City 'Diversion Center' To Open In East Harlem, Mayor Announces

EAST HARLEM, NY — A new city service to help people struggling with mental health needs or substance abuse avoid jail or hospitalization will open in East Harlem, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

Nonprofit organization Project Renewal has signed a lease to open what the city calls a "health diversion center" at 179 E. 116th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, the mayor said. The center will accommodate 25 people and will provide short-term, stabilizing services for people who pose no risk to public safety, officials said.

"New Yorkers who struggle with mental health and substance abuse issues should be connected to treatment, not placed into the criminal justice system," de Blasio said in a statement. "This agreement brings us one step closer to opening health diversion centers and making sure people who need help and aren't a threat to others get the care they truly need."

Project Renewal was one of two organizations to acquire a lease for the new facilities. The second diversion center will be located on White Plains Road in the Bronx, city officials said. Plans to establish these centers were first announced in 2014.

The city will invest $9.5 million annually to serve about 2,400 people each year at the centers, city officials said. The centers will be open at all hours and staff will not be allowed to turn away anybody brought in by police. At the same time, people brought to the centers must consent to receiving services such as health care and social services. The centers will not be used as homeless shelters and the maximum stay allowed is 10 days depending on a person's needs.

The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene worked with partner agencies to develop the model that will be used at the diversion centers.

"Diversion centers are a way to intervene at a critical moment – interaction with the police – and connect New Yorkers with mental health or substance use issues to care rather than arrest. They will help us break the cycle of criminal justice involvement for thousands of New Yorkers each year," Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a statement.

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