NAMI-NYC's Request for Family Support Included in the NYC Council’s Mental Health Roadmap  - National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City , Inc.

NAMI-NYC’s Request for Family Support Included in the NYC Council’s Mental Health Roadmap 

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New York, NY, April 24, 2023–In response to New York City Council’s Mental Health Roadmap proposed by Speaker Adrienne Adams, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI-NYC) issued the following statement: 

Thank you Speaker Adrienne Adams, Mental Health Committee Chair Linda Lee, Majority Leader Keith Powers, Councilmember Erik Bottcher, and the City Council for your leadership and commitment to addressing the City’s mental health crisis. The Mental Health Roadmap proposes – for the very first time – funding for family support and educational programs to assist New Yorkers caring for loved ones with mental health challenges. Research shows that when family members are involved, we see a decrease in emergency room visits and psychiatric hospitalizations, and greater engagement with community-based mental health care.  

In addition to family support, we commend the Speaker’s plan for addressing several of NAMI-NYC’s long-standing advocacy priorities. We specifically encourage and applaud the following proposals included in the roadmap: 

  • Expanding crisis respite centers as alternatives to hospitalizations with at least two centers per borough, managed by community-based organizations; 
  • Funding mental health professionals in shelters for families with children; 
  • Expanding and funding school-based mental health clinics; 
  • Re-evaluating the city’s supportive housing plans; 
  • Allocating adequate funding to nonprofit and community-based organizations with an emphasis on culturally competent, and linguistically diverse mental health supports and services; 
  • Developing and retaining mental health professionals, including the launch of a Social Work Fellows Program at one or more CUNY schools; 
  • Prioritizing pay parity across the mental health workforce; 
  • Strengthening diversion options away from the criminal legal system and follow-up care for individuals in need of mental health treatment;  
  • Committing towards holding an oversight hearing on the B-HEARD program to address its significant challenges and concerns; and 
  • Proposing resolutions calling on the State to pass the Treatment Not Jail Act and the Federal government to fix the geolocation issue with 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline calls. 

We appreciate the City Council’s attention to these mental health initiatives, and for the invitation to work collaboratively to inform the development of the roadmap before it was released. We look forward to continuing this partnership moving forward, especially throughout the implementation phase to ensure the inclusion of more peer and family voices. We also hope to continue to work with this Council to call on the strike down of the Mayor’s Involuntary Transport directive, released on November 29, 2022, and to highlight oversight of some supportive housing providers’ abusive practices, which NAMI-NYC and SHOUT coalition community members have experienced. 

Together, we know we will continue to address the mental health needs of millions of New Yorkers to secure a just future.   

For further information or to join NAMI-NYC’s advocacy work, visit www.naminyc.org/advocacy. To learn more about their city-wide funding proposal, please email kblair@naminyc.org.