NYAPRS FIRST LOOK AT THE 2020-21 NYS BUDGET PROPOSAL
NYAPRS Note: NYAPRS has learned the following from recently released budget documents and has prepared the following in collaboration with the Mental Health Association in NYS. While much more detail is needed, here are some highlights:
COMMUNITY SERVICES
* Community services funding: while we much appreciate the promised funding in the budget to meet the commitment for a pay hike for OMH, OASAS and OPWDD direct care staff, the budget once again sets aside a long promised cross the board Cost of Living hike and does not include the 3% across the board human services sustainability fund for each of the following 5 years that is priority for over 40 associations and organizations across the human services sector. Our “3 for 5” campaign will issue a statement shortly and will launch a series of determined efforts to win this critically needed increase.
* Housing: $20 million in increased funding for community housing rates…a credit to the incredibly hard work of the Bring It Home campaign, of which NYAPRS has long been a very active member. The budget ‘doubles funding’ to $128 million or the Homeless Housing Assistance Program and invests $5 million for projects for homeless veterans.
* Adult Home residents: $12.5 million to support the transition of adult home residents in the community. We are awaiting details to ensure that there is a greatly accelerated pace of transitions to individuals who have long waited to experience the dignity and rights of life in their communities of choice.
* Community Reinvestment: there is no mention of Community Reinvestment funding that has long been derived from state hospital beds closing or facility consolidation.
STATE OPERATED PROGRAMS
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Transform Kingsboro Psychiatric Center into a Recovery Hub. The budget includes a plan to develop a voluntary-operated, step-down transition to community residence program on the Kingsboro PC campus and transform the campus into a “Recovery Hub Facility”, focused on shortening lengths of stay and providing centralized community support services. This new service delivery model will be supported by new revenue generated through a federal Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) Medicaid waiver.
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Replacement of Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center
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·Savings in agency operations, including fringe benefits, reduce spending by $359 million from the baseline forecast.
MEDICAID
· The Governor has convened a Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT II) charged with identifying additional cost-containment measures that will provide approximately $2.5 billion in gap-closing savings in the current fiscal year (a large number that needs to be achieved by this April.
· We await a lot more details here although there’s currently no mention of an across the board cut.
· County management of the Medicaid program: If counites exceed 3% Medicaid growth, they will pay the annual increases above that for that year. If they say under 3% increases, they get 25% of the savings.
PARITY
Legislation is offered to establish a behavioral health parity compliance fund and strengthen efforts to ensure compliance with state and federal behavioral health parity laws