Authors of the state's $1M Kendra's Law evaluation say the Office of Mental Health is misrepresenting their findings
The researchers who wrote the independent evaluation of New York's assisted outpatient treatment program (Kendra's Law), finalized by the Office of Mental Health in June, published a letter saying OMH and its leaders have "mischaracterized, misrepresented or overtly 'spun' the evaluation study, its findings and their complexity." OMH's chief medical officer has said the report shows the program reduces hospitalizations and improves community safety; lead author Nev Jones and two team members say the state is downplaying harms documented over two years of research. The $1 million, 392-page report was required by the Legislature when the law was last renewed in the FY2023 budget. Relevant to the administration's mental-health commitments, which remain logged as in-progress; this dispute is over interpretation of the evaluation, and Civic Pulse has not independently reviewed the 392-page report.