Webinar on Rikers Island and Mental Health
Yesterday, we held a webinar via Zoom with the Data Collaborative for Justice at John Jay (DCJ) on our recent report, title “Rikers Island and Mental Health: Data, Lived Experience, and Community-Based Alternatives.” We had over 250 people on the webinar to discuss our report Rikers Island and Mental Health: Pathways Toward Community-Based Diversion and Jail Population Reduction..
During the webinar, Kellyann Block and Mike Rempel from DCJ provided updated data on the nature and scale of mental health needs among people detained at Rikers. They also went over the key policy recommendations, including a 15-point plan to strengthen community treatment and reduce unnecessary detention.
Tracy Barber, who provided a powerful case study for the report, discussed how people in mental health crises are inhumanely treated at Rikers. Then Stephanie Bazell, from the New York County Defender Services and the Treatment Not Jails Campaign, discussed the Treatment Court Expansion Act. To support their work, contact your legislators in Albany to pass the bill this session or join them on Tuesday, January 20th for their advocacy day in Albany.
As we work to reduce the city’s jail population and get the city back on track to close Rikers Island, addressing the mental health needs of people in the jail system remains a defining challenge—and a critical opportunity for reform.
Please check out the event webpage to find a recording of the webinar and additional resources around the report.
If you have any questions about the webinar onRikers Island and Mental Health or would like do an event with us about the report, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org.
NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call
Last week, we held our first Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call of the year. We spend time discussing what bills got signed at the end of last session and how the start of the 2026 session is shaping out. Our presenters on the call included: Artie Malkin (Malkin and Ross), Cassandra Bocanegra (New York Immigration Coalition), Isabella Seda (New Hour), Victor Pate and Scott Paltrowitz (HALT Solitary Campaign), and Lily Shapiro and Reggie Chatman (The Fortune Society & Protect Raise the Age Coalition).
Here are two the upcoming advocacy days in Albany that speakers on the call shared: a few action steps and resources shared by the presenters:
- The CARE Act is having their advocacy day in Albany on Tuesday, January 27th. Please RSVP here. If you want to spread the word about the advocacy day, please refer to their social media toolkit here.
- Join HALT Solitary’s advocacy day in Albany on Monday, February 9th, for implementation of HALT, Rights Behind Bars, expanding visits, and releasing people. Please RSVP here.
The next Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call is on Thursday, February 12th from 12-1. Please register for the next Statewide Call on Thursday, February 12th from 12-1pm!
If you have any questions about the statewide call or would like to be a presenter, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org.
ICYMI:End of the Year 2025 Wrap-up Letter
In the midst of chaos, Katal kept up our organizing and secured major victories in 2025. Check out our End of Year 2025 Wrap-up Letter.
The letter highlights how:
- We won our campaign to overhaul the State Commission of Corrections
- We won our demand for a federal court to appoint a receiver at the Rikers Island jail complex
- We expanded our civic engagement and pro-democracy work.
- We joined a citywide coalition for nonviolent resistance to authoritarianism.
- We held training sessions and spoke at conferences in New York and beyond.
To see more highlights of our organization last year, check out Our Annual Letter: Katal’s Impact in 2025.
If you have any questions about the annual letter, please contact gabriel at gabriel@katalcenter.org.
Katal in the News
On Saturday, January 10th, The Marshall Project published an article about Gov. Kathy Hochul signing the Jail and Prisons Oversight Omnibus Bill into law after another tragic year of crisis in state prisons, marked by officers beating incarcerated people to death and an illegal wildcat strike strike that led to almost a dozen incarcerated people to lose their lives.
Check out the full article here.
Our advocacy director, Yonah Zeitz, its quoted in the article discussing the provision which overhauls the State Commission of Correction: “The entire oversight burden of reform now falls squarely on her shoulders because she chose not to give the Assembly and Senate appointments. She’s now solely responsible for what happens with the commission going forward.”
If you have any questions about this article or our organizing efforts to overhaul the State Commission of Correction, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org.
Inspiring Resistance This Week
– On Monday, in Mankato, Minnesota, more than 300 people attended a City Council meeting where residents were calling on city leaders to protect residents from ICE. See more details here.
– Faith leaders, union representatives, and community members are calling for a Day of Truth and Freedom on Friday, Jan. 23 — urging all Minnesotans not to go to work, school or go shopping. See more details here.
For more examples of resistance, check out Choose Democracy’s Resist List!
Quotes of the Week
“Movements are born of critical connections rather than critical mass.” — Grace Lee Boggs
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Martin Luther King
“I always tell young people to hold on to their dreams. And sometimes you have to stand up for what you think is right even if you have to stand alone.” —Claudette Colvin
For printing and distribution, download the Katal Weekly Update PDF version.
Katal develops intergenerational leadership and organizing capacity to build community-based power and win systemic change for equity, health, and justice.
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Email: info@katalcenter.org
Phone: 646.875.8822.