Mental Health

New York’s mental health system is overwhelmingly reactive. People often cannot access meaningful treatment until they are already in crisis, by which point the only parts of the system consistently available are emergency rooms, shelters, police intervention, or jail. That is worse for the person in crisis, worse for individuals and families trying to get help, more expensive for the state, and destabilizing for the broader community. 

We need significant investment in intervention before crises, ensuring that mental health is accessible to every New Yorker. 

• Universal healthcare must include access to mental healthcare, addiction recovery treatment, and harm reduction services.
  
  

• Pass Daniel’s Law so that crisis response teams are sent in response to “emotionally disturbed individuals” and domestic dispute calls instead of defaulting to police. People in crisis need responders who are trained in de-escalation, trauma-informed care, disability justice, and long-term connection to services, not violence and incarceration.
  
  

• Improve coordination among existing services B-HEARD mental health response, mobile crisis teams, and 988 suicide-hotline coordination so that reports are reported quickly and repeat cases can be identified for additional support.
  
  

• Data proven housing-first policies that provide livable housing conditions to bring people off the street, or out of dangerous environments, with wrap-around services like addiction treatment and mental health services.
  
  

• Expand community mental health navigator programs that help people and families understand their options, connect to care, access social services, and get support before a crisis escalates. These programs should be rooted in neighborhoods, connected to trusted community organizations, and available in multiple languages.
  
  

• Finally provide a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for social workers contracting the state so their incomes keep pace with inflation.
  
  

• Streamline the process for becoming a social worker to address the massive staff shortage and enable new people to enter the field more easily.