Int. No. 482
By Council Members Gibson, Reynoso, Lander and Cornegy
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring that the department of correction establish a crisis intervention program
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 9 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to add a new section 9-153 to read as follows:
§ 9-153 Crisis intervention program.
a. Definitions. When used in this section the following terms shall have the following meanings:
"CIT officer" means a member of the department of correction who has completed crisis intervention training.
"Crisis" means any situation in which an inmate that is or is suspected of being mentally ill creates a disturbance, refuses to follow the instruction of a correction officer, engages in violent or tumultuous activity, or otherwise acts in such a manner that justifies intervention by a correction officer.
"Crisis intervention team" means a unit consisting of at least one CIT officer and one mental health professional.
"Crisis intervention training" means a minimum of forty hours of specialized instruction on responding to crises within a department of correction facility. This training shall encompass issues specific to problems encountered by the mentally ill in a jail environment, crisis resolution skills, and communications skills and de-escalation training specific to addressing the issues of the mentally ill.
"Mental health professional" means an employee or contractor of the department of health and mental hygiene who has received crisis intervention training.
b. The commissioner of correction in conjunction with the department of health and mental hygiene shall establish a crisis intervention program to address crises. Such program shall establish protocols to improve responses to crises, including protocols to utilize crisis intervention teams to address frequently encountered issues with mentally ill inmates, including but not limited to situations in which mentally ill inmates refuse to leave their cell or refuse to follow officer's commands.
c. It shall be the policy of the department to utilize crisis intervention teams to address crises. There shall be at least one crisis intervention team available in any facility in which the department could reasonably foresee that a crisis could occur, at any time during which the department could reasonably foresee that a crisis could occur.
d. The commissioner of correction shall meet with the department of health and mental hygiene on an annual basis to review the crisis intervention program and update program protocols as necessary.
e. Reporting. The commissioner of correction shall post on the department website on an annual basis the following information for the previous year:
1. The number of correction officers and the number of non-correction officers who received crisis intervention training, and the total number of departmental and non-departmental employees who have received such training.
2. The number of crisis intervention teams utilized by the department.
3. The number of crises responded to by crisis intervention teams, in total and disaggregated by facility.
4. The number of crises responded to by crisis intervention teams per 100 inmates during the previous year, in total and disaggregated by facility.
5. The number of crises responded to without a crisis intervention team, in total and disaggregated by facility.
6. The number of crises responded to without a crisis intervention team per 100 in mates during the previous year, in total and disaggregated by facility.
§ 2. This local law takes effect six months after it becomes law.
CEB/BC
LS #3566/Int. 770-2015
LS 886
12/22/17