Title
Honoring the Life of Christian Hall, Urging the Pennsylvania State Senate to Pass House Bill 1305, and recognizing both Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month.
Body
WHEREAS, The traditional "9-1-1" emergency response system is not always adequately equipped to respond to mental health crises, leading to outcomes that, tragically, can result in harm to individuals in need of mental health supports; and
WHEREAS, A person in the midst of a mental health crisis is more likely to encounter law enforcement personnel than to receive a crisis intervention or other mental health treatment; and
WHEREAS, Historically, crisis response services have placed members of marginalized communities at disproportionate risk of poor or harmful outcomes, including criminal justice involvement; and
WHEREAS, The establishment of "9-8-8" as a dedicated number for mental health crises was a significant step towards improving access to critical mental health services and reducing the stigma associated with seeking that type of help; and
WHEREAS, Mobile crisis units have been proven as an effective means of de-escalating crises by connecting individuals with appropriate mental health services, reducing unnecessary incarcerations and hospitalizations; and
WHEREAS, A person experiencing a mental health emergency should be kept safe and given help to diffuse the situation; and
WHEREAS, On December 30, 2020, when Christian Hall, a 19-year-old Chinese American man from Stroudsburg, needed such care, the Pennsylvania State Police tragically failed to provide it; and
WHEREAS, On that day, Christian anonymously called "9-1-1" to report a suicidal person - himself - but when troopers responded to the medical emergency, they shot and killed Christian; and
WHEREAS, Had "9-8-8" been available to Christian in 2020, his call would have been answered by specialized mental health crisis responders trained in de-escalation and the delivery of compassionate car...
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