Relates to the removal of incarcerated individuals diagnosed with mental illness to a residential mental health treatment unit.
Summary
This bill amends the correction law to require the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, in consultation with mental health clinicians, to divert or remove an incarcerated individual who has at any time been diagnosed with a serious mental illness from segregated confinement or from confinement in a residential rehabilitation unit when that confinement could last more than 30 days. Instead of remaining in those settings, the person would be transferred to a residential mental health treatment unit.
The bill preserves the disciplinary process, making clear that prison disciplinary hearings and related proceedings may still continue under department rules and regulations. The measure would take effect 30 days after becoming law and is framed as a targeted change to how the state handles incarcerated people with serious mental illness in restrictive housing settings.
Impact
The bill would amend section 137 of the New York Correction Law, narrowing the circumstances under which incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness may be kept in segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit for extended periods. It would expand the department’s obligation to identify and transfer eligible individuals to residential mental health treatment units, affecting correctional facility housing decisions, mental health placement practices, and the treatment of people with documented serious mental illness in state custody.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes, the measure appears to be presented as a reform-oriented correctional mental health policy with an emphasis on treatment over prolonged restrictive confinement. The language suggests a protective approach toward incarcerated people with serious mental illness while still preserving institutional discipline procedures. No formal opposition or support is documented in the provided materials, so the overall sentiment cannot be measured from votes or transcripts.
Contention
The main policy tension is between reducing the use of segregated confinement for people with serious mental illness and preserving correctional discipline and facility management. Supporters would likely emphasize humane treatment, clinical diversion, and safer mental health care, while potential critics may focus on operational constraints, security concerns, and the scope of the mandate to transfer individuals diagnosed at any time with serious mental illness. The bill also raises implementation questions about clinical screening, eligibility determinations, and available treatment-unit capacity.
Requires mental health services for incarcerated individuals with mental health issues related to the trauma of incarceration upon reentry and reintegration into society upon release.