Key initiatives

B-HEARD - the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division - is part of New York City's commitment to treat mental health crises as public health concerns. In New York City, teams of health professionals - including EMTs/paramedic from NYC Fire Department and mental health professionals from NYC Health + Hospitals - are responding to 911 mental health calls through B-HEARD, which launched in spring 2021.

Learn more about the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division

Overseen by the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), New York City’s Crisis Management System (CMS) brings together community-based organizations working to prevent and reduce gun violence in neighborhoods most affected by it. Trained outreach workers and violence interrupters build trusted relationships, identify and de-escalate conflicts, support communities after violence occurs, and connect people to opportunities and services that help create safer paths forward.

CMS teams serve as “credible messengers”—people with deep community ties who can reach individuals at greatest risk of being involved in violence. Their work includes connecting New Yorkers to employment, education, mental health care, legal services, and other support. CMS currently operates across 46 service areas associated with 29 NYPD precincts, with an expansion planned to reach 31 precincts, including additional coverage in Bushwick, Harlem, and Washington Heights/Inwood.

Operated by the Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV), New York City’s five Family Justice Centers (FJCs) offer free, confidential assistance to people experiencing domestic or gender-based violence. This includes intimate partner and family violence, elder abuse, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking.

With one center in each borough, FJCs bring social services, civil legal services, and criminal justice assistance together under one roof to support survivors and their children. Services are shaped by survivors’ needs and feedback. New Yorkers can walk into any FJC for help, regardless of age, income, sexual orientation, gender identity, language spoken, or immigration status.

Led by the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes (OPHC), Partners Against the Hate (PATH) FORWARD supports community organizations working to prevent hate violence, respond to bias-motivated incidents, and strengthen safety and belonging across New York City.

Launched in May 2021 as part of the City’s commitment under Local Law 49, the initiative supports more than 50 organizations providing education, outreach, services, and community-based responses to hate. It also awards grants to additional partners serving populations vulnerable to hate violence. The Mamdani administration doubled PATH grant funding to $6.4 million, strengthening community-led efforts to combat hate and build connections across the city’s diverse communities.