To help transform the criminal justice system.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Indian American physician Dr. Ramanathan Raju to the city’s new Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System.
Raju will serve on the Task Force’s executive committee, along with 18 other individuals hand-picked by Mayor de Blasio, as well as five “expert advisors” from various institutions around the country.
The purpose of the Mayor’s new Task Force will be to “develop a strategic, actionable plan to transform the city’s criminal justice system, so that it addresses the needs of individuals with behavioral and mental health issues more appropriately and effectively,” according to a press release issued by the Mayor’s office on Monday.
“I’ve charged the Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System with developing innovative strategies to transform, reform and update this city’s criminal justice system,” said de Blasio, in a statement. “In the interest of justice and public safety, the task force will take a comprehensive look at how, as a city, we can provide real, lasting mental health and addiction treatment for those in need.”
The Mayor’s office’s press release implies that the new Task Force will become operational immediately, and will hopefully lead to far better assessment of mental illness in crime in the coming years.
Mental illness has become an increasing concern throughout America in the wake of recent mass shootings, such as the one perpetrated in Santa Barbara last month, and Raju will help lead the charge to control the problem in the Big Apple.
This is not Raju’s first association with the Mayor’s office, as he was appointed by de Blasio in January to become the new President and CEO of New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), a position he currently holds. Raju was chosen by de Blasio to help revamp the HHC, and assist it with bringing healthcare to low-income areas of the city.
Prior to that, Raju was the Chief Executive Officer of Chicago’s Cook County Health and Hospital Service, and was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp.