Latest news with #OfficeofMentalHealth
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
10 NY Youth ACT teams will receive $450K, including this Southern Tier program
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $4.5 million in state funding for 10 Youth Assertive Community Treatment teams across the state including Children's Home of Wyoming Conference. The funding will be provided by the state Office of Mental Health, divided into a single $450,000 payment for each of the 10 service provides. The Children's Home of Wyoming Conference will be awarded funding to expand its services in Chenango County, to include 36 children between the ages of 10 to 21. The multidisciplinary teams across New York will assist 360 children dealing with emotional disturbances who are at risk of entering high intensity services or who are transitioning back home. More: Children's Home of Wyoming Conference gets $14.5 million for new program: How it works "Children and youth living with mental illness sometimes require additional care to remain at home or return back into the community," Hochul said in a press release. 'This expansion of our Youth ACT program will help provide more families with this critical support and the services they can rely on to bring their child home after inpatient care or from a residential facility.' Access Supports for Living Inc., serving Westchester County The Charles Evans Center, serving Nassau County Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling, serving Suffolk County Children's Home of Wyoming Conference, serving Chenango County Interborough Developmental & Consultation Center, serving Brooklyn The Child Center of NY, two teams serving Manhattan and Queens Jewish Child Care Association of NY, serving the Bronx Child and Family Services of Erie County, serving Erie County Richmond University Medical Center, serving Staten Island During the annual 'What's Great in Our State' Celebration of Children's Mental Health event in Albany last week, Hochul took another step to recognize organizations and individuals dedicated to addressing childhood mental health. May 4 to May 10 has been made Children's Mental Health Awareness Week for the state of New York. Kalyn Grant reports on public service issues for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, focusing on schools and community impact. Have a story to share? Follow her on Instagram @KalynCarmen and on Facebook under Kalyn Kearney. Get in touch at kcgrant@ This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Children's Home gets $450K for Chenango NY expansion
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hochul wants to expand involuntary commitment. NNY mental health officials say they prefer community care
Apr. 24—ALBANY — State lawmakers appear poised to include a legislative package in this year's budget that would make it easier for licensed professionals to commit someone to a mental hospital. The directors of two north country mental health and community services departments aren't convinced what's on the table will help in rural New York. In her budget proposal for 2025-26, Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul proposed an amendment to the state's mental hygiene laws; her core push is to allow for someone to be involuntarily committed to mental health care when they demonstrate an inability to provide themselves food, shelter or medical care, and remove the requirement that the individual has to demonstrate evidence of imminent risk of harm, or recently committed acts of violence or self-harm to qualify for commitment. She also proposed expanding the list of people who can authorize an involuntary commitment. Current laws require two physicians make the determination, which is then authorized by a psychiatrist. Hochul proposed changing that to require two doctors or one doctor and a nurse practitioner. Other changes around the edges include more monetary investments in youth mental health, and a change to the 1999 Kendra's Law that establishes involuntary outpatient treatment, by expanding who can apply for an outpatient treatment order against an individual, rolling out video conference options and enhancing voluntary post-treatment care opportunities. Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan, commissioner of the state Office of Mental Health, said these are being rolled out to address the most significant cases of mental illness that are impacting communities across the state. In early April, she stood with a handful of local lawmakers from the Capitol Region and downstate mental health treatment facility executives, highlighting a handful of high-profile recent incidents. She pushed back on arguments that involuntary commitment is a coercive tactic that doesn't work well. "It's not like involuntary commitment is ever the first thing you think of, and involuntary commitment happens when we feel that nothing has been successful with this individual," Sullivan said. "It's a tough decision to make." Tim Ruetten, the director of the Jefferson County Department of Community Services, said in an interview that he is generally opposed to using involuntary commitment except in the most dire of circumstances. "It's always a last resort, because it's traumatic, frankly," he said. "When someone's forced into a hospital, that's a very difficult experience." In Lewis County, Community Services and Mental Health Director Anna Platz said that while each case is different and commitment is occasionally required, her goal is to keep patients in their communities. "I think it only adds trauma when someone has to leave, especially in a community like Lewis County, because we don't have a 9.39 hospital," she said, referring to the state law definition of a hospital determined to be able to take involuntarily committed patients. In Jefferson County, Samaritan Medical Center is a 9.39 hospital and has recently invested in expanding its psychiatric ward, but Lewis County General does not have such services. Many rural counties are similarly without any inpatient mental health care facilities. As directors of county community services, Ruetten and Platz are empowered by state law to refer someone for an involuntary commitment evaluation, or designate people with medical knowledge to handle that within local hospitals. Ruetten said he rarely uses that power, and involuntary commitments of any origination are rare in Jefferson County. "When you do that, you're taking someone's rights away," he said. "That's serious." Hochul's proposal would lower the standard for what qualifies for commitment — making it easier for homeless people on the street to get swept up into the system. Ruetten said he doesn't think that's the right approach for the situation in Jefferson County. "It just doesn't make sense to hospitalize everyone who can't feed, clothe or house themselves," he said. "Everyone who is doing the work knows that won't work." He said that people unable to secure shelter or food reliably aren't always mentally ill, and those who are suffering from a mental illness aren't going to benefit significantly from a temporary commitment without some material change in their permanent living situation. But Ruetten said that there has been a definite spike in need. He said his department has been referred more cases of serious mental illness than in years past, and there are far more cases involving violence. There's also been a spike in the number of homeless people in Jefferson County — many of whom do need mental health care. Platz, who is relatively new to her role in Lewis County, said she wasn't able to directly speak to historic versus current demand for services in Lewis County, but said her colleagues who serve on the county Community Services Board have said demand is increased, especially for young people in the area. "It's not uncommon for me to hear about very complex, high need, high risk individuals who are struggling to get the support they need in our community," she said. "I've been in quite a few conversations about the behavioral needs of our youngest community members, our littlest community members, and those seem definitely to be more complicated." Ruetten said a solution that Jefferson County officials have developed is to rely more on a collaborative, not coercive, pathway to treatment. Provide always-available, low-barrier shelter for homeless people, engage in street outreach and relationship building, and allow for choice. "That works, that does what involuntary commitment and police pickup orders are trying to do here," he said. Jefferson County recently passed a package of legislation aimed at handling homelessness in the county — providing for 24/7 shelters outside of the cold season when the state helps cover costs with the Salvation Army and the New Life and Emmanuel Congregational churches, spinning up a street outreach program with ACR Health, and conducting a study on opioid addiction. To address wider mental health concerns, not necessarily including homelessness, Jefferson and Lewis counties are also putting together a mobile crisis unit, which will respond to incidents of extreme mental illness and personal crisis without immediately involving law enforcement. Those approaches are what Ruetten and Platz are focused on — ways to keep people in their community while addressing their mental illnesses, and giving people an opportunity to have choice and agency in their care. According to a source close to negotiations over the state budget not authorized to speak publicly, the deal that lawmakers and Hochul have come to will largely follow Hochul's original proposal, with a push to prioritize emergency medical services as the first point of contact for non-emergency pickups for evaluation, rather than police, for all pickups, and a requirement that involuntarily committed patients have more advanced discharge planning and outpatient service connections made before being sent out of the hospital. They also indicated the deal would cut the physician review process to require only one doctor or a physician's assistant and doctor agree that the patient needs to be committed before sending for a psychiatrist's review. Senate Majority Leader Andrea A. Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, told reporters after a Thursday afternoon budget meeting with Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, D-Bronx, and the governor that discussions are ongoing on most all topics and clear legislative language hasn't been tendered on involuntary commitment "I could tell you a little bit more definitively if we had language set on everything, but all of these things are still in process of being worked through, and we will have something as well with involuntary commitment," Stewart-Cousins said. Ruetten said he had some concerns about those changes as outlined. He said that Jefferson County, like most rural counties, has only private ambulance services available, which can't be directed to provide pickup services for involuntary commitment evaluations. "They can't bill for the service unless it's medically necessary," Ruetten said. "I've tried this in the past with ambulance services, it ends up being so cumbersome or impossible that I don't use it. I wouldn't, because unless I can provide a letter of medical necessity, the ambulance service can't bill for it." Under state law, local police departments are required to transport involuntary commitment candidates to their evaluations. Both Ruetten and Platz said they're not likely to push for more involuntary commitments in their communities, even as the state tries to expand their use. "The transportation, evaluation and potential admission of someone needing these supports is not something that we take lightly," Platz said. "It can be an extremely traumatic experience. This is not something that myself or my colleagues take lightly. We'd much rather keep them here in the community and wrap support around them."
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NYS offering funding to support veteran, first responder suicide prevention
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office announced the award of 18 grants to expand resiliency and suicide prevention efforts for military veterans and uniformed personnel. These grants will be administered through the New York Office of Mental Health's Suicide Prevention Center of New York, the CARES UP initiative and will provide $60,000 over two years to four law enforcement agencies, three fire departments; three EMS services; three emergency communications organizations; two corrections agencies and three organizations serving veterans. Report: First responders face mental health stigma These grants will help will suicide prevention efforts for law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, correction officers and emergency dispatchers. In addition, the Office of Mental Health also provided awards of $40,000 over two years to 11 organizations previously funded through CARES UP to sustain their mental health and wellness initiatives. These sustainability awards were made possible after the governor's office successfully increased funding for the program in the FY25 Enacted Budget to $3 million annually. It is important to recognize the stress and cumulative trauma first responders and veterans experience as they do their jobs and the toll that this can take on their mental health. CARES UP works with their organizations to mitigate this stress, build resilience and support mental wellbeing. By building and expanding this program, Governor Hochul is demonstrating her commitment to the mental wellness of our veterans, first responders and their families. New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan The St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility will receive funding from this year's CARES Up grant. The CARES UP program provides organizations with $30,000 annually to increase suicide prevention efforts and wellness programming in their agencies. First responder agencies work closely with the Suicide Prevention Center to receive training from national subject matter experts on topics such as resiliency, mental health and wellness, suicide prevention and peer support and implement agency-specific actions to address their unique needs. The initiative also provides these grants to support veterans' organizations through Onward Ops. Organizations that get the award will use the funding to promote social welfare of service members transitioning back to their communities after their tour of duty ends. According to the announcement from the governor's office, studies have shown the cumulative stress and trauma are common in uniformed personnel professions and have placed these individuals at greater risk of suicide. Department of Veterans Affairs to fund research into psychedelic therapy for PTSD The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services partnered with SUNY New Paltz's Institute for Disaster Mental Health to complete a first responder needs assessment survey of more than 6,000 individuals in law enforcement, emergency medical services, fire services, emergency communications and emergency management from every region to help better understand the challenges. The assessment showed more than half of the participants experience high levels of stress, burnout, anxiety and depression related to their jobs, and that they may not seek help due to their fear of facing stigma. Thoughts of suicide were reported by 16-percent of respondents — a level four times higher than the general population of the state. Likewise, New York veterans die by suicide at a rate nearly two times higher than civilians — a rate that has remained relatively unchanged since 2012. Veterans under the age of 55 consistently experience the highest rates of suicide in New York. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hochul announces rural mental health funding
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday, Feb. 6 that $9.6 million in state funding is available to provide additional mental health assistance services for rural areas of the state, including a program dedicated to helping farmers, agribusiness workers and their families. According to a news release from Hochul's office, the state Office of Mental Health is providing $7.6 million to establish four new Critical Time Intervention teams to support individuals living with mental illness in rural areas of the state during periods of transition and $2 million for the Farmers Supporting Farmers program to help those working in agriculture to navigate the stress often associated with the industry. 'We have an obligation to bring mental health assistance to New York's farmers and the rural areas of our state where these supports aren't always readily available,' Hochul said. 'The combined impact of the Farmers Supporting Farmers program and Critical Time Intervention teams will help bring additional mental health resources to parts of our state where behavioral health services are much needed.' According to the release, OMH is providing $7.6 million over five years to establish two new Critical Time Intervention teams to serve counties in Western New York, and two others to serve counties in the North Country. These teams will join three others awarded last year and expected to be operational later this year. OMH is also providing $2 million over five years for a service provider to implement the Farmers Supporting Farmers program statewide, specifically in the 44 counties that support farms and agribusinesses. The state has roughly 43,000 square miles of rural land area with about 3.4 million New Yorkers — more than 17% of the state's population — living in communities considered rural, the release stated. Farmers Supporting Farmers was developed "in response to the well-documented link between economic crises and the resulting stress that puts farm workers and their families at an increased risk for poor behavioral health outcomes," the release stated. The funding will provide technical assistance to address their business and financial needs, along with wellness support to promote improved behavioral health outcomes. About 20% of rural residents aged 55 or older live with a mental health issue, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Likewise, rural communities report significantly higher suicide rates than urban areas for both adults and youth, the release stated. OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, 'Our effort to strengthen New York state's mental health care system includes bringing services to traditionally underserved areas, which include many of our rural communities. These programs are providing critical supports to an at-risk segment of the population that might otherwise be disconnected from our system of care.'
