KINGSTON, N.Y. — During a recent court hearing, Ulster County Judge Brian Lowndes criticized county leaders for failing to provide adequate services to people suffering from mental illness.
The Governor questioned why a county as wealthy as Ulster County lacks the services its most vulnerable residents desperately need. The remarks were made at the same time as he sentenced John Arceri, a 29-year-old Kingston man with a long history of mental illness, to 18 years in state prison for strangling his father. Arceri, who had a long history of mental illness, had been transported by Kingston police to Hudson Valley Health Alliance Hospital the previous night under New York State Mental Health Law and had been visited by the county's Mobile Mental Health Unit minutes before he killed his father.
In a recent interview, Ulster County Mayor Jen Metzger agreed that increased mental health services are needed, but rejected the notion that the county has ignored the problem or been negligent in providing services, saying that over the past few years, Ulster County has taken big steps to improve both services and access to services.
“We've been very focused on expanding mental health in general because the need is so great,” Metzger said. “We've really prioritized services.”
As part of his 2024 State of the County address, Metzger announced a series of initiatives to bolster mental health services in response to a surge in crisis calls since 2020.
A centerpiece of these efforts is the establishment of the Ulster County Health Center at 368 Broadway, described as a model for integrating mental health and wellness services in Kingston. The center will house the county's crisis stabilization center and, when completed later this year, will provide 24/7 crisis services for both youth and adults as well as space for nonprofit partners to provide walk-in mental health care and outpatient substance use disorder treatment. The county also recently opened two new family and children's mental health clinics and a day program for those seeking mental health services.
Additionally, the county's mental health department is overseeing a “single-point access” process that connects residents to various levels of case management and peer services for youth and adults, she said.
Additionally, Metzger said the county recently approved a grant to help the sheriff's office hire a mental health clinician for its Support and Advocacy Through Frontline Engagement (SAFE) initiative, train law enforcement officers in “crisis intervention team training,” and work to connect people deputies come into contact with needed mental health and substance abuse services.
Juanita Hotchkiss, director of community and inmate services for the Ulster County Sheriff's Office, speaks about a $400,000 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant awarded to the sheriff's office by the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant will establish a behavioral health joint response team that is fully embedded within law enforcement. The team will be called Support and Advocacy Through Frontline Engagement (SAFE) Teams. Hotchkiss is joined, from left, by Rep. Pat Ryan, Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger, Ulster County Undersheriff Chad Story, Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa, Ulster County Mental Health Director Tara McDonald and Ulster County Council Member Gina Hansut, deputy chair of law enforcement and public safety. The grant was announced Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, at the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center in Kingston. (Tania Bariclow/Daily Freeman)
But the success of such programs depends on individuals being willing to accept the help offered, she said, adding that sometimes that can be the hardest obstacle to overcome.
“People with serious mental illness don't necessarily seek treatment or want to take medication,” Metzger said. “Ultimately, it's up to them to get the treatment they need.”
“It requires a voluntary participation from the individual, without criminal involvement,” said Ulster County District Attorney Emanuel Nezi. “This is a difficult and hard problem to solve. You can't just find someone and take them off the street because they have a mental illness.”
Neji said his policy is to always take into consideration the mental health of individuals charged with a crime.
“We look at all cases where (mental illness) may be an issue,” Neji said, adding that he often contacts private attorneys to see if those cases can be resolved in a way that allows individuals to receive treatment.
“By and large, it is understood that these people would not have committed the crimes and acts they did if they had normal mental capacity,” Neji said. “The presumption, at least to me, is that these crimes were motivated by mental illness.”
Still, he said, the decision to plead a mental illness defense is always up to the lawyer, because under state law, if a person is found not responsible by reason of mental illness or defect, they can be sent to a secure psychiatric hospital until they are no longer found to be dangerously mentally ill — for the rest of their life.
On the other hand, if a person refuses to plead guilty on the grounds of mental illness and instead pleads guilty, or pleads guilty but is in an extremely emotional state, he or she will be sentenced to prison with a fixed release date.
Arceli is one of them. Arceli pleaded guilty on grounds of extreme emotional disturbance and was sentenced to 18 years in state prison, where Judge Lowndes said he was unlikely to receive the psychiatric help he needed. The sentence contrasted with the sentence Judge Lowndes handed down to Brian Roberts, 26, of Lake Catlin, who was charged with murder for bludgeoning his father to death. Roberts also has a long history of mental illness and pleaded not responsible by reason of mental illness or defect, so Judge Lowndes ordered Roberts to be detained in a secure psychiatric facility. Roberts will receive the treatment he needs there, but he will remain there until a psychiatrist determines he is no longer dangerously mentally ill. If he is not determined to be dangerously mentally ill, he could be detained indefinitely.
While courts have few options available to those charged with the most serious crimes, they have more discretion for those guilty of lesser offenses, and that is where his office can have an impact, Nnezi said.
Assistant District Attorney Saja Ahmed said the county Mental Health Unit has social workers assigned to Kingston Municipal Court and Ulster Municipal Court who work with the District Attorney's Office, defense attorneys and the Probation Department to connect individuals struggling with mental health needs to available services. She said local judges often require individuals to participate in mental health programs or take medication as part of their sentence.
“I think they're moving in the direction we need to be going. But is it going fast enough? Is it enough? This is a big county,” she said.
“We are doing everything we can with the resources available to us,” Nnezi agreed.
