City Hall has decided to expand a pilot program that sends social workers and EMS employees to non-violent mental health emergencies, rather than to all prejudices of the police – even though the test-run has still not begun Is, Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday.
“Does it expand into the city? We are not even getting up yet, ”Anthony Almojera, an EMS lieutenant at Sunset Park who is the vice president of local 3621 FDNY uniformed EMS officers, told the Post.
“They were still trying to resolve the members a week, week and a half day ago, but the training has not started yet … a lot of members have the opportunity to face the threat of equal pay and go Not found.”
In late February, when the test run was originally set to kick off, City Hall said the event would begin in the 25th, 28th and 32nd prefixes. A spokesman said that now two months later, de Blasio said they were “confident” that the “approach is going to work citywide” although training has not yet begun.
“Now with fully hired teams, we have created a program that we know will work for FDNY EMS and [Health and Hospitals], With training now to begin May 3Third In pilot locations, ”a City Hall spokesperson said.
“The service will start soon and will expand the city to every limit throughout FY 2018. We know that it is right for mental health professionals to react to the mental health facing a 911 emergency and we are putting money into the budget so that we can expand this approach citywide. ”
$ 112 million will be invested for the program at City Hall – the largest new mental health expenditure in the financial sector, with plans to spend $ 98.6 billion for Financial Year 2022 – so instead of policing New Yorkers in the throes of mental health crisis Can be linked to services. .
“If a family is in crisis and it is not a situation that involves violence then we are going to send citizens to address those calls,” De Blasio announced the budget during a press briefing.
City Hall has mostly been mulling over the specifics of the program since it was first announced at a press conference in November, where she and First Lady Chirlane McRae refused to name the initiative.
When asked his views on the citywide expansion initiative, Almojera said he is concerned that the program is being “thrown together” and that his members are being asked to handle more dangerous assignments without an increase in pay.
“In its essence, this is not a terrible idea, [but] Like everything else in this department, when it comes to EMS, it is quick and has the ability to throw it together quickly, ”said Almojera.
“If you are asking us if we feel good about it, the answer is no. We are paid $ 35,000 less than other 911 respondents and this program exposes the dangers we face Potentially face and face everyday. ”
Experienced emergency responders – and de Blasio – said that special training is required to respond to mental health calls, which is why duty is being taken away from police, but many EMS workers in the city have qualifications do not require.
“We have a workforce of 4,200, seventy-five percent have less than five years on the job and it is these people who are responsible for filling these units,” Almojera said, pointing to high turnover in the profession.
“We do the best we can, but the more experience you have when you are talking to mentally disturbed, mental patients, the better you will be.”
Almojera said City Hall was seeking EMS staff with four to five years of experience for the gigs, but there was a small pool for qualified applicants, expanding the inauguration of paramedics.
He said, “Like everything else, it is hasty and poorly put together, so not throwing money into it and combining it with all the other essential components, only EMS workers and those working with them Will create a more dangerous situation for social workers. ”
Police Benevolt Association President Patrick Lynch said Post de Blasio was yet to show any “meaningful action or positive results” related to the program.
“We’ve calculated how many times Mayor de Blasio has announced to put a big pile on the back of the city dollar,” Lynch said.
“But nothing he has done shows any meaningful action or positive results. In the meantime, he continues to weaken police officers who are still in the forefront of dealing with the city’s mental health crisis.”
The NYPD did not return a request for comment.
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