Mon Sep 23 21:19:00 UTC 2024: ## Mental Health Crisis Calls Surge, But B-HEARD Program Faces Challenges
**New York City** – A program designed to divert mental health crisis calls from police to trained professionals is facing growing pains despite a surge in demand.
B-HEARD, which sends out teams of social workers and EMTs instead of police, responded to nearly 15,000 calls last year, a significant increase from the previous year. However, the program’s reach remains limited due to restrictive criteria and staffing shortages.
A key issue is the criteria for routing calls to B-HEARD. City officials say that if a 911 caller indicates the person is at risk of self-harm or harming others, the call is automatically routed to NYPD. This disqualifies a majority of mental health calls, with B-HEARD only responding to about 30% of them.
Advocates and City Council members are pushing for reforms to B-HEARD, including expanding its reach and linking it to the 988 suicide and crisis hotline. They argue that the current system disproportionately exposes New Yorkers with mental health issues to potentially dangerous encounters with police.
“Guns do not help the situation. Uniforms do not help the situation,” said Peggy Herrera, a Queens woman who was arrested trying to keep police from entering her apartment during a mental health episode her son experienced.
While city officials acknowledge the need for reform, they currently have no plans to expand B-HEARD’s staffing or reach. They are focusing on refining the program to allow it to handle more calls.
The ongoing debate about B-HEARD highlights the challenges in addressing mental health crises within a city grappling with a complex and ever-evolving system.
First Piper 