Committee on Mental Health and Addiction meeting
January 27, 2026, 1:00 PM
The Committee on Mental Health and Addiction held a hearing on Int 0291-2026, a pre-considered bill requiring the Commissioner of Health to meet certain reporting requirements related to mental health. The bill was laid over after the hearing.
What was discussed
- Chair Cabán opens a hearing on annual suicide reporting (Int 291) Council Member Tiffany L. Cabán opened the Committee on Mental Health and Addiction's hearing on a pre-considered bill by Council Member Farah N. Louis that would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to publish an annual report on suicides broken down by demographics and borough
- Samaritans of New York: make suicide data timely, private, and inclusive Fiodhna O'Grady and Kumarie Cruz of Samaritans of New York—which runs the city's confidential 24/7 suicide prevention hotline—testified in strong support of the bill, urging timely or provisional data, interagency coordination, clear privacy standards, and inclusion of sexual orientation and gender
- Five Borough Veterans: add veteran status as a standalone data point John Whitaker, Michael Matos, Gerard Placide, and James Edward Becton III—testifying with Five Borough Veterans, several sharing personal experiences of combat and survival—urged the committee to include veteran status as a separate data point, noting veterans face about 1.5 times the suicide risk
- What additional demographic data should the annual suicide report capture? Council Member Cabán asked witnesses what other data the report should include; Fiodhna O'Grady of Samaritans cited veterans, older white men, and LGBTQ and trans youth as elevated-risk groups, warned that involuntary transport can raise post-hospitalization risk, and noted the federal Youth Risk
Agenda
1 item
- Int 0291-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the commissioner of health and mental hygiene to report deaths by suicide that occur in the city and suicide-related behavior among youth Hearing on P-C Item by Comm