A state task force that has been meeting for more than a year is out with its full report on Daniel’s Law — legislation proposed as a follow-up to the death of Daniel Prude in 2020.
He died after being restrained by Rochester Police during a mental health crisis.
Among the recommendations in the report is to establish a Technical Assistance Center that would develop protocols for coming up with a health-oriented response to someone who is having a behavioral crisis.
The chair of the State Senate’s Mental Health Committee said she feels the state should move forward with the legislation.
“I think it should certainly be on the table, these recommendations are pretty clear in that Daniel’s Law should be the law of the land,” said state Sen. Samra Brouk, a Rochester-area Democrat. “It talks about the use of peers, it talks about behavioral health response.”
Brouk said she also hopes the state can find a way to provide funding to communities that need help coming up with a way to provide this kind of support.
“There are a lot of localities who are trying and are successful in creating these mental health response units and we’re creating this mental health crisis response system,” Brouk said. “But it is also incumbent on the state to be helping with the funding for some of these localities.”
In a statement, Rochester-area Democratic Assemblymember Harry Bronson also called for the full Legislature to approve Daniel’s Law in the next session.
“These recommendations underscore the importance of a crisis response model that establishes standardized protocols which are person- and family-centered, peer-led, and culturally appropriate, with law enforcement included only when the situation poses a risk of violence,” he said.
Rochester Councilmember Stanley Martin, who leads a statewide Daniel’s Law Coalition, said in a statement that, “The Daniel’s Law Taskforce’s recommendation to routinely deploy peers and mental health workers instead of police ensures that calling for help during mental health and substance use crises does not become a death sentence.”
Dr. Ann Sullivan, the commissioner of the state Office of Mental Health, said in a statement that the task force recommendations “reflect the exhaustive efforts taken to develop a robust behavioral health crisis response model.“
She added that the report provides a “roadmap for building a trauma-informed response and diversion system” that will help communities respond to individuals in crisis.
