[NYAPRS Enews] Gov. Hochul Gives Update On State's $1 Billion Investment Into Mental Health Care, Homelessness

Thu Oct 12 18:43:40 EDT 2023

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Alliance (formerly NYAPRS) News Note: Governor Hochul held a new conference in NYC this morning to provide more details about how her $1 billion investment mental health investment has been spent so far. She focused in particular on expansion in community outreach (SOS) and discharge (CIT) teams, ACT teams and supportive and step down housing. She also talked tough about her expectations that community hospitals will restore to psychiatric inpatient care beds that had been repurposed for COVID treatment several years ago.

Of particular note: 150 new state hospital beds have been allocated to St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center; Buffalo Psychiatric Center; Rochester Psychiatric Center; Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center; Greater Binghamton Health Center; South Beach Psychiatric Center; Bronx Psychiatric Center; and the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center.

3 qualifying factors here:

  *   How successful will state and community providers be in filling these positions with salary levels that are far too low.....too many groups are having trouble attracting and hiring new staff. We must see more agency and workforce funding in the Governor's 2024-25 budget: otherwise this is a promise that could go fall too far from the mark here, stranding the people who are in the greatest need.
  *   We continue to join advocates and providers of peer services in voicing grave concerns that these the deployment of peers in those programs will not demonstrate fidelity to the principles of peer support and ensure a primary focus on engagement based on self-determination and non-medical alternatives.
  *   Why is the Governor relying so much on expanding beds  in community hospitals and in re taking regressive steps to rebuild state hospital beds?  Why aren't we creating more alternatives to inpatient admissions, including peer crisis drop-in, respite and living room programs? Also, where are we in putting the 500 housing first beds on the street?

See the video I took at today's event.

State-Funded 'Safe Options Support' Teams Have Connected Nearly 200 Formerly Homeless Individuals with Permanent Housing, Mental Health Support

Nearly 100 State-Operated Inpatient Psychiatric Beds Now Available to Treat Individuals with Serious Mental Illness

Initiatives Are Part of Governor Hochul's $1 Billion FY24 Budget Investment to Transform the Continuum of Mental Health Care In New York

Traducción al español<https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/spanish-translation-la-gobernadora-hochul-actualiza-los-neoyorquinos-sobre-los-esfuerzos>

Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the latest State efforts to provide treatment and support for individuals with serious mental illness, part of efforts funded by her $1 billion investment<https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-passage-1-billion-plan-overhaul-new-york-states-continuum-mental#:~:text=Governor%20Kathy%20Hochul%20today%20announced,with%20unmet%20mental%20health%20needs.> in mental health care in FY 2024 State Budget. The Governor announced that Safe Options Support teams have helped nearly 200 formerly homeless individuals find permanent housing. She also highlighted 99 new state-operated inpatient psychiatric beds are now available for use - more than halfway to the goal set in her budget proposal - and that approximately 500 inpatient psychiatric beds at community hospitals will be restored by January 2024.

"We have a moral obligation to care for those struggling with mental illness, but for too long these critical issues have been ignored or left untreated," Governor Hochul said. "That is not the case any longer: my administration's plan to improve our mental health system is providing treatment and care to the individuals who need it most. I'm proud of the progress we've made and our commitment to ensuring all New Yorkers have access to the help they need."

Established in 2022, the 11 Safe Options Supports (SOS) teams have helped secure housing placement for nearly 200 of the roughly 2,000 individuals living on the streets or in the subway system - many of whom were living with mental illness. These outreach and referral-based teams work with individuals experiencing homelessness to help build life skills and strengthen their support network so that their care can successfully be transferred to community-based providers and supports.

Under the FY 2024 budget, Governor Hochul's plan creates eight new teams - five in New York City and three in the rest of the state -to bolster these successes. Among these new additions, several dedicated overnight outreach teams are expected to start operations in New York City in the near future.

Earlier today, Governor Hochul met with staff from Services for the UnderServed, which operates one of the SOS teams based in New York City, at Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The governor discussed the work and experiences of these multidisciplinary team members in helping New Yorkers experiencing chronic homelessness achieve stability.

Governor Hochul also updated New Yorkers on the expansion of inpatient psychiatric beds at state-operated psychiatric centers. To date, 99 new state-operated inpatient psychiatric beds are available for use, with all 150 beds outlined in her landmark mental health care plan<https://omh.ny.gov/> to be brought online by Jan. 1, 2024.

The new inpatient beds at state-operated facilities were added at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center; Buffalo Psychiatric Center; Rochester Psychiatric Center; Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center; Greater Binghamton Health Center; South Beach Psychiatric Center; Bronx Psychiatric Center; and the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center

.

Building on this progress in the five months since the state budget passed, Governor Hochul also announced that approximately 500 community hospital beds -also known as Article 28 and 31 beds -that were taken offline during the COVID-19 pandemic will be restored into service by the New Year. The Governor committed to restoring beds earlier this year and is now working to sanction those hospitals that are not compliant.

New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, "Governor Hochul's landmark plan is providing bold investments into expanding the services and care for New Yorkers living with mental health issues throughout our state. With these extraordinary investments now coming to fruition, this plan will monumentally improve the continuum of mental health care in our state and help ensure the mental health needs of New Yorkers are met. I commend Governor Hochul for continuing to make fulfilling the mental health care needs of all New Yorkers a priority of her administration."

Governor Hochul made increasing operational capacity for inpatient psychiatric treatment a priority in her $1 billion multi-year plan to overhaul New York State's continuum of mental health care. This plan was adopted as part of the FY 2024 Enacted Budget, which was approved in May.

In addition to increasing inpatient capacity, Governor Hochul's plan includes expanding outpatient community-based services, creating new supportive housing units to serve New Yorkers with mental illness, and building-out programs that have a demonstrated record of success. The plan also builds on prior investments made under Governor Hochul's leadership, helping to close gaps and ensure the system adequately serves the mental health care needs of all New Yorkers in crisis, including marginalized and vulnerable populations.

The New York State Office of Mental Health<https://omh.ny.gov/> has finalized guidance on evaluation and discharge practices for comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs and emergency departments, and for Article 28 and Private Article 31 inpatient facilities. This guidance sets the expected standard of care for assessing, evaluating and discharging individuals with behavioral health conditions and will help ensure that individuals leave with appropriate community support.

The plan will establish 50 new Critical Time Intervention care coordination teams will provide wrap-around services for discharged patients- from treatment, to housing, to community and recovery support. Simultaneously, the Office of Mental Health is developing 42 new Assertive Community Treatment teams to provide intensive community services to New Yorkers with the highest level of need.

Complementing these efforts, Governor Hochul established the state's first Transition to Home<https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-and-mayor-adams-announce-major-actions-keep-subways-safe-and-address-transit> units at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center to help provide recovery-oriented, person-centered care for individuals struggling with chronic homelessness. These two 25-bed inpatient units are staffed by a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and other clinical and non-clinical personnel to provide recovery-focused treatment with a goal of eventually discharging patients to community-based care.

As part of Governor Hochul's plan, the OMH is also developing 900 units of additional community residential step-down housing to help individuals transitioning out of hospitals or emergency rooms to build skills needed to move into a more independent housing setting. Individuals in the step-down program will be connected to SOS, ACT, and Intensive Mobile Treatment teams- all being expanded- to support their transition back to the community and to permanent supportive housing.

The plan will also develop 1,500 supportive housing units serving individuals with a serious mental illness who have less acute needs, but still require support to live independently. The plan will also triple the number of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics providing comprehensive services for individuals requiring behavioral health support- from 13 to 39 statewide by July 2025.

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-updates-new-yorkers-state-efforts-address-serious-mental-illness-and-street

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Gov. Hochul Gives Update On State's $1 Billion Investment Into Mental Health Care, Homelessness

News 12 Staff  October 12, 2023

Gov. Kathy Hochul provided an update on the state's $1 billion investment for a multiyear plan to transform mental health care and homelessness.

Hochul touted the good work done by homeless outreach teams, known as Safe Options Support, since being launched in April of 2022. The governor says they have made roughly 2,000 contacts with those who are homeless or unsheltered with chronic mental health issues. Of those, over 200 individuals are now in permanent housing with wraparound services.

Another focus for the governor is the New York school system. More money is going into it to help combat the detrimental effects of social media on the youth. This initiative is on top of the Children's Data Privacy Act, which will help parents limit social media outreach for their kids.

In addition to the announcements, Hochul said 99 beds at state-operated psychiatric facilities have opened up and are available. She adds the state is on track to pass the goal of 150 open beds in two years.

The facilities that do not make this happen in a timely manner will be fined.

https://brooklyn.news12.com/gov-hochul-gives-update-on-states-1-billion-investment-into-mental-health-care-homelessness

For more information about the Alliance for Rights and Recovery and its programs and initiatives, please visit www.rightsandrecovery.org<http://www.rightsandrecovery.org>.

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