Whenever I talk about ThriveNYC and our country’s mental health crisis, the conversation quickly and inevitably goes to the conditions of our jails, prisons, and/or persistent street homelessness.
And it deeply saddens me, that in the most powerful country in the world, we have allowed our criminal justice system — supposedly designed to keep our families and communities safe — to do the exact opposite.
A few days ago, I met a woman, an inmate, who was seeing her young children for the first time in a year. We were on Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail complex — the second largest in the country. The woman I met was attending a baby shower our administration hosted to help connect new and expectant mothers to City resources that will help them bond with and nurture their children.
We have hosted these baby showers in low-income communities all over the city, but this one was different for a lot of reasons. At this baby shower, there just wasn’t as much joy in the room. Typically there are kids jumping and running around, playing and laughing out loud with their parents and family members as they visit our tables.
But here, so many of the moms were near-strangers to the children. Some babies cried when their mothers tried to hold them, even briefly; and to say that most of the mothers did not have that easy comfort that comes with the hours and hours spent caring for their little ones is an understatement.
It broke my heart. As I met with one mother after another and tried to interact with the children, I couldn’t help asking myself, “Who is being punished?” Most of these mothers pose no risk to anyone. And most never did.
Nationwide, the vast majority of incarcerated women committed nonviolent offenses. And recent studies have shown that mothers — particularly black and Latina mothers — are jailed at high rates for low-level offenses. Is missing a meeting with a probation officer a good enough reason to tear a family apart? I don’t think so.
We KNOW that 85 percent of brain development takes place before the age of three. We KNOW that babies who don’t bond properly with their moms suffer lifelong consequences. And we KNOW that children cannot bond with their mothers from behind a glass wall.
We ARE punishing these children and their whole families by doing so, we’re causing damage that virtually guarantees there will be an unending pipeline of undeveloped and broken souls to fill our jails and prisons. It is a vicious cycle of our own making. Now it’s up to us to fix it.
My husband’s administration is committed to closing Rikers Island for good, which will take years of thoughtful and persistent work. And we have already seen some success in New York City. We've actually made our neighborhoods safer while lowering the rates of incarceration. And we’ve expanded treatment options for the wide majority of detainees suffering from a mental health challenge or substance use disorder.
But that’s not enough. We have to take a long, hard look at WHY we put people behind bars, HOW we treat them while they are there and WHAT it is we hope to accomplish. That’s culture change and culture change always starts with people.
We have to make sure our corrections officers have the background and training to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness, and know how to work constructively with people. We need to give our police officers the tools to engage productively with folks struggling with mental illness, in ways that de-escalate potentially troubling situations. And we need to expand the options where officers can take people — beyond jail or hospital — that’s why we’re working to open mental health diversion centers in neighborhoods with some of the highest rates of incarceration.
We have to stop discarding people as soon as they’re discharged – that’s exactly when they need the most support – and plan ahead to connect them to the treatment and services we know they need. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the one in five adults who suffer from mental illness, substance use disorders – especially now.
New York City is proud to fight alongside ANYONE working toward a system that promotes treatment over trauma, and healing over punishment. I encourage you to take action TODAY by calling your Senators.
