Breaking News: State of the State Highlights
By Harvey Rosenthal and Luke Sikinyi
Alliance for Rights and Recovery
January 13, 2026
Here’s what we’ve found so far in today’s State of the State address by Governor Kathy Hochul that’s of special interest to recovering people, their families, their schools and community providers. We’ll have more details tomorrow and will be scouring the 2026-27 budget that will be released next week for actual dollar amounts that have been dedicated to these and other initiatives. We are hoping to see a meaningful cost of living adjustment for community agencies.
Increase Resources for Behavioral Health Supportive Housing Programs
Invest $71 million of new funding to increase rates for supportive housing to ensure that residential providers have sufficient resources to maintain housing capacity for more than 23,000 individuals in recovery and avoid more costly emergency room visits and inpatient care.
Integrate Care for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
Allowing clinics to provide mental health and substance use services under a single, jointly issued license. She will also introduce a new Co-Occurring Capable (CoC) designation for OMH and OASAS-certified providers who meet the highest standards for treating people with complex, overlapping conditions.
Support First Responders’ Behavioral Health Needs
Establishing a First Responder Behavioral Health Center of Excellence to serve as a statewide training and technical assistance hub so departments of all sizes can develop peer support programs.
Publish a 10-year training roadmap for the implementation of evidence-based practices throughout New York State.
Expand SCOUT Teams (the Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams) in the Subway System, pairing MTA Police officers with clinical staff from the NYC Department of Homeless Services to engage individuals in crisis and connect them to care, treatment, or shelter.
Youth Initiatives
- Promote Youth Mental Health First Aid Training
- Support Youth Mental Health for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers
- Partner with a national crisis center to provide youth with access to trained crisis counselors who specialize in issues the LGBTQ+ community face.
- Expand Youth Safe Spaces by Designating Two Additional Community Organizations
- Expand non-clinical, safe environments where teens can discuss their mental health
- Recognize and reward schools that have done an outstanding job providing strong, effective mental health supports, preventing crises, and reducing substance use.
- Office of Addiction Services and Support (OASAS) will host a youth-led substance use symposium in which students can learn from their peers about the dangers of substance use, ways to strengthen their 117 mental health, and how to access community-based resources.
- Ensure that All Child-Serving Clinicians in New York’s Office of Mental Health Settings Are Trained in Evidence-Based Practices
- Open 15 New Youth Clubhouses to Support Community-Based Recovery for Young People Suffering from a Substance Use Disorder
- Establish a Young Adult Recovery Residence for Individuals Recovering from Opioid Addiction
- Scaling Mental Health Supports for Indigenous Youth: Partner with all Tribal Nations to support Indigenous students’ mental health in ways reflecting their cultures and communities. Building on the Indigenous Mental Wellbeing Pilot Program, the State will expand the use of transitional support workers and peer advocates to all Tribal Nations and Indigenous-serving school districts with a government-to-government relationship with the State. The initiative also stands up an Indigenous School Mental Health Workforce Center to support SUNY students seeking careers in school-based mental health.
- Promote Responsible Digital Citizenship: Supporting Distraction-Free Schools and Student Mental Health
- Direct SED to develop a suite of resources for students, teachers, and parents to support responsible technology use and good digital citizenship. Complementing the recent work by OMH in sharing best practices for safe social media usage.