Testimony by DJ Jaffe, to NYC Dept of Health and Mental HealthNov. 1, 2013
My name is DJ Jaffe. I am Executive Director of Mental Illness Policy Org.
NYC and State used to focus all their resources on people with serious mental illness, but both are engaged in massive mission-creep that now leaves the most
seriously ill to fend for themselves. Bullying is the newest cause celebre used
by NYC to justify ignoring serious mental illness[1].
The fact that bullying isn’t a mental illness matters not a whit when it comes
to spending money. Peer support-in spite of lack of evidence that it reduces
violence, arrest, homelessness, suicide and incarceration is flooded with money
while Kendra’s Law proven to help the most seriously ill is largely ignored.
NYC has largely abandoned efforts at symptom amelioration for
the most seriously ill and instead focuses on ‘recovery’ and ‘wellness’
services for those who are higher functioning. The mental health system, which
used to be a mental illness system, has offloaded the most seriously ill to the
shelters, prisons, jails and morgues. As a result Riker’s Island is now the
primary provider of services to the seriously ill in NYC. There is no known way
to prevent mental illness, but ‘prevention’ ranks high in the department’s
activities. “Early Identification” is the
new buzz word, when those identified can’t get treatment. Mission-creep and
ignoring the elephant in the room: untreated serious mental illness has become policy.
We would ask that NYC stop shunning the seriously mentally
ill, end mission creep and return to making serious mental illnesses like
schizophrenia and treatment resistant bipolar disorder a department priority.
