Senator Catherine Young (R-Olean)
ALBANY – bill sponsored by Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean) designed to improve mental health treatment and increase public protection has been signed into law by the governor.
The new law was put into place on Wednesday and will ensure that mentally ill inmates are no longer released from a state prison without a proper mental health evaluation and treatment plan being established.
Beginning this year, corrections officials and community supervisors will be required to develop and, when necessary, implement a post-release mental health plan and provide medications for inmates who have received mental health treatment within three years prior to their release from a state correctional facility.
The bill also authorizes parole officers to initiate an involuntary mental health commitment proceeding if a newly-released parolee fails to abide by the treatment requirements set in their post-release plan, or is otherwise recognized to be a threat. In some cases, a parole officer may be the only professional in direct contact with a parolee after their release, yet they previously were not authorized to begin involuntary commitment proceedings.
Young says the new law follows extensive evidence that has been accumulated from Kendra’s Law, that demonstrates keeping persons with a mental illness who are released from incarceration in treatment keeps the patients, public, and police safer, while saving money for taxpayers.
Kendra’s Law, which Senator Young has previously worked to strengthened, has cut arrest and incarceration of mentally ill enrolled in it by over 80 percent.
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