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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Christopher Leon Johnson on Mental Health and Adult Protective Services
2:06:44
ยท
3 min
Christopher Leon Johnson testifies about the need to include mental health considerations in discussions about adult protective services. He argues for expanding the definition of serious mental health issues to include conditions beyond schizophrenia and psychosis, and calls for joint committee hearings between aging and mental health committees.
- Suggests that the city should recognize a broader range of mental health issues as serious, not just schizophrenia and psychosis
- Calls for federal changes to redefine lower-level mental health diagnoses as serious mental health diagnoses
- Emphasizes the need for the city council to prioritize mental health awareness and take concrete action, not just engage in symbolic gestures
Christopher Leon Johnson
2:06:44
Yeah.
2:06:45
Hello.
2:06:45
My name is Christopher Leon Johnson.
2:06:47
My first question to this committee is, I wonder why the the speaker or whoever does the the committee council, why he he didn't add, the the committee of mental health to this committee because when it comes to adult adult protective services, it defines when a person who has a serious mental health issue is in risk too.
2:07:10
I understand there's lot of physical, but people who have mental health issues like serious mental health issues like schizophrenia and psychosis, they are eligible for adult protective services too.
2:07:20
So I wanna know from the committee council, can he add the because she was here today, missus Linda Lee, who's the chair of the agent committee of can he can you make this a joint committee?
2:07:31
There should be a joint committee instead of just, like, one standing committee.
2:07:34
There should be a joint committee with aging and and the committee of mental health instead of just aging.
2:07:40
Let me keep this a % that let me let me say this right now that, look, the city needs to recognize all mental health issues as, mental health issues that just recognize as a serious ones.
2:07:54
Why does a person have to have, like, schizophrenia or major mental health issue to be eligible for all these services in the city?
2:08:01
There's people who have like peep what we call, the d b five as like not that serious mental health issues like bipolar disorder.
2:08:10
They don't they're not eligible to get the same services as the people who have schizophrenia and psychosis.
2:08:17
So what need to start happening more, I know this is more federal that the city council need to start advocate need to tell the federal government to change the the and with the help of, what is Social Security to define the lower level mental health diagnosis as serious mental health diagnosis because we have a meant a big mental health problem in the city Of New York.
2:08:37
A big mental health problem in the City Of New York.
2:08:40
And these people, they need the same amount of help as the people who are diagnosed with the major serious mental health issues, especially schizophrenia and psychosis.
2:08:50
Until this happens, this is nothing's gonna change here.
2:08:53
I think right now in 2025, mental health needs to be a priority in the city council.
2:09:00
They need to dedicate a whole month to mental health awareness month.
2:09:03
Really, and judges and judges put in tweets and Facebook postings and photo ops, they need to act on it.
2:09:11
They need to they need to, act on what they saying because it's not funny about mental health until somebody that we all love or somebody that's well connected in the city in the city council or in the New York City political world gets hurt by someone that's seriously mentally ill.
2:09:26
It's not funny until that.
2:09:27
So like I said, until you're ready to go to the federal government, talk to your your your state lit your local your state and federal legislatures, legislators including the governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, to really help reform mental health laws in the city for the City Of New York because it's home rule in Downstate, the Downstate area, nothing never is gonna change.
2:09:50
So thank you so much and enjoy your day.