Suffolk $2.1M settlement, mail ballots, EPA rollbacks, financial literacy

Crisis calls need more than police

The $2.1 million settlement by Suffolk County will not bring back Alan Weber, who was experiencing a mental health crisis when he was shot and killed by Suffolk County police [“$2.1M settlement for victim’s kin,” News, Sept. 5]. My thoughts are with his family. His death is another reminder of the importance of crisis response and de-escalation in keeping community members and first responders safe.

Suffolk County has taken steps, including with the Family Service League’s DASH — Diagnostic, Assessment, and Stabilization Hub — crisis program and Mobile Crisis Team, which provide alternatives to emergency room and police responses. These efforts should be strengthened.

Daniel’s Law, a proposed New York State bill, would establish a public health-based framework for mental health and substance-use crises, including non-police crisis response teams staffed by trained professionals and peers who have personal experience with mental health challenges. Police would remain available when there is an imminent safety threat, but they would not be the default when health professionals are better equipped to respond.

Communities across the country have shown that these approaches can reduce unnecessary police involvement, connect people with care, and lower costs.

Fatal police encounters affect families, officers, and communities. New York should build on Suffolk’s progress and ensure the right responder is sent to the right crisis.

— Rebecca Bonanno, Huntington

The writer, a clinical social worker, is a member of LI United to Transform Policing and Community Safety.

Ensuring that mail ballots count fully

After the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s attempted limits on mail-in ballots, I still felt unsure that my vote would be safe [“Top court rejects Trump mail ballot limits,” News, Sept. 15]. Although this seems like a victory for fair voting, it’s not a guarantee.

While the justices cannot control who gets ballots in New York State, votes can still be suppressed. New York counts a late ballot if it is postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days. But what would happen if you dropped off your ballot on Election Day and it “accidentally” got stuck in a processing center for 24 to 72 hours? It wouldn’t get postmarked on time and your vote would be discarded.

If people vote by mail, they need to get it postmarked in time — and ask the clerk behind the mail counter to stamp the postmark. And then, watch the clerk do it. This small act may be the difference between a vote being counted or discarded.

— Kathleen Dubuke, Farmingdale

EPA’s rollback puts our health at risk

The Environmental Protection Agency has again decided to ignore the science and potential health risks by repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants [“EPA eliminating limit on coal, gas power plants,” News, Sept. 15].

This does not protect Americans from harmful chemicals and does not protect our Earth from the dangers of climate change. It caters to the fossil fuel industry and will only exacerbate pollution and global warming, and put everyone, regardless of party, in harm’s way. It is shortsighted and will cost us all more in the long run not only financially, but also with our land and lives. The “P” in EPA stands for “Protection,” and several of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s moves are not protecting Americans.

— John Hallowell, Great River

Financial literacy for kids must dig deeper

Before schools jump onto the personal finance curriculum bandwagon, some scrutiny is in order [“Personal finance lessons on LI,” News, Sept. 14].

While students certainly need to learn about personal finances, many curricula blame individuals for systemic problems, assuming we live in a meritocracy and reinforcing that anyone who can’t make it must merely lack financial discipline.

Never mind the growing precarious situations of young people, living in a society where wages have been stagnant, public services and safety nets have been cut, the median homeownership age has risen, and the gig economy increasingly replaces employment that used to provide pensions and healthcare.

Financial literacy curricula that focus only on the topics listed in the state guidelines — budgeting and money management, credit and debt management, earning income, risk management, and saving and investing — without any lessons devoted to the underlying economic and political assumptions of our capitalist system, may be just what the corporations ordered.

As a professor of social studies education and civic engagement at Hofstra University, I want students to discuss the benefits and injustices of the current system and identify whether it warrants change. The focus on financial literacy and individual choices in the market is subverting what is really needed: power and collective action literacy.

— Andrea Libresco, Mineola