The New York State Office of Mental Health today announced that the Daniel’s Law Task Force will host the next in a series of stakeholder listening sessions aimed at gathering feedback from the public. Registration is now open for the second in-person listening session at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18, which will also be streamed live.

The listening session will be hosted at the second-floor student dining hall at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice campus at 524 West 59th St., in New York City. Members of the public can register to provide feedback in-person directly to the task force during the listening session.

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 in August, the task force hosted its first stakeholder listening session virtually in late November, which resulted in more than 50 comments from the roughly 100 participants.

Earlier this month, the task force conducted its first in-person listening session at Stony Brook. The hour-long session drew comments from members of the public and was also streamed online and can be viewed on the Daniel’s Law website.

These sessions are aimed at gathering additional input from communities, governmental entities, and the public on the best practices for engaging individuals in crisis, with a specific emphasis on equity. The task force is also examining a variety of models –both national and international –that could be used in developing a crisis response system. 

“We continue to gather input during these listening sessions, which will play a critical role in the task force’s work to improve crisis response across our state,” Office of Mental Health Commissioner and Task Force Chairwoman Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “I encourage all interested New Yorkers to provide feedback at this upcoming listening session and help us improve crisis response statewide.”

The task force is also conducting a virtual member meeting from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 26, which will also be streamed live.