Alliance Alert: We are happy to see the Institute for Community Living, one of the Alliance’s valued member agencies, recognized for the early success of its STEPS program. The results highlighted in this report are both encouraging and instructive for how we strengthen our mental health system moving forward.
With 97 percent of participants remaining housed, nearly 90 percent avoiding hospitalization, and no arrests or incarcerations among those served, the STEPS program is demonstrating what is possible when we invest in thoughtful, community-based approaches that support individuals beyond periods of intensive support.
Programs like STEPS fill a critical and often overlooked gap in our system. Too often, individuals move from high-intensity services without the structured support needed to maintain stability. By focusing on safe transitions to lower levels of services while maintaining housing and clinical connections, STEPS is helping people move toward long-term recovery, independence, and full community inclusion.
This kind of work is essential. Recovery does not end when someone leaves intensive services. It requires ongoing support, continuity, and access to stable housing and community-based resources. Without these, individuals are at greater risk of cycling back into crisis, hospitalization, or involvement with other systems.
We strongly support efforts to expand programs like STEPS and ensure sustained investment in models that help people successfully transition through the continuum of services. Strengthening these pathways not only improves individual outcomes, but also helps build a more effective, efficient, and humane mental health system for all New Yorkers.
ICL’s leadership in this space is a powerful example of what can be achieved when we invest in recovery-oriented, community-based solutions.
We also encourage organizations and others who are developing and implementing innovative programs to share their work with the broader community. The Alliance’s Annual Conference this September is an important opportunity to highlight effective models like STEPS. We invite providers, advocates, and partners to submit workshop proposals and help educate our community on the programs and practices that are making a difference across New York.
Submit your Alliance Annual Conference proposal here: https://forms.gle/MqAUigGT5eTYEyWo8
STEPS Program Shows Promise in First Two Years
By Katelyn Cordero and Maya Kaufman | Politico | April 20, 2026
A pilot program designed to help New Yorkers with serious mental illness transition out of intensive mental health programs shows promise in early results, according to the Institute for Community Living.
A report detailing the STEPS program’s progress over its first two years shows that 97 percent of the individuals who went through the program remain housed. Roughly 89 percent avoided hospitalization, and none of the program participants were arrested or incarcerated while in the program.
The program works with individuals to transition from high-intensity care to lower levels of care, while ensuring that they have housing and the clinical oversight necessary to succeed.
“STEPS began as a pilot to close a critical gap in our mental health system. Our independent evaluation confirms that it is working,” Jody Rudin, president of the Institute for Community Living, said in a statement. “This is helping us address the mental health crisis that has played out on our streets.
Rudin noted that she would like to see the city expand the program in light of its early success. The ICL is calling on the city council to release $4.5 million in this year’s budget that was allocated to the program. They are also calling on the city to expand the program’s reach to more New Yorkers who rely on the city’s intensive mental health services.
The group is looking to fill a gap in services for individuals who have stabilized during intensive treatment and need a steady off-ramp out of the system. According to the ICL, roughly 1300 people are on waitlists for behavioral health treatment
“As New York City continues to confront a visible mental health crisis, STEPS offers a proven, scalable solution that expands capacity, reduces costs, and protects some of the city’s residents with most acute needs,” Rudin said.