NYAPRS Note: Yesterday, Albany turned green as almost 700 NYAPRS-led mental health advocates donning green hats nearly filled the Egg’s Hart Auditorium, crowded the halls of the Legislative Office Building and conducted a spirited rally outside the State Capital. In an extraordinary turnout despite bitter cold weather throughout the state, they came in buses, vans and cars from every corner including Long Island, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, Westport, Newburgh, White Plains, New York City, Binghamton, Elmira and the greater Capital District.
- The group heard presentations from NYAPRS leaders on this year’s top priorities, which were clustered into 4 categories: housing, criminal justice reforms, Medicaid initiatives and local community services. They were warmly greeted by the Governor’s Assistant Deputy Secretary for Health Tracie Gardner, OMH Commissioner Ann Sullivan, Senate Mental Health committee chair Robert Ortt and Assembly Corrections committee chair Daniel O’Donnell, all of whom offered support for those issues.
- The extraordinary efforts of Fountain House, Urban Justice Center’s Jennifer Parish and AP reporter Michael Virtanen were recognized, along with very touching remarks on behalf of 2 dedicated adult home resident advocates who passed away last year, Karen Wera and Dottie Harle. A very moved Mrs. Wera had flown up from Florida to help honor her daughter’s determination to help others.
- Many groups reported a good reception by legislators or their staff to our priorities.
- Great great thanks are due to our regional coordinators and bus captains, our dedicated staff, the Association for Community Living and all of YOU who came to educate and advocate on behalf of our great community.
- Stay tuned for a few calls to action to help move several issues along, most notably on behalf of increasing Crisis Intervention Teams and establishing Medicaid presumptive eligibility for New Yorkers with psychiatric disabilities poised to leave state prisons and local jails.
New York Mental Health Advocates Say More Housing Is Needed
By Michael Virtanen Associated Press February 26, 2015
ALBANY, N.Y. — Several hundred advocates for better mental health treatment for New Yorkers rallied Wednesday at the state Capitol for more housing with staff support.
The New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services said housing is its top priority. Another is money for police training to de-escalate confrontations with people with mental illness.
“Housing is essential to recovery,” NYAPRS Executive Director Harvey Rosenthal said. “If you don’t have stable housing, you don’t have recovery.”
The coalition of people who use and provide mental health services is calling for an $82 million investment in the statewide rate adjustment for subsidized housing to address “a crisis” from rising prices. Advocates said there are about 38,000 housing units under the state Office of Mental Health, but inflation since 1990 has eroded funding by about 50 percent.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has proposed a $17 million increase in the upcoming fiscal year, including 4 percent cost-of-living increases for some staff authorized by law last year. The overall state funding for these programs is about $500 million.
The association said there’s a need for 35,000 more state-supported housing units — 30,000 in New York City and 5,000 upstate — citing the record number of 60,000 homeless individuals in the city, many with psychiatric disabilities. The supportive housing would be for people with psychiatric disabilities or AIDS, homeless people regardless of disability and the elderly.
The governor’s office has proposed adding 300 annually over a decade.
Among criminal justice issues, the coalition called for adding $1 million in funding for police crisis intervention teams, meaning officers would get 40 hours of training on ways to de-escalate confrontations with people in mental health crises that can easily otherwise result in violence or arrest.
The Legislature last year approved $400 million used for training police in Auburn, Binghamton, Clarkstown, Hempstead, Newburgh, Syracuse, Utica and St. Lawrence County.
Steve Coe, executive director of Community Access, a group that advocates for people with psychiatric disabilities, said New York City has plans to establish two drop-off centers and train 5,000 police officers in crisis intervention.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/26/4584117/new-york-mental-health-advocates.html#storylink=cpy
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Groups Seek $82 M. Boost in State Funding for Mentally Ill
By Will Brunelle Capital New York February 25, 2015
ALBANY—A coalition of groups, led by the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, are calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to allocate an additional $82 million for supportive housing and services for mentally ill New Yorkers.
While Cuomo’s executive budget already includes $17 million for housing initiatives and services, the groups said housing costs are almost 50 percent higher than funding levels. Roughly $10 million of Cuomo’s funding proposal is a dedicated increase, while $7 million is attributed to required cost-of-living increases, they said.
“If you don’t have housing, you don’t have recovery,” said Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of NYAPRS, said during a press conference Wednesday. “You have some good housing on the street, but we can’t afford to keep it there without an infusion.”
The coalition, which brought about 700 members to Albany on Wednesday, drew up a list of demands for the Legislature and Cuomo to consider, including allocating funds for 35,000 supportive housing units (30,000 in New York City and 5,000 in upstate), instead of the 5,000 currently provided for. The groups are also seeking improved training for crisis intervention teams, especially police officers who are currently untrained in how to approach and assist mentally ill individuals. The coalition wants to see the current $400,000 allocation annualized and boosted to $1 million.
Rosenthal said increasing funding levels is “not only the right thing to for people with mental illness, it’s the right thing to do for the taxpayers.” Increasing the state’s support for housing and assistance programs keeps people out of the criminal justice system and in a healthy, functioning role, reducing the burden on other state programs. he said.
The groups also argued that as inflation and costs have risen, the state has offered little or no funding increases for the groups.
“No increase is a cut when costs are going up,” Rosenthal said.
Doug Cooper, the associate executive director of the Association for Community Living, offered an analysis of projected funding shortfalls for each county for supportive housing. The statewide shortfall based on the actual funding levels per unit versus the suggested funding levels totaled $44.5 million. The largest shortfall was $8.6 million, in Kings County, the Bronx and Queens both showed shortfalls of over $6 million.
The NYAPRS-led coalition is also seeking to raise the age of youthful offender status to 21, and prohibit the solitary confinement of any individual with a mental or physical disability. In addition, the groups are seeking the preservation of $187 million in previously approved allocations, and the restoration of $10.7 million in funding for old programs that suffered cuts.