Gov. Kathy Hochul has made combatting the state's mental health crisis a priority in this year's budget, calling it “the defining challenge of our time.”
She is proposing $4.8 billion to address serious mental illness and youth mental health issues. Her supporters and lawmakers say they are encouraged but concerned about filling the positions needed to fight the crisis while retaining and retaining the existing workforce.
Glenn Liebman, CEO of the New York State Mental Health Association, said the governor's budget “sends a strong message to all of us that she really cares about mental health, and we appreciate that.” “There is,” he said.
The budget includes proposals to increase the number of available psychiatric beds and improve mental health resources for people in the criminal justice system.
Perhaps most important, Liebman said, are early intervention programs that include school-based mental health clinics at desired schools.
“Funding a program called Teen First Aid is important as it has a huge impact on the lives of young people, and I am delighted that it will open a mental health clinic in the school.” he stated.
That said, he said the budget includes only a 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment, while it is expected to increase by 5.4% in 2023 and 4% in 2024, which is supported. They are concerned that this is not even half of what they expected. Meanwhile, the Governor made it clear in his budget speech that the investment in many services over the past few years was a response to years of disinvestment and was unsustainable in the long term.
But Liebman said to make the most of the improvements the state is aiming to make, it needs health care workers to carry them out.
“People come to our field with a sense of mission, but a sense of mission doesn’t put food on the table or pay off student loans,” he said. “We need to comprehensively invest in mental health.”
State Sen. Samra Brooke, chair of the Senate Mental Health Committee, said the state has not provided a COLA increase for 10 years through 2021.
“We're really proud of the fact that we've been able to deliver subsequent increases each year because the cost of living continues to rise and we have to respect this workforce,” she said.
she said spectrum news 1 She is aiming for an even bigger leap if possible.
“We’re hopeful that we can continue to increase as we have in the past,” she said.
Ranking member Republican state Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick agrees that workforce support is a concern and is open to considering increases, but as the state tries to rein in spending. He said he recognizes that could be a challenge.
“Maybe it could be better, but the budget we are proposing to balance may not do everything we want,” she said.
she said spectrum news 1 She said she was interested in considering further steps to expand student loan forgiveness for some professionals working in the more challenging areas of the field.
“This could be a way to get people into underserved areas and give them respite. It's a huge benefit for them, but it doesn't necessarily cause an increase in taxes for taxpayers,” she said. said.
It's worth noting that the budget includes a program to increase awareness of existing student loan forgiveness options to those in the field.
Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick pushed for school-wide mental health clinics through an amendment last year and said she would be watching closely for more information on how the proposal would be implemented. Ta.
Meanwhile, Brooke continues to advocate for the passage of Daniel's Law, which proposes the creation of a specialized mental health response unit tasked with responding to crises, replacing the role of armed police officers.
