Alliance Note: The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has continued to award new contracts to Clubhouses, with the two largest current Clubhouse operators, Fountain House and Venture House, receiving $106 million and $91 million, respectively, to expand their operations in line with the new system DOHMH announced last year. Clubhouses serve as an integral part of the mental health service continuum, supporting people with employment needs, education, housing, nutrition, and socialization.
We were also happy to see the City Council included an extra $2 million to fund some of the smaller Clubhouses which did not meet the new large model standard of at least 300 members. While this funding is much needed for smaller Clubhouses, more must be done to ensure that members at these locations continue to get the services they rely on and maintain the connections and relationships which reduce isolation beyond the next fiscal year.
New York State must also do its part by creating a funding stream for Clubhouse programs to expand this model both in New York City and upstate to ensure successful Clubhouses of all sizes are available to New Yorkers throughout the state who could benefit from these voluntary, highly effective services. The Alliance continues to push for the return of upstate Clubhouse funds to support the needed growth of this program to all areas of the state. See below for more information.
Largest Clubhouse Contract Goes to Provider Once Run by Health Commissioner
Ethan Geringer-Sameth | Crain’s Health Pulse | August 9, 2024
Fountain House received a $106 million, 10-year contract from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Wednesday, the biggest award to date in the city’s push to expand the unique clubhouse treatment model. Vasan, who Mayor Eric Adams tapped in 2022 in part to prioritize mental health services, ran the Hell’s Kitchen-based provider as president and CEO before he became the city’s top doctor.
Clubhouses function as both drop-in centers and social clubs for people with mental health diagnoses, where members can build skills and remain connected to services. The model has become increasingly popular among practitioners and politicians looking for new solutions to the seemingly intractable problem of untreated severe mental illness. Fountain House pioneered the approach, and Adams lauded Vasan’s work there when he appointed him to run the Health Department.
The city has increased spending on clubhouses since Adams took office, this year allocating $30 million to providers. But the higher spending also came with more strings, including requirements that barred some smaller and more specialized clubhouses from qualifying for city funds. The combination of higher spending and fewer providers means some clubhouses will receive a big boost from the city. Providers that lost out have accused the Health Department of making the changes unnecessarily – and to the benefit of larger clubhouses like Fountain House, which has 1,400 enrolled members across its two locations.
Dr. H. Jean Wright, deputy commissioner of mental hygiene, said the contract went through the city’s competitive bidding process and that Vasan had “no role” in the decision to award it. The city’s strategy is focused on expanding resources for clubhouses to reach people who are being left behind by the current system, and to ensure programs are tracking outcomes, Wright said in a statement provided to Crain’s.
“None of these data have been collected or reported on in the past, which should not be acceptable,” he said, referring to metrics on homelessness, hospitalization and law enforcement encounters among clubhouse members.
The latest contract award to Fountain House is the largest that this clubhouse, or any New York clubhouse, has ever received. Fountain House’s work with the city began in 2019, the year Vasan took the helm, with funding increasing in subsequent years, according to records kept by the city comptroller. The latest contract is roughly double what Fountain House has received from its three previous 10-year contracts with the Health Department combined.
Under the award, Fountain House aims to triple enrollment at its South Bronx location to 600 members and open a new site in Harlem for an additional 300 people, according to spokeswoman Minhee Cho. The funding will not affect enrollment at Fountain House’s flagship clubhouse in Hell’s Kitchen, which currently serves 1,200 members, Cho said.
Last week, the city awarded another sizable contract to Jamaica-base Venture House, which currently operates sites in Queens and Staten Island. Venture House is opening two new sites in the Bronx and Brooklyn with the $91 million award. Other contracts under the new funding regime have been much smaller, ranging from $15 million to $30 million
Venture House Lands $91 Million City Contract in Clubhouse Shake-Up
Ethan Geringer-Sameth | Crain’s Health Pulse | August 6, 2024
Jamaica-based Venture House is the latest provider to receive a boost in city funding for mental health clubhouses under a contentious expansion of the program that has left some contractors out in the cold.
The $91 million contract, awarded by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Wednesday, enlists the social service agency to open two new clubhouses on top of the two it already operates. Clubhouses function as drop-in centers for people with a mental health diagnosis, where work, socializing and therapy intermingle.
The programs have gained traction in recent years as an option for people with severe mental illness, coming to a head when Mayor Eric Adams tapped Dr. Ashwin Vasan, then-CEO of clubhouse provider Fountain House, to lead the Health Department. The latest award is part of an effort to expand clubhouse enrollment citywide with $30 million and new stipulations about the number of enrollees and types of services offered. While city health officials have maintained that the change will help reach more people and create common standards across providers, the stricter criteria meant some smaller and more specialized clubhouses would not be able to qualify.
The city hopes to increase citywide enrollment by 3,750, or 75%, with the new investments in Venture House. In total, the city will fund 13 clubhouses, mostly in neighborhoods identified as high-need, according to health department spokeswoman Rachel Vick. That is three fewer locations than last year.
Venture House already holds a $23.8 million contract with the city for its two clubhouses in Jamaica, Queens, and Port Richard, Staten Island. Its flagship site in Jamaica has been open for more than three decades and has 450 enrolled.
The new contract extends that operation to 2033 and expands it to two more high-need locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn – which must be built from scratch, according to Venture House CEO Juliet Douglas. Ultimately, Venture House must enroll 1,800 across its four sites.
The new growth won’t be easy for Venture House, Douglas said. The organization had to identify 12,000 square-foot spaces to accommodate the need; the Queens and Staten Island sites are smaller at 8,000 square feet each. The sites also must have an industrial-grade kitchen and outdoor space to host the programming and work opportunities needed to fulfill their mission. Venture House has found a lease for a location in the Belmont section of the Bronx, but it needs to be renovated, Douglas said. She added that two other sites in Brooklyn are promising but each has its drawbacks.
While the contract is for programming and staff, the city is permitting funding in the first year to go toward capital expenses, according to Douglas. That will enable Venture House to build the new space that it will use over the 10-year life of the contract.
Douglas noted the new higher enrollment criteria should not, by itself, be a barrier for small providers seeking city funding, even if other standards made some ineligible.
“There is no smaller clubhouse than the one you’re building from scratch,” she said. “All those people that are lamenting, they could have applied and been in the same boat that I’m in. There’s no magic to it.”