New York, Nov. 29. New York authorities on Tuesday indicated their determination to forcibly transfer to psychiatric centers people with “serious mental illnesses” who may pose a danger to others and to themselves or who are unable to obtain their former possessions. necessity to survive.
To do this, they have just published a circular with the steps that medical personnel, firefighters and security agents must take when they meet a person they believe has these characteristics and who voluntarily refuses to go to a hospital to ascertain whether they need receive medication or be hospitalized.
In New York, “a common misconception remains that we cannot provide forced assistance unless the person is violent, suicidal, or at imminent risk of harm,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said today during the announcement. of the new campaign.
The mayor insisted that belief was a “myth” and added that the city will make “every effort to help those who are mentally ill and whose illness endangers them by preventing them from meeting their basic needs”. .
With the arrival of winter, many homeless seek refuge in subway stations, where in recent months there have been violent incidents and several murders that have had a great impact on the population and for which many blame the homeless.
Since becoming mayor, Adams has focused much of his efforts on fighting crime and delinquency and strengthening the role and presence of the police.
The city has already launched several initiatives to try to address the problem of the presence of homeless people with mental illness on the streets of the city, such as last May when it launched a pilot project to try to connect the mentally ill with the centers where they could receive attention. EFE extension
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