Mental Health, Office of

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Agency Web Site: http://www.omh.ny.gov/

Mission

The Office of Mental Health’s (OMH) mission is to promote the mental health of all New Yorkers, with a particular focus on facilitating hope and recovery for adults and children with serious mental illness or emotional disturbances.

Organization and Staffing

The Office of Mental Health (OMH) has a Central Office in Albany, which oversees State Operated and Local Programs, and the State directly operates 24 psychiatric facilities. The Local Programs are delivered by a combination of local government and community-based service providers; oversight is provided by OMH's Central Office program and fiscal staff, and by five regional Field Office Directors, who work with local Directors of Community Services, regional program and fiscal staff, and report to the Commissioner. The overall workforce of 13,903 is projected to decline via attrition by 275 FTEs.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget provides $4.2 billion All Funds appropriations, a net increase of $112 million (2.7%), reflecting increased capital authority, the investment in community-based services, minimum wage and direct care/clinical worker salary increases, and residential stipend enhancements. To conform the budgeting of program operations with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the FY 2019 Budget shifts appropriations and spending from the Mental Hygiene Program Fund and Patient Income Account to the General Fund. Spending for fringe benefits and indirect costs will be paid for centrally from General Fund appropriations; however, OMH will maintain appropriations for these expenses to ensure sufficient authority is available for statewide allocation purposes.

The Executive Budget builds on Governor Cuomo’s effort to expand community services and transition individuals to more appropriate and cost-effective community settings. With substantial investments in community-based services made in recent years, OMH developed new mobile crisis teams, established first episode psychosis programs, provided additional peer support services, and funded the expansion of supported housing units throughout the State. The expansion in community-based capacity since FY 2015 has resulted in 33,000 new individuals receiving services and funded over 1,300 supported housing beds. Since FY 2015, the success of these community investments has resulted in the reduction of over 650 unnecessary, vacant inpatient beds. The Budget continues to improve quality and expand capacity of services in the community. Specifically, the Budget will:

• Enhance Support for Existing Residential Programs. The Budget provides an additional $10 million for existing supported housing and single residence occupancy programs. This investment will help preserve access and maintain current housing capacity as the State brings new housing units online through the Empire State Supported Housing Initiative. Since FY 2015, funding to enhance support for these existing housing programs has increased by over $40 million annually.
• Expand Community-Based Services. The Budget supports the expansion of community-based programs serving individuals in less restrictive settings that are closer to family and other natural supports by efficiencies in operating inpatient programs. New investments in FY 2019, offset by equivalent spending efficiencies in inpatient and other services, include 200 additional Supported Housing community beds and other community-based services in areas where 100 unnecessary, vacant inpatient beds are closed. This will bring the total commitment for new investments since FY 2015 to more than $100 million annually.
• Develop Residential and Crisis Capacity. The Budget supports additional residential capacity, including additional homeless residential beds which will open in FY 2019 via the longstanding New York/New York III program. The Budget also authorizes $50 million in new local capital spending to enable the expansion of crisis respite capacity in the community to avoid unnecessary emergency room visits and inpatient hospitalizations.
• Support High-Need Individuals. The Budget provides $5 million for specialized supports, such as peer support and in-reach, to engage individuals with mental illness who require a higher level of care to transition and live successfully in the community. It is currently planned for these resources to be utilized for individuals currently residing in impacted adult homes.
• Expand Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Teams. Twenty new ACT Teams were recently established and will be fully operationalized in FY 2019 to serve an estimated 1,280 new clients. Ten teams in New York City are assigned to work specifically with homeless individuals and homeless shelters and the remainder throughout the State work with high need individuals. ACT is an evidence-based program that provides 24/7 treatment and support, improving client outcomes, reducing psychiatric hospitalization rates and emergency room visits, and promoting higher levels of housing stability.
• Establish Jail-Based Restoration Programs for Certain Defendants. Currently, defendants who are deemed incompetent to stand trial are treated at an OMH inpatient psychiatric hospital until they are restored to competency and returned to jail to await trial. This cycle often repeats itself with multiple inpatient stays at a psychiatric hospital, extending the time individuals are detained prior to trial. OMH will work with counties on a voluntary basis to develop specialized residential treatment units within their jails, ultimately reducing the time individuals with mental illness spend in jail awaiting justice. The Executive Budget invests $850,000 to assist county jails in making any necessary infrastructure improvements to provide these separate treatment units. This program has been identified as a best practice by the National Judicial College, and has been implemented successfully in nine other states including California, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Mental Hygiene (PDF)

Program Highlights

New York State has a large, multi-faceted, public mental health system that serves more than 700,000 individuals each year. OMH operates psychiatric centers across the State, and also regulates, certifies and oversees more than 4,500 programs, which are operated by local governments and nonprofit agencies. These programs fall into four major categories:

State Operated Services: OMH operates two world-renowned Research Institutes and 22 psychiatric centers that provide over 3,800 inpatient beds for Adult, Children and Youth, Forensic, and Sex Offender populations. The agency also runs 83 outpatient clinics, 1,317 residential beds, and a range of community programs in State prison settings. As part of their ongoing transformation efforts, OMH continues to transition individuals with mental illness to more integrated community-based settings. These efforts have allowed OMH to decrease State operated census and workforce over the last five years without compromising clinical care.

Adult Residential Programs: For individuals with mental illness, safe and affordable housing is an essential element of recovery. OMH oversees a large array of adult housing resources and residential habilitation programs in New York State, including congregate treatment, licensed apartments, single room residences, and supported housing. Each residential setting is designed to provide the supports and services necessary for individuals to live in the least restrictive setting possible.

Adult Non-Residential Programs: OMH contracts with local governments and non-profit agencies to provide community-based services and supports for individuals with mental illness. The agency oversees approximately 4,500 outpatient programs, including clinic treatment, crisis intervention, emergency services, advocacy and support, and other community services that promote recovery.

Children and Youth Programs: OMH oversees a variety of programs to support children and youth, and their families, including inpatient programs, residential treatment facilities, and community-based services and supports.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/16/2018