NAMI-NYC Applauds NYC Council’s Response to Mayor’s FY24 Preliminary Budget, Stresses Need for Family Support

New York, NY, April 10, 2023–In response to the New York City Council’s Response to the Fiscal 2024 Preliminary Budget and Fiscal 2023 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI-NYC) made the following statement:  

NAMI-NYC applauds the City Council for recognizing the importance of investing in the mental health of New Yorkers at this critical point in history. Specifically, we would like to highlight the $117.4 million allocated in the Council’s Response towards key mental health services that go beyond plans recently announced by Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams. These allocations include commitments to develop and retain the mental health workforce, to prioritize community-centered care (including those provided in crisis respite centers, families with children shelters and crisis response teams), to expand school-based mental health clinics city-wide, and to divert peers in need of treatment away from the criminal legal systems. 

In addition to these investments, NAMI-NYC would like to urge the Speaker and City Council to consider one key missing factor—a modest investment of $250,000 towards our one-of-a-kind, evidence-based family support programs. No family member is born knowing how best to support a loved one with mental health crisis. Academic research shows that when a family member is involved, psychiatric hospitalizations decrease and patients access more community-based care.  

This is the type of investment New York City needs at this dire time of crisis. 

To learn more or join us in our advocacy work, visit www.naminyc.org/advocacy. To learn more about our city-wide funding ask, e-mail kblair@naminyc.org.