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Council Member Rivera discusses Rikers crisis and introduces supportive housing legislation
0:05:28
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137 sec
Council Member Carlina Rivera addresses the humanitarian and fiscal crisis at Rikers Island, highlighting the prevalence of mental illness among incarcerated individuals and the connection between incarceration and homelessness. She introduces her legislation, Introduction 1100, which aims to expand eligibility for supportive housing to include recently incarcerated individuals.
- Rivera emphasizes that 57% of individuals at Rikers have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and the number of people found mentally unfit to stand trial has more than doubled since 2020.
- She estimates that her proposal could provide access to safe housing and supportive services for 2,600 people on Rikers each year.
- The legislation is presented as a step towards safety, dignity, and providing opportunities for stable and productive lives for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Carlina Rivera
0:05:28
Good afternoon, thank you.
0:05:29
Thank you chair nurse for your leadership, holding this important hearing, and I wanna thank this panel for your decades of work and leadership.
0:05:40
And of course, to all of
Mercedes Narcisse
0:05:41
the advocates who are here,
Carlina Rivera
0:05:42
who have guided us and advised us on this movement.
0:05:46
Rikers is a humanitarian and fiscal crisis, something you've heard me and all of us say before.
0:05:53
Too many New Yorkers diagnosed with mental illness and substance use disorder are trapped in a revolving door of homelessness, incarceration, and emergency hospitalizations.
0:06:04
Fifty seven percent of individuals who are incarcerated at Rikers have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and recent data shows that the number of people found mentally unfit to stand trial has more than doubled since 2020, while hospital bed capacity has barely increased, something I think that bears repeating over and over again so people understand how serious this crisis is.
0:06:25
Each of these issues is deeply connected.
0:06:27
Homelessness is 10 times more prevalent among formerly incarcerated individuals than it is for the general public.
0:06:36
Jail is not a home.
0:06:38
That is why alongside advocates and those with lived experience, I have worked with experts in supportive housing to put forward introduction 1,100 which we will be hearing today.
0:06:48
It would amend eligibility criteria for Holy City subsidized supportive housing projects to include people who were formerly incarcerated within the past twelve months as a qualifying factor.
0:06:59
This simple yet transformative change would remove barriers that keep thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers from achieving the stability they need to build their lives.
0:07:09
The Rikers Commission estimates 2,400,000,000.0 in annual savings if we close Rikers and invest in alternatives like supportive housing.
0:07:18
My proposal could expand access to 2,600 people on Rikers each year offering access to safe housing and supportive services instead of a shelter bed or a jail cell.
0:07:30
This is about safety, dignity, and the opportunity at a stable, productive, and fulfilling life.
0:07:36
I want to thank you all again.
0:07:38
I want to thank chair nurse, and I look forward to moving all of these bills forward toward passage together.
0:07:44
Thank you.