The Daniel’s Law Task Force will conduct a meeting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, which will also be streamed live. Members will hear from senior leaders at the state Division of Criminal Justice Services on crisis service training for law enforcement, and updates on outreach activities from a consulting firm working with the task force.

DCJS will provide an overview of the law enforcement perspective on responding to individuals in distress. NYSTEC, the consulting firm retained by the task force, will discuss findings from their outreach engagement efforts with stakeholders.

Last month, task force members discussed the core principles of developing a crisis response system that will be health-led and effectively address disparities and service gaps in the current system. Additional information about the meeting is available on the task force website.

Established in response to the death of 41-year-old Daniel Prude in 2020, the task force is charged with developing recommendations to guide behavioral health crisis response and explore avenues for related diversion services. Following its inaugural meeting last summer, the task force has convened numerous meetings and have listened to presentations on different behavioral health crisis response models to inform their work.

Additionally, the task force has conducted several listening sessions, which have provided an opportunity for members to hear directly from New Yorkers about their views on enhancing behavioral health crisis responses. These sessions have also provided and to solicit the best practices for engaging individuals in crisis, with a specific emphasis on equity.

In-person listening sessions were conducted at the state University of New York at Stony Brook on Jan. 11, at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan on Jan. 18, and at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County on May 8. Virtual listening sessions were also conducted in November and April.

“As task force members continue to gather input from stakeholders, these latest presentations will offer additional information,” Office of Mental Health Commissioner and task force Chair Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “We look forward to continuing this work with stakeholders to identify approaches that will best serve New York’s communities.”