CDANY has sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to sign S.2144/A.2441, which has passed both houses of the legislature. The bill would modernize the definition of mental illness in the NYS Correction Law.

S.2144/A.2441 would replace the outdated definition of “serious mental illness” in the Correction Law, instead tying it to the definition of the term in Mental Hygiene Law § 1.03(52) which flexibly relies on the “most recent version” of the DSM.

The Mental Hygiene Law defines a person with serious mental illness as “individuals who meet criteria established by the commissioner of mental health, which shall include persons who are in psychiatric crisis, or persons who have a designated diagnosis of mental illness under the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and whose severity and duration of mental illness results in substantial functional disability. Persons with serious mental illness shall include children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances.” § 1.03(52).

Read the full letter here (PDF).