Advocates Fear The Impact Of NYCs Involuntary Hospitalization Plan

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan last month to involuntarily hospitalize homeless people with mental illnesses , raising alarm for disability and mental health advocates.

Under the new policy , law enforcement, as well as medical workers, will be authorized to remove and involuntarily hospitalize any individual who appears to be mentally ill or displays an inability to meet basic living needs, even if they dont appear to be a danger to themselves or others.

This would solve a crisis we see all around, Adams said at a press conference introducing the plan on Nov. 29, referring to homeless people with mental illnesses living on the streets.

But the new policy isnt the safest solution for that population, according to disability activists and mental health experts who spoke to HuffPost. Many had major concerns surrounding the mayors plan and how it reflects historical legislation that has targeted and endangered homeless and disabled communities in the past.

The plans use of the word involuntarily raised immediate concern for activists.

While introducing the plan, Adams stated that the nature of peoples mental illnesses can prevent them from realizing they need intervention and support. But mental health activist Dior Vargas points out that this stance fails to value their autonomy.

There may be circumstances where you may not necessarily know whats best for you. But I think that having that persons involvement [is important], Vargas told HuffPost. They know themselves better than anyone else and having them involved in their treatment, I think it is more important because its something thats empowering for people.

Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, said that people have the right to do what they want, which includes not seeking treatment if they dont pose a threat to themselves or others.

If theyre not necessarily causing any harm or harm to themselves, why should they be removed from a corner that they find to be their home? McLennon-Wier asked.

Adams did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

While Adams plan will have a direct and immediate negative impact on the homeless population, especially Black and Indigenous people of color, advocates also worry about how the language in the plan further perpetuates the stigma that all people experiencing homelessness have a mental illness.

Why is this important: this rule like the ugly laws has its basis in Jim Crow and no matter the intent it WILL be used largely against Black and a brown and poor communities. The citizens of NYC deserve better https://t.co/EB3TSiZbQu

Angry Voter (@Angry_Negro) November 29, 2022","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Angry Voter","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Angry_Negro","cache_age":86400,"description":"Why is this important: this rule like the ugly laws has its basis in Jim Crow and no matter the intent it WILL be used largely against Black and a brown and poor communities. The citizens of NYC deserve better https://t.co/EB3TSiZbQu Angry Voter (@Angry_Negro) November 29, 2022\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Angry Voter on 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Why is this important: this rule like the ugly laws has its basis in Jim Crow and no matter the intent it WILL be used largely against Black and a brown and poor communities. The citizens of NYC deserve better https://t.co/EB3TSiZbQu
Angry Voter (@Angry_Negro) November 29, 2022

According to McLennon-Wier, a persons psychological diagnosis cant be determined just by looking at them.

Statistics also disprove the assumption that all homeless people have a mental illness. The National Alliance of Mental Illness found that among the half a million unhoused people in the U.S., 20.8% of them have a serious mental illness.

Additionally, McLennon-Wier notes, in a society that has a substance abuse problem, intoxication could be mistaken for a psychotic episode.

Because of that, we cant say that everyone thats living on the streets has mental [illnesses], McLennon-Wier, who is a mental health provider, told HuffPost. Substance abuse is more of a behavioral health disorder rather than a mental illness.

Since the plan focuses on outside perceptions of someones mental state and their ability to take care of themselves, any unhoused person could be involuntarily hospitalized, even if they dont actually have a mental illness.

The city announced the plan after numerous attacks on subways and streets, some involving homeless people, left residents scared. In October, Adams claimed that mental illnesses were the cause of these attacks. One incident in January involved a woman who died after a man with schizophrenia pushed her onto the subway tracks, The New York Times reported .

But people with psychiatric disabilities are more likely to be victims of a crime than perpetrators, said Vargas, drawing parallels to the way mental illness is often associated with violence in discussions about gun violence.

I just feel like because of [this rhetoric and negative portrayals of mental illness], people dont see them as human beings, and as people who deserve that understanding and support, said Vargas.

This isnt a preventative measure; I think this is more reactionary, and one that is very politicized.
- Mental health activist Dior Vargas

The Ugly Laws

Many disability advocates have drawn parallels between the New York plan and the historic ugly laws a name disability advocates use to describe city ordinances introduced in the late 19th century that made it illegal for poor, disabled people to exist in public.

The laws came as a supplement to anti-begging and anti-vagrancy laws that were sweeping the nation at the time, said Susan Schweik, a retired professor and author of The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public.

The first ugly law was passed in San Francisco in 1867 and swept the nation throughout the rest of the century. The laws were based on appearance discrimination , saying that no person who is diseased, maimed, or deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object shall expose himself to the public.

The last known ugly-law-related arrest, in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1974, caught the attention of disability rights activists and organizations in the Midwest that spoke out against the discriminatory laws and organized to overturn them.

These laws are examples of disability discrimination by the state, combining policing, surveillance, shutting in of disabled people, the systems of fear and disgust that could be mobilized against disabled people, Schweik said.

The last ugly law wasnt removed from the books until 1974 in Chicago.