Mental Health, Office of

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Agency Web Site: https://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 Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 14,055 FTEs for OMH, reflecting no change from FY 2023.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget provides $6.4 billion in All Funds appropriations, a net increase of $1.2 billion from FY 2023, reflecting investments capital and operating costs to expand both State-operated and community-based mental health services across the continuum of care.

The Executive Budget demonstrates Governor Hochul’s commitment to enhancing and expanding access to mental health services to ensure people receive the support they need in the most appropriate and effective setting. OMH has continued to strengthen its service offerings in recent years by expanding supported housing units throughout the State, providing additional peer support services, and developing new services such as mobile crisis teams. Since FY 2015, the expansion in community-based services has resulted in more than 125,000 previously unserved individuals receiving services.

The Budget advances efforts that improve quality and expand capacity of services in the community. Specifically, the Budget will:

• Expand Residential Programs. Governor Hochul is investing $890 million in capital to build 2,150 new residential beds for people with mental illness who need varying levels of supports. This includes 500 new Community Residence – Single Room Occupancy (CR-SRO) beds, 900 Transitional Step-Down Beds, and 750 permanent Supportive Housing beds. The Governor’s plan also calls for 600 licensed Apartment Treatment beds and 750 scattered site Supportive Housing beds, for a total of 3,500 new units throughout the State. In addition, the Budget also provides $25 million in capital resources to develop 60 community step-down units designed to serve formerly unhoused individuals who are transitioning from inpatient care.

• Expand Outpatient Services. The Executive Budget supports the Governor’s proposal to significantly expand outpatient mental health services throughout the State by funding twelve new Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Programs, including $60 million in capital; 42 new Assertive Community Treatment teams; eight new Safe Options Support teams, to expand the Critical Time Intervention (CTI) initiative started in 2022; 42 new Health Home Plus Care Managers; and start-up funding and operating costs for expanded clinic capacity at 20 sites.

• Expand Inpatient Bed Capacity. The FY 2024 Executive Budget includes funding for the opening of 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds which is part of a multi-year plan to increase operational capacity at mental health facilities. These beds will help to meet the increased need for mental health services across the State. Added beds include 850 currently offline, inpatient psychiatric beds at public hospitals licensed under Article 28; and 150 new State-operated inpatient psychiatric beds.

• Support the Development of the 988 Crisis Hotline. Building on an initial investment of $35 million in FY 2023, the Executive Budget provides $60 million in FY 2024, to fund the expanded crisis center network needed to support people contacting the 988 Crisis Hotline in New York State through call, chat, and text . These centers will connect individuals to a variety of community-based crisis intervention programs including mobile crisis services, crisis stabilization centers, crisis residences, and other community-based supports.

• Strengthen Suicide Prevention and Emotional Supports. The Executive Budget will enhance mental health and suicide prevention programs available for individuals and families. This includes an investment of $10 million in grants to suicide prevention programs targeting high-risk youth and $400,000 to fund FarmNet, which works with Cornell University to support farmers and their family members.

• Increase Support for Existing Residential Programs. The FY 2023 Enacted Budget made a two-year commitment of an additional $104 million - $65 million in FY 2023 and another $39 million in FY 2024 – for existing community-based residential programs and included legislation to extend property pass-through provisions to include OMH’s supported housing. This continued investment helps preserve access to housing, a critical component of recovery.

• Enhance Children’s Mental Health Programs. The Executive Budget will expand mental health services for children and families by investing an additional $12 million in the HealthySteps program and Home-Based Crisis Intervention (HBCI) teams, $5 million for High Fidelity wrap around supports, and $10 million to develop school-based clinics, building on the Governor’s State of the State initiative from 2022.

• Expand INSET Program. The Executive Budget includes $2.8 million to expand the Intensive and Sustained Engagement Treatment (INSET) program. Funding supports the creation of three new teams which will offer peer-based outreach and engagement for adults with serious mental illness. INSET helps to support recovery, reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and ensures the appropriate utilization of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) orders, where possible.

• Enhance Eating Disorder Program. The Executive Budget includes $3.1 million to bolster treatment of individuals with eating disorders. Investments will support three existing Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders (CCCED) and OMH will pursue Medicaid coverage for licensed residential eating disorder programs.

• Individual Placement and Supports (IPS). The Executive Budget includes an investment of $3.3 million for the implementation of the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) program, which is an evidence-based model of supported employment for adults with mental illness and behavioral health issues.

• Create a Qualified Mental Health Associate Title. The establishment of this title will provide a career ladder and additional training for paraprofessionals to provide services more independently and improve the quality and access to care in OMH funded and licensed settings.

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

https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy24/ex/book/briefingbook.pdf

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 900,000 individuals each year. OMH operates psychiatric centers across the State, and 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 more than 3,325 inpatient beds for Adult, Children and Youth, and Forensic populations. The agency also runs over 80 outpatient clinics, roughly 1,200 residential beds, and a range of outpatient 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.

• 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 not-for-profit agencies to provide community-based services and supports for individuals with mental illness. The agency supports 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 02/01/2023