Here is Adam's 600M+ plan to fix street homelessness

NEW YORK - During his fourth State of the City address, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a $600 million initiative aimed at addressing street homelessness in New York City. 

The plan includes adding 900 safe haven beds to the existing 4,000, and it focuses on providing psychiatric care, substance abuse treatment, and support for homeless youths.

 "Several recent incidents have shown what happens when these issues go untreated," Adams said last week. 

What is Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom saying?

In an exclusive interview with FOX 5 NY’s Robert Moses, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom laid out the three-pronged approach to tackling homelessness. 

The strategy centers on expanding shelter capacity, offering mental health services, and providing support for vulnerable populations such as homeless youths.

Williams-Isom said most of the added safe haven beds will be opened in new spaces, not hotels, that are different from more traditional intake shelters.

"A lot of people don’t want to come into congregate facilities. We've heard from clients, and we've heard from advocates that these smaller kinds of, some of them are single rooms where they have kind of less rules, so the curfews are not quite the same, are really key places. We have case management there and some services," Williams-Isom said.

For those who need more intensive care, another part of the mayor’s plan will stand up in-patient facilities in four hospitals, including Bellevue, that will offer psychiatric care, substance abuse treatment and help with securing permanent housing.

The mayor also promises 100 new beds for homeless runaways in their early 20s.

Williams-Isom has continued to try and address homelessness amid a storm of high turnover in the Adams administration.

"It really hasn’t, in my opinion, stalled the work that I’m doing in my portfolio because we’ve stayed dedicated to the people that we came to serve," Williams-Isom said.

Williams-Isom told FOX 5 NY's Robert Moses that the city reserves the right to involuntarily take homeless New Yorkers who could be a threat to themselves or others off the streets and into hospitals. 

"We can't just throw our hands up and say, 'there's nothing we can do.' These are New Yorkers. They are our brothers and sisters. The better that they do, the better that we do as a society," Williams-Isom said.

What is Kathy Hochul saying?

Hochul proposed revisions to Kendra’s Law, which currently allows courts to order Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for individuals with mental illness who are deemed unsafe to live independently. 

The law aims to ensure these individuals receive the necessary care and support to reduce risks to themselves or others. Hochul’s proposed amendments would expand the criteria for involuntary commitment and make it easier for people to voluntarily seek treatment.

"This is an issue that has plagued New York for decades," Hochul said, adding that the time for legislative action is now. "The recent surge in violent crimes in our public transit system cannot continue, and we need to tackle this crisis head-on."

In response to the state's initiatives, Adams expressed gratitude for Hochul’s support, stating, "With today’s announcement, we are exceptionally grateful to Governor Hochul for listening to our calls and to the calls of everyday New Yorkers."

What is Kendra's Law?

Kendra's Law in New York State allows courts to order Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for individuals with mental illness who are unlikely to live safely in the community without supervision. The law aims to ensure these individuals receive the necessary care and support to reduce risks to themselves or others.

The backstory behind Kendra's law: In 1999, Kendra Webdale, a 32-year-old journalist from Buffalo, was pushed by a 29-year-old man from Queens into the path of an oncoming subway train in Manhattan. 

The man had a decade-long history of mental illness and several hospitalized in psychiatric centers but was released shortly after each incident. 

Under the existing law, hospitals can commit individuals whose mental illness poses a risk of serious harm to themselves or others. Hochul’s new legislation seeks to broaden this definition to ensure that more individuals in need of care receive it. Additionally, she plans to introduce changes to Kendra’s Law, which governs Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT). The proposed changes would improve how courts can order individuals into AOT and make it easier for people to voluntarily seek treatment. Hochul has been advocating for these changes for three years, and she stressed that the time for legislative action has come, with public safety being her top priority.