Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg directs $9M seized from banks in criminal cases to address NYC mental health crisis

The Manhattan district attorney will direct $9 million seized from banks in criminal investigations toward addressing New York’s mental health crisis, the Daily News has learned.

DA Alvin Bragg will put $6 million toward “Neighborhood Navigators” — social service experts whose job will be to conduct outreach to people in Washington Heights, Inwood, Chinatown,the Lower East Side, Central and East Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen and Midtown West.

Bragg earmarked $3 million for criminal court-based social workers in a first-of-its-kind initiative connecting them with people arrested for low-level crimes at the beginning of their cases.

The DA said the mental health program’s goals, separate from the courts and criminal justice system, are intended to help people, enhance public safety, and expand much-needed services.

Among the services that the so-called navigators will provide are housing assistance, treatment for mental illness and various substance-use disorders, food, clothes, and transportation money.

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“The criminal justice system must not be the main vehicle for addressing mental and behavioral health,” Bragg said.

He added the plan is “rooted in an understanding that true and lasting public safety requires investment in our friends, family, and neighbors who are struggling to get the support they need.

“The COVID-19 pandemic destabilized our communities in unprecedented ways and contributed to the profound mental health and substance use crisis gripping our city today,” he said.

“By investing in preventative efforts, we are making it clear that the criminal justice system must not be the main vehicle for addressing mental and behavioral health.”

The work will be done by the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance. The idea is to add two more categories of social workers to New York’s streets and courtrooms at a time when the city’s need for mental health resources is overwhelming, said Bragg spokesman Doug Cohen.

Cohen said they want to support people who would otherwise give up because they get discouraged maneuvering complex bureaucracies.

Unlike court-mandated programs, such as Supervised Release, people assigned a navigator in court will not be legally required to comply with the voluntary program or be penalized if they choose not to.