6:09:26
These are people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder in their cells twenty four hours a day for weeks or even months on end.
6:09:36
I had correction officers engaged in this practice despite CHS staff advocating for these individuals to be released, despite it resulting in those individuals not receiving medication, and despite them becoming more symptomatic as they mentally decompensated in the torturous environment of solitary confinement.
6:09:55
And this was not one egregious incident but a practice that's been going on for years despite regulations against it.
6:10:03
In fact, the Board of Corrections outlawed placing people with serious mental illness in solitary back in 2015.
6:10:10
Sorry if I could just have a moment.
6:10:12
But that's what New York's tax dollars are funding.
6:10:15
Cruel and inhumane treatment of people with mental health needs.
6:10:18
That must end.
6:10:19
We can use that funding for actual treatment of people with serious mental health needs in the community to provide them with housing, mental health supports and other services that promote recovery.
6:10:30
And we have that funding.
6:10:32
Simply by eliminating department's uniform vacancies, we could save more than $149,000,000 That would allow for funding for justice involved supportive housing, intensive mobile treatment, forensic assertive community treatment teams, crisis respite centers, ATI and reentry programs.
6:10:51
It would also allow us to fully fund the Board of Corrections.
6:10:55
You heard them say that they can't even complete their investigation of this deadlocking practice until June because they simply don't have the funds despite it being revealed at the October meeting.
6:11:06
So please use the money that's currently in the DOC budget for these other important priorities.