Uncategorized Archives - The Alliance for Rights and Recovery

Federal Policy Updates at Executive Seminar and Preparing for What’s Ahead: Register Today!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:10:00 +0000

Alliance Alert: Last night’s State of the Union highlighted an administration agenda focused on immigration enforcement, criminal justice expansion, and selective health care priorities, while leaving many critical issues affecting mental health, substance use services, and community supports unaddressed. As federal policy decisions continue to shape funding, eligibility, and the broader service landscape, it is more important than ever for behavioral health leaders and advocates to stay informed and prepared.

These developments come at a time of significant change at both the federal and state levels. Federal policy shifts are already affecting access to basic needs and health coverage, while �� continues to implement major behavioral health investments and roll out funding from last year’s budget.

To help providers, advocates, and system leaders navigate this rapidly changing environment, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery is hosting its upcoming Executive Seminar, which will focus on critical state and national policy updates.

At the seminar:

�� State Office of Mental Health officials��will discuss recent budget provisions and the implementation of last year’s investments that continue to be rolled out across the state.
Alliance staff��will provide an overview of key federal policy developments and what they mean for services, funding, and the everyday lives of ��ers.

These sessions are designed to equip leaders with the information and context they need to anticipate changes, adapt strategically, and engage in advocacy. As federal priorities evolve, having clear, timely information is essential to protecting access to services and ensuring that recovery-oriented, community-based supports remain strong.

The Executive Seminar will arm system leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to keep their communities healthy, protect critical services, and sustain recovery in the face of ongoing federal policy changes.

Register Today:

Trump’s SOTU Demands for Congress
By Calen Razor and Mia McCarthy | Politico | February 25, 2026

President Donald Trump littered his record-breaking, nearly two-hour-long State of the Union address last night with dramatic tributes to American heroes, caustic attacks on congressional Democrats and a preview of his party’s midterm campaign pitch.

But he also sprinkled in a handful of legislative demands that have uneven prospects at best on Capitol Hill. Here’s what caught our ears:

— TARGETING NONCITIZENS: Trump repeatedly railed against illegal immigration and pushed lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, the GOP bill that would tighten proof-of-citizenship standards for voting.

“Why would anyone not want voter ID?” Trump said at one point. “One reason — they want to cheat.”

But the bigger news might be what Trump didn’t mention: A hard-right push to use a “talking filibuster” to get the past Senate Democrats. In what was likely a big relief for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the president didn’t mention the filibuster at all. (We have more from Thune on what’s next for the bill below.)

Trump also called for passage of “,” which would bar states from granting driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.

— HEALTH CARE: The president pressed Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson to take the most-favored-nation drug-pricing deals he’s recently struck with pharmaceutical companies and enact them into law.

“I’m not sure it matters, because it’s going to be very hard for somebody that comes along after me to say, ‘Let’s raise drug prices by 700 or 800 percent,’” Trump said. “But John and Mike, if you don’t mind, codify it anyway.”

But the provision faces big opposition from the prescription drug industry and its allies inside the GOP.

Completely unmentioned? The expired Obamacare subsidies, which now seem like ancient history in Washington. Trump only briefly mentioned his “Great Health Care Plan” that would give money “directly to the people.”

— STOCK TRADING: Trump drew bipartisan applause after endorsing a ban on stock trading by members of Congress. But getting a bill on Trump’s desk will be tough.

Johnson’s leadership-blessed legislation to crack down on the practice is in limbo, without enough GOP support to put it up for a vote. Democrats are pushing for a more expansive stock trading bill, which would also apply to the president and vice president.

Even if the House can pass something, the Senate is seen as even more unlikely to act.

— CRIME: The president included a demand for lawmakers to pass “tough legislation to ensure violent repeat offenders are put behind bars and, more importantly, that they stay there.”

That called back to Trump’s multiple comments last summer about , which never materialized into legislation. Rekindling the effort in an election year would be iffy at best.

— HOUSING: Trump renewed his request for Congress to from purchasing single-family homes as the GOP tries to address a growing housing affordability crisis — an idea that has bipartisan support.

It comes as the House and Senate are working to reconcile competing legislative packages, and the White House push could help convince skeptical Republicans to include it in a final product.

“We want homes for people, not for corporations,” Trump said.

— LEFT UNMENTIONED: There’s one area where the president conspicuously said lawmakers are free to sit on their hands: “Congressional action will not be necessary,” Trump said, to impose new global tariffs to replace the levies struck down by the Supreme Court last week in what he called a “very unfortunate” ruling.

And while Trump did discuss an expansion of a retirement savings program launched under former President Joe Biden, he did not call for new tax cuts or party-line economic measures to address rising prices — which he continued to blame on Democrats.

“Their policies created the high prices,” he said. “Our policies are rapidly ending them. We are doing really well.”

What Trump’s speech means for DHS talks

Trump’s remarks Tuesday night offered little hope that the two parties can soon reach a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security as the shutdown heads into Day 12.

Rather than laying out a path forward in negotiations and inviting Democrats to the table, the president continued to drive a partisan wedge into the DHS funding standoff.

He blamed the opposite party for instituting “another Democrat shutdown” and challenged lawmakers assembled for his address to stand and show their support “if the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

A standing ovation from Republicans followed while Democrats in the room remained seated. Trump then told Democrats they should be “ashamed” of themselves and instructed Congress to pass legislation that would end the more permissive immigration policies of so-called sanctuary cities — a demand Democrats have rejected in DHS negotiations.

Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who watched the speech from her office, told Meredith Lee Hill that Trump’s move was “a way to pit our communities against each other.”

It was exactly the political dynamic Trump was hoping for, said a top Trump pollster, Tony Fabrizio.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you just watched live the framing of the 2026 elections,” Fabrizio . “Take note of who stood and who sat on their hands. Thank you @POTUS.”

Thune prepares for vote on GOP elections bill

Senate Republicans are tentatively planning to bring up the SAVE America voting bill before their next recess at the end of March, Thune told Jordain Carney as he left the Capitol Tuesday night — but only if Congress ends the DHS shutdown first.

Thune also addressed the internal debate over the fate of the legislative filibuster, with some in his conference wanting to skirt the 60-vote hurdle by pushing Democrats to hold the floor via a “talking filibuster.” But many in the GOP fear it would allow Democrats to take control of floor business for potentially weeks or indirectly weaken the supermajority requirement.

Thune told Jordain he hasn’t made a final decision on the process, but he signaled the proposed gambit is short on support right now.

“Our conference is definitely not united on the talking filibuster, and it will take 50 because you’ve got to defeat all the Dem amendments,” he said.

GOP leaders move ahead with House DCA crash legislation

House GOP leaders helped tank a Senate-passed aviation safety bill Tuesday, clearing the way for House committee chairs to move ahead with their own competing proposal on how to address the deadly January 2025 crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

GOP leaders didn’t formally whip against the Senate-passed ROTOR Act, which was put on the House floor under an expedited procedure requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. But they that letting it fail would allow the House to make changes to the legislation — specifically to scale back a provision that would mandate advanced location-receiving technology for planes and helicopters in busy airspace, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations.

More than 130 House Republicans ended up voting against it — a major win for House Transportation Chair Sam Graves, who plans to mark up his competing legislation, the ALERT Act, as soon as next week. That bill is more open-ended and has less stringent requirements for aircrafts.

It was a brutal defeat for Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz, who crossed the Capitol to join House members on the floor for the final vote, only to see his bill go down in flames. Still, he called the setback a “temporary delay” and said he is “pushing” forward.

“We came within a couple of votes of two-thirds, an overwhelming majority of the House voted for ROTOR,” Cruz told reporters as he walked off the House floor. “I believe we’re going to pass it.”

The post Federal Policy Updates at Executive Seminar and Preparing for What’s Ahead: Register Today! appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

2.7% Is the Minimum: Rally With Us at Feb 10 Legislative Day, See Alliance Budget Testimony!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:37:50 +0000

Alliance Alert: Yesterday, Alliance staff delivered testimony at the �� State Mental Hygiene Joint Legislative Budget Hearing, continuing our push to advance the priorities we have heard consistently from members, partners, and communities across the state. As we emphasized in our testimony, we are pressing these priorities through every available avenue, including budget hearings, legislative meetings, public education, coalition advocacy, and direct action.

Our message at the hearing was clear: �� must shift its focus away from costly institutional expansions and toward community-based services that actually keep people well. We called for a 2.7% Targeted Inflationary Increase to stabilize the mental health and substance use workforce, sustained investment in housing and crisis response, continued implementation of Daniel’s Law initiatives with additional funding, protection of adult home advocacy programs, passage of key legislation, and a responsible plan to rightsize the state psychiatric hospital system and reinvest savings into the community.

While testimony is an important part of the process, it is not enough on its own. Decision-makers need to see and hear directly from the people most impacted.

That’s why next week is our biggest advocacy event of the year.

Join Us for Alliance’s Legislative Day, Next Tuesday, February 10
We urge everyone, people who use and seek services, family members, staff, peer workers, and provider agencies, to join us in Albany. Legislative Day is our opportunity to show the Governor and Legislature that these budget decisions have real consequences for real people.

Rally for the 2.7% Targeted Inflationary Increase
This rally is about more than numbers, it’s about people. It’s about the peer specialists, case managers, outreach workers, crisis responders, and other staff who show up every day, often underpaid and overstretched, to support ��ers in their most critical moments. It’s about ensuring that mental health and substance use services remain accessible, effective, and grounded in dignity and recovery.

Get on the Free Bus: Transportation for February 10^th Legislative Day

FULL BUS ~~Brooklyn:~~

Buffalo:

Hells Kitchen:

Hudson Valley:

Long Island:

North Country:

Queens:

Rochester:

Syracuse-Binghamton:

Union Square:

Be there. Be heard.

Fight for our staff. Fight for our services.

Demand a 2.7% Targeted Inflationary Increase.

See the Alliance’s full budget testimony below:

Testimony for��NYS Mental Hygiene Budget Hearing
February 4, 2026

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the tens of thousands of ��ers living with major mental health, substance use, and trauma-related challenges who, in partnership with 85 community recovery agencies from across ��, work each day to advance their rights, recovery, and community inclusion.

Over the past 4 decades, our Alliance for Rights and Recovery has worked in close partnership with the legislature to increase funding for vital recovery and peer support services, increase access to essential housing, transportation and social supports, fight for social justice and racial and gender equity and, above all, protect and promote the dignity and rights of our community members.

I’m Luke Sikinyi, the Alliance’s Vice President for Public Policy and the testimony I’m providing here today represents the stated priorities that CEO Harvey Rosenthal and I have heard at the 14 regional and statewide events we’ve held in every corner of our state.

Before I get into our specific requests, I want to highlight the one theme we heard at every event: while Governor Hochul has been making an unprecedented investment in mental health services, far too much focus and far too any dollars have been and will be spent on both state and community psychiatric hospitals or beds, according to the Executive Budget proposal.

Most recently, the State announced $43 million for psychiatric services, including $20 million dedicated solely to increasing inpatient bed capacity in state and community hospitals and $23 million to expand Certified Psychiatric Emergency Programs. This comes on top of major hospital investments in recent enacted budgets. In the FY 2024–25 enacted budget, the State allocated $55 million to open 200 additional state-operated inpatient psychiatric beds, along with 75 Transition to Home Unit beds and pushing community hospitals to open over 700 more beds, continuing an approach that prioritizes institutional capacity over the community-based services that keep people well and out of crisis. In last year’s FY 2025–26 enacted budget, the State also advanced costly hospital-centered expansions, including the creation of another state psychiatric facility, even as community services and the workforce remain under-resourced.

Advocates are deeply frustrated that tens of millions and, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to flow into inpatient and institutional services, when these same dollars could be used far more effectively to support prevention, early engagement, peer support, crisis response, rehabilitation, housing, treatment, and re-entry services that help people stay well in the community. We cannot build a recovery-oriented system by repeatedly expanding the most expensive and restrictive parts of the continuum while starving the services that people actually want and need. This direction also reinforces an overreliance on hospitals as the default solution, rather than investing in the community infrastructure that prevents avoidable hospitalization in the first place. See below about our thoughts on state hospitals and our call for a commission to study state hospital consolidation and reinvestment.

Workforce Stability, Housing, and Medicaid Managed Care Reform
We join other statewide advocates in calling for a 2.7 percent Targeted Inflationary Increase to stabilize the mental health and substance use workforce, while also standing with housing advocates in urging continued investment in existing and new supportive housing programs. These priorities are deeply connected. Without adequate staffing, services cannot operate; without housing, recovery cannot be sustained.

We also strongly support carving behavioral health services out of Medicaid managed care, which has created unnecessary administrative barriers, delayed or denied services, and failed to pay providers for services already delivered. The cost savings associated with a carve-out could be reinvested directly into frontline services, help address the needed inflationary increase, and strengthen community-based services instead of being lost to bureaucracy.

Together, workforce investment, housing stability, and managed care reform could form the backbone of an effective and fiscally responsible behavioral health system.

Daniel’s Law, the Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Center and a Connected Crisis Continuum

Last year, thanks to the leadership of Senator Brouk and Assemblymember Bronson and the support of the Legislature and Governor Hochul, the enacted budget included $8 million to support Daniel’s Law–style Mental Health First Responder pilots and the Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Center (BHTAC). This investment signaled an important commitment to building non-police, health-centered crisis response systems that connect people to support rather than subjecting them to criminalization or harm during moments of acute distress.

That commitment is critical because we know the stakes could not be higher. Too often, police-led responses to behavioral health crises result in escalation, injury, trauma, arrest, or death. These outcomes harm individuals and families, traumatize communities, and place officers in roles they are not trained or equipped to fulfill. Programs developed under Daniel’s Law reduce these risks by ensuring that people in crisis are met first by trained behavioral health professionals, peers, and emergency responders whose primary goal is safety, stabilization, and connection to services. This is not a place where the State can afford to gamble. The cost of failure is measured in lives, trust, and long-term system damage.

However, the way these pilots are currently funded threatens their long-term viability. Because the State’s investment was one-time funding, the Office of Mental Health was forced to stretch approximately $6 million across three years in order to keep pilot programs operating. While this approach allowed programs to launch, it will limit their ability to fully staff teams, expand coverage, invest in training, and plan for long-term sustainability. It has also created uncertainty for counties that are being asked to build new crisis response infrastructure without assurance that state support will continue once the initial funding period ends.

Counties are already facing significant fiscal pressure and simply do not have the capacity to absorb these programs when state funding sunsets. Without predictable, multi-year investment, local governments will be forced to scale back or eliminate programs that are demonstrably reducing harmful outcomes and improving crisis response. That instability undermines workforce retention, weakens partnerships, and prevents programs from becoming the robust, effective alternatives to police response that Daniel’s Law envisioned.

For these reasons, we strongly urge the State to invest an additional $8 million annually over the next five years to stabilize and expand Daniel’s Law initiatives and the BHTAC. Multi-year funding will allow programs to retain and train staff, expand geographic reach, integrate with existing crisis and community-based services, and collect meaningful outcome data. It will also give counties the confidence they need to sustain these critically important services during a time of shrinking local resources.

With sustained investment, Daniel’s Law programs can grow from pilots into permanent, statewide components of ��’s crisis continuum, connecting and strengthening the many initiatives supported in prior budgets. This is how the State can reduce harm, avoid tragic outcomes associated with police-led responses, and ensure that people experiencing crisis receive dignity and support when they need it most.

Adult Home Advocacy and Resident Council Programs

The budget includes a $230,000 cut to Adult Home Advocacy and Adult Home Resident Council Programs that provide essential rights education, legal advocacy, leadership development, and collective organizing support for adult home residents, many of whom live with major mental and physical healthcare challenges and rely on state support to succeed in their local communities.

The Legal Advocacy Services have been critical to ensuring that residents’ basic rights to receive appropriate services from adult home operators are upheld and the Resident Councils empower individuals to raise concerns, address unsafe conditions, and advocate for quality-of-life improvements.

Without this modest but critical funding, residents would lose one of the only avenues for independent advocacy and collective voice, increasing the risk of isolation, neglect, and rights violations in adult home facilities. Up until now, the residents have been able to count on their support and that of the Justice Center to advocate for their human rights, basic needs and social justice.

This is not the place or time for the state to make cuts to these essential and hugely cost-effective initiatives that give encouragement and trusted and reliable support to people who, in the wake of new federal policies, are very frightened that they will not have the support and advocacy they need to maintain their mental and physical health and success in living in the community.

Treatment Court Expansion Act (A.4869 / S.4547),

We strongly urge passage of the Treatment Court Expansion Act (A.4869/ S.4547), which would expand access to treatment courts for people with mental health and substance use challenges and reduce unnecessary incarceration. Under current law, too many ��ers are excluded from diversion and instead cycle through jails and courts without access to timely treatment. These, along with our other priorities strengthen voluntary, community-based alternatives and promote long-term stability.

Forensic Rehabilitation Act (S.8310/A.8603)

We also strongly support passage of the Forensic Rehabilitation Act, which would reduce unnecessary and prolonged forensic confinement by ensuring clinical decision-making, rather than prosecutorial discretion, determines placement and length of stay. The Act creates clearer, timelier pathways back to the community with appropriate supports, improves outcomes, and reduces costly institutionalization while enhancing public safety.

Raise the Age

We are grateful that the Governor made no changes to this landmark initiative and continue to work to see effective implementation of the program.

Rightsizing the State Psychiatric Hospital System

According to the Executive Budget, the Office of Mental Health operates two Research Institutes and 22 state psychiatric centers, providing more than 4,057 inpatient beds for adult, child, youth, and forensic populations. This means that �� maintains more state psychiatric hospitals than the nation’s two most populous states combined: California (5) and Texas (13). This number of institutions is not only out of step with modern, evidence-based mental health services, it represents a staggering misuse of public dollars. Every year, ��ers pour billions into maintaining an oversized and outdated hospital system while people across the state struggle to access housing, crisis services, peer support, and community-based support that actually prevents hospitalization. These funds could and should be reinvested into proven, cost-effective community supports that promote recovery, reduce reliance on institutionalization, and deliver far better outcomes for individuals, families, and taxpayers alike.

Accordingly, we join our friends at MHANYS in calling for the creation of a State Psychiatric Hospital Rightsizing Commission to evaluate how �� can more effectively use its resources through smart consolidation or closure of state psychiatric centers with persistently low censuses. This is not about eliminating needed beds, but about aligning capacity with actual need and shifting resources to where most people receive services, in the community.

�� has successfully done this before, closing or downsizing state hospitals and reinvesting savings into community-based services that have allowed thousands of people to live and recover outside institutions.

Similar authority has recently been granted to close prisons and reinvest funds into prevention and community safety. A thoughtful, transparent rightsizing process would allow the state to reinvest savings into housing, crisis services, peer support, and step-down options that help people avoid hospitalization and return to their communities sooner.

Self-Directed Care: Sustaining and Expanding a Vital Innovation

Self-Directed Care is a person-centered service model that allows individuals to control their own service budgets, choose the supports that best meet their needs, and define their own recovery goals. Rather than fitting people into rigid program structures, Self-Directed Care recognizes that recovery looks different for everyone and that people are experts in their own lives. Participants use individualized budgets to access a wide range of supports, including peer support, housing-related assistance, wellness activities, transportation, education, and culturally responsive services that are often unavailable through traditional systems.

��’s Self-Directed Care pilots have demonstrated strong outcomes, including increased engagement, reduced crisis service use, and greater stability and satisfaction among participants. It is critical that the State build on existing initiatives to expand access to Self-Directed Care as a core component of ��’s mental health system, ensuring that individuals who benefit from this approach are able to continue receiving these supports and that more ��ers can access this proven, recovery-oriented model.

Closing
�� has the opportunity to build on what works by investing in people, communities, and systems that prioritize recovery over crisis. We look forward to working with the Legislature and the Administration to advance these priorities and thank you for your leadership and attention.

Thank you,

Luke Sikinyi
Vice President of Public Policy
Harvey Rosenthal�� CEO
Alliance for Rights and Recovery
Lukes@rightsandrecovery.org

518-703-0264

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Register for The Alliance’s 2026 Leadership Institute!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 16:25:00 +0000

Alliance Alert: There’s still time to register for the 2026 Alliance Leadership Institute, a newly redesigned leadership learning experience created specifically for leaders in behavioral health and community-based organizations.

The 2026 Leadership Institute is a virtual, webinar-based series that combines expert-led learning with practical strategies to help leaders navigate today’s complex behavioral health landscape—while staying grounded in recovery-oriented, mission-driven values.

What the 2026 Leadership Institute Includes:

Six Live Interactive Webinars (January–June 2026)
Participants will engage with national experts on timely leadership topics, including:

From Mission to Metrics:��Aligning Data and Outcomes with Vision and Strategy
The Burnout Epidemic:��How Leaders Can Foster Resilience and Retain Staff
Rewiring Behavioral Health:��AI, Telehealth, and the New Rules of Leadership
Scaling with Integrity:��Growing Without Losing Your Mission
The Leadership Pipeline:��Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
Embedding DEI:��Practical Strategies for Behavioral Health Leaders

Each session is designed to provide actionable tools leaders can immediately apply within their teams and organizations.

Optional 1:1 Leadership Coaching

Participants may choose to enhance their learning experience with individual leadership coaching, which includes:

Ten one-on-one sessions with an experienced leadership coach
Personalized support focused on communication, supervision, and strategic leadership growth
Coaching can be added at any point during the program

Registration & Pricing

Webinar Series Only

Alliance Members: $50
Non-Members: $150

Webinar Series + Coaching

Alliance Members: $1,550
Non-Members: $1,650

Who Should Attend

The Alliance Leadership Institute is ideal for:

Program Directors and Supervisors
Clinical and Administrative Managers
Emerging and Mid-Level Leaders
Executive and Senior Leaders

Anyone committed to strengthening leadership capacity and advancing recovery-oriented systems of care will benefit from this experience.

Learn More & Register

Visit the Alliance website to learn more and register for the Leadership Institute 2026: /transformation-training/the-leadership-institute/2026-leaders-group/

If you have questions or would like assistance with registration, please contact Daniella Labate Covelli at daniellal@rightsandrecovery.org.

The post Register for The Alliance’s 2026 Leadership Institute! appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

Register the Alliance Cultural Competence Committee’s Upcoming Webinar on the SWAP Tool: Dec 2, 1-3pm!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 14:41:00 +0000

Upcoming Webinar Announcement
From Burnout to Belonging: Using the SWAP Tool to Cultivate Trauma-Responsive Teams
December 2, 2025 | 1:00–3:00 PM

The Alliance Cultural Competence Committee is thrilled to host this energizing and interactive webinar introducing the Safety and Wellness Action Plan (SWAP), a practical framework designed to strengthen communication, build trust, and promote resilience within teams.

Originally developed for trauma-impacted, high-stress work environments, the SWAP has become an invaluable tool for any group looking to move from crisis-driven reactions to everyday connection and wellness.

Featured Presenters
We are honored to be joined by two longtime experts in trauma-responsive practice, organizational wellness, and behavioral health workforce development:

Luis O. Lopez, MA, MS
Director, I CONECT – Institute for Care Management, Outreach, Networking, Engagement, Connecting, and Training
Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research
Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia University

Marissa Messiah, LCAT, MA, CPRP
Implementation Specialist & Trainer
Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research
Center for Practice Innovations, �� State Psychiatric Institute

During this session, you’ll learn how the SWAP helps teams:

Define what wellness looks and feels like for their members
Identify early signs of stress or disconnection before they escalate
Create shared agreements to keep the team aligned, grounded, and thriving

Participants will hear real examples, reflect with peers, and leave with a ready-to-use roadmap that can be brought back to their organizations immediately—regardless of role or team structure.

We look forward to seeing you there and supporting stronger, more trauma-responsive teams across ��

The post Register the Alliance Cultural Competence Committee’s Upcoming Webinar on the SWAP Tool: Dec 2, 1-3pm! appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

Senate Appropriations Committee Budget Protects Mental Health and Disability Services from Harmful Federal Restructuring!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 15:22:00 +0000

Alliance Alert: A recent article in Roll Call highlights major concerns with the Trump Administration’s proposal to fold multiple federal agencies into a new “Administration for a Healthy America” (AHA). This plan would eliminate or consolidate agencies such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration for Community Living (ACL)—agencies that provide vital focus, funding, and leadership on mental health, substance use, and disability services nationwide.

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery strongly opposes these efforts. Without agencies like SAMHSA and ACL specifically dedicated to protecting the rights and supporting the recovery of people with mental health, substance use, and disability conditions, millions of Americans could face service disruptions, weakened protections, and reduced accountability. The proposal risks burying these priorities under a massive, bureaucratic umbrella agency that will be less responsive to the people who rely on these critical supports.

A Step in the Right Direction from Congress
We applaud the Senate Appropriations Committee for its bipartisan rejection of funding for AHA in the recent HHS budget bill. By refusing to allocate resources for this harmful reorganization, Congress sent a strong signal that it will not allow essential mental health and disability programs to be undermined. This is a promising step forward in ensuring continuity and focus for the services people depend on. We must ensure that this version of the HHS budget remains in the final federal budget for the year!

Building Power at the Alliance Conference
At our upcoming 43rd Annual Conference (September 29–October 1, Villa Roma, NY), we will host multiple workshops that will help our community understand and respond to these federal budget changes. These sessions will highlight the risks posed by agency restructuring, strategies to defend funding for essential programs, and ways advocates can take action.

We are especially honored to feature:

Paolo del Vecchio, former Director of SAMHSA’s Office of Recovery and now an independent consultant, who will bring a critical perspective on the importance of maintaining strong federal leadership on recovery and mental health services.
Laura Van Tosh, Board Chair of aves-Mental Health (formerly the Global Mental Health Peer Network) and a national peer advocate, who will share how peers and allies can lead advocacy to protect rights and recovery-focused services.

Together, we will strategize on how to protect essential federal programs, defend against harmful restructuring, and strengthen our advocacy voice in this critical time.

Unbreakable! Harnessing Our Power, Building Our Resilience, Inspiring Hope and Courage
Alliance for Rights and Recovery 43^rd��Annual Conference
Villa Roma Resort and Conference Center | September 29-October 1, 2025
Register Today

The Alliance will continue to stand with our members, national partners, and peer leaders to ensure that mental health, substance use, and disability services remain strong, recovery-oriented, and rights-based.

Trump’s Health Agency Streamlining Goals Hit Roadblock
By Sandhya Raman | Roll Call | August 18, 2025

Five months after the Trump administration rolled out its grand plans for a signature “Make America Healthy Again” agency, Congress has shied away from taking steps to bring the new agency to fruition.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his plan for the agency in March amid a wide-scale restructuring of the department intended to streamline duplicative efforts and cut costs.

But the department’s the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and portions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into the new Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA, have been stalled by ongoing litigation and a lack of congressional buy-in.

A second White House proposal would also include the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The White House’s fiscal 2026 budget request calls for $14.1 billion in discretionary funding to establish the AHA, with the lion’s share coming from the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill and $52 million from Interior Department funding.

The Senate’s bipartisan Labor-HHS-Education spending bill would not appropriate any money for the new agency. Neither would the House or Senate’s marked up Interior funding bills. It’s unclear if the House’s Labor-HHS-Education spending bill, which is expected in early September, will include language that would appropriate funds for the agency.

Lawmakers could appropriate money to the agency’s functions for fiscal 2026 if they come together on a spending deal.

But even those lawmakers in either chamber’s Make America Healthy Again Caucus have stopped short of introducing legislation that could speed along the process of formally creating the new agency.

Kennedy himself has been tight-lipped about it during budget hearings, citing an ongoing court case, but HHS has stated that it already has the authority to implement AHA.

“The Executive Branch does not have the authority to order, organize, or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress,” Judge Melissa R. DuBose, of the District Court for the District of Rhode Island, wrote in a ruling temporarily blocking HHS’s reorganization efforts.

The courts could ultimately provide clarity even without Congress acting immediately. But that process could take time, especially if it comes before the Supreme Court.

“We look forward to working with Congress to create the Administration for a Healthy America to support the health and well-being of individuals through these vital and innovative programs,” HRSA Administrator Thomas J. Engels wrote in a congressional justification document provided to appropriators.

What Congress can do
There are multiple ways to create a new agency, which either Congress or the administration can initiate. Both have experience establishing new or reorganizing existing agencies. For example, in 2022, Congress worked with President Joe Biden to establish the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the National Institutes of Health.

“Reorganization in the government takes different forms and different levels of formality, and there have been different processes for doing it, you know, just in modern history,” said Michael Thorning, director of the structural democracy project for the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Congress holds the authority to codify an agency and transfer or consolidate existing authorities under its purview. It can also appropriate funds to carry out AHA goals, whether or not they are done officially by that agency.

The administration can use its authority to file a notice with the federal register and go through a comment period to create an agency to take on functions delegated to the secretary. Authorization language often directs duties to a department secretary, which can then be passed on to a specific deputy or agency.

What makes AHA more complicated is that it seeks to transfer some statutory duties using an administrative authority to a non-statutory office.

In these cases, Congress typically steps in.

In 2012, HHS the Administration for Community Living by combining the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities.

Congress later defined statutory functions for the agency through language in the fiscal 2014 omnibus spending package, a 2014 federal workforce development law and subsequent laws.

But the ACL, which incidentally would be eliminated in the proposed reorganization, is much smaller than AHA.

One health care lobbyist suggested that Congress could pass a wraparound bill that transferred various statutory authorities to a new agency like AHA through one bill.

Thorning said that given the size and breadth of HHS, as well the number of statutes involved, any reorganization effort will be a “pretty complicated undertaking.”

Jeffrey Davis, a director at the health policy consultancy and lobbying firm McDermottPlus, said that in order to formalize AHA with separate appropriations and structures and to make the head of AHA a Senate-confirmed position, it would need to be done through Congress.

Even with those levers, HHS would need to settle several administrative and organizational issues. Details about where AHA could be located and how select offices under the CDC could be physically relocated are scarce.

Congress may also come into play, depending on how HHS intends to change its organizational chart for AHA.

The president appoints an HRSA administrator, but the assistant secretary of HHS for mental health and substance use and the assistant secretary for health both require Senate confirmation.

“It would seem that the president can create the AHA, as far as they want, the AHA to carry out the general responsibilities that have been designated to the secretary,” said Thorning.

“I think it’s a more complicated question when you get into how much ability the AHA has to supervise and direct any agencies underneath it, which may be statutorily created and statutorily may be required to report to someone else.”

Without Congress
If Congress opts for a continuing resolution, it would likely not include any money carved out for AHA.

The Office of Management and Budget makes the money appropriated by Congress available to agencies through what is known as the apportionment process.

Even with a continuing resolution, the administration could use the same structure and amount of funding from Congress in a way that’s aligned to the administration’s priorities, as long as they are not overreaching congressional authorities, said Davis, who previously worked advising on budget issues for HHS.

But a short- or long-term stopgap could include language to align with MAHA priorities like environmental health or disease prevention through existing programs, since the HHS proposal seeks to port many existing grant programs over to AHA.

HHS could also hire counselors or informal advisors to focus on MAHA goals within the confines of existing agencies in a less formal capacity.

Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 7 that directs agencies to take a more heavy-handed approach in overseeing the approval and administration of grants. The order directs senior appointees to make these decisions, allowing more discretion which could advance MAHA-related goals.

“It’s a good question of what they can do at an administrative level,” said Davis. “They could try to kind of operationalize things through regulatory vehicles, but I think it’s difficult without Congress kind of weighing in formally.”

The post Senate Appropriations Committee Budget Protects Mental Health and Disability Services from Harmful Federal Restructuring! appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

Breaking: Racial Disparities Persist In ��’s Court-Ordered Outpatient Commitment Program

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:54:00 +0000

Alliance Alert New report from our friends at the �� Lawyers for Public Interest and member agency Community Access have a longstanding racial disparity in the use of Kendra’s Law’ outpatient commitment program, euphemistically called Assisted Outpatient Treatment or AOT.

In fact, as of this morning, the state has imposed such orders on 22,699 individuals since the program’s inception in 1999. 69% have involved people of color statewide, 89% in �� City. ().

This is just one of the reasons the Alliance has worked to oppose and restrict the program use since its inception, is working to do the same this year, in face of Administration and legislative proposals to further expand it and will push on this point at this morning’s 9:30 Capital news conference.

We will also be urging lawmakers to reject such an expansion, at least until they receive the results of a legislatively mandated study on the program that is looking at whether access to care rather than coercion is what has produced better outcomes for people who’ve been lifted to the front of the line of long waiting lists for housing, case management and ACT teams.

Racial Disparities Persist In ��’s Court-Ordered Mental Health Treatment Program
Two New Reports By Advocacy Groups Excoriate Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Proposed Expansion Of Kendra’s Law, Which Authorized The Program In 1999
By Maya Kaufman Politico March 4, 2025

NEW YORK — Black and Hispanic ��ers represent a disproportionate share of the individuals required to receive outpatient mental health treatment under Kendra’s Law, according to two new reports from mental health and civil rights organizations.

The reports — authored by mental health service provider and legal advocacy group — excoriate Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed expansion of the 1999 measure, which authorized courts to issue the orders.

Black ��ers comprise 38 percent of the individuals currently in the so-called assisted outpatient treatment program, despite making up only 17.7 percent of the population, according to the reports’ analyses of state Office of Mental Health data. Hispanic ��ers are also overrepresented. And while white ��ers make up 54 percent of the state’s population, they represent only 31 percent of people now under a court order.

The racial disparities have persisted for at least 20 years, according to �� Lawyers for the Public Interest, which issued a similar report in 2005.

“There’s something very wrong in its implementation,” Ruth Lowenkron, the group’s director of disability justice, said in an interview.

More details: Hochul’s executive budget in January called for changes to and bolster its oversight, including $16.5 million to help counties implement the program and $2 million for added training, monitoring and support by the Office of Mental Health.

Office of Mental Health spokesperson Justin Mason described the budget proposals as “pragmatic statutory reforms and additional resources that will help this program operate more effectively.” He did not directly address the racial disparities highlighted in the two reports.

“The administration’s first priority is ensuring ��ers can access the mental health care they need, and assisted outpatient treatment has a demonstrated record of reducing hospitalization, homelessness, and interactions with the criminal justice system among those enrolled,” he said in a statement.

State data shared by Mason shows a 66 percent reduction in hospitalizations, 64 percent reduction in homelessness and 73 percent reduction in incarcerations among assisted outpatient treatment enrollees, compared with their time prior to enrollment.

But participants jump to the front of for mental health programs, making it unclear whether the successful outcomes are a product of the mandate or just the improved access to care that comes with it, the Community Access and �� Lawyers for the Public Interest’s reports note.

What’s next: The two groups want the Hochul administration, at the very least, to hold on the expansion until researchers conclude an ongoing study into the efficacy of court-ordered mental health treatment.

The Human Services Research Institute is working with the University of Pittsburgh on the two-year evaluation, which lawmakers made a condition of renewing Kendra’s Law in the 2022-2023 state budget.

Cal Hedigan, CEO of Community Access, said Kendra’s Law is overused and should instead be an “intervention of last resort.”

“It would be a better use of �� state resources to really expand community-based voluntary services,” Hedigan told POLITICO.

The post Breaking: Racial Disparities Persist In ��’s Court-Ordered Outpatient Commitment Program appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

Attend MHEP’s Block Party Today from 1-7pm in Albany!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 14:29:00 +0000

Alliance Note: We are excited to join the Mental Health Empowerment Project for their celebratory block party today from 1-7pm in Albany. We encourage those in the Albany area to stop by and enjoy food, live music, and community! See below for more information.

Today’s the day! We’re inviting everyone in the Albany area to join us at the Mental Health Empowerment Project’s Community Block Party from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM at 204 Second Street. This is a day dedicated to celebrating our community’s strength, resilience and spirit, and it’s all happening right in your neighborhood.

Come enjoy live music, delicious food, fun games and so much more—all for free! We’ve got free haircuts, backpacks, school supplies, raffle prizes and plenty of opportunities to connect with your neighbors and local organizations.

This isn’t just any block party—it’s a chance to come together and uplift one another. So, whether you’re looking for resources, some good old-fashioned fun, or just want to meet new friends, there’s something here for you.

Albany, let’s make this a day to remember. See you at the Block Party!

The post Attend MHEP’s Block Party Today from 1-7pm in Albany! appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

Copeland, Mead, Swarbrick Panel Heads up 2024 Alliance Conference Program: Register Today!

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:13:00 +0000

Alliance Note: Our Alliance for Rights and Recovery is thrilled to announce that this year’s annual conference will feature a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a discussion with 3 of our most cherished pioneers. All 3 are the creators of innovations that have become fundamental to the promotion of health, recovery and peer support across the world: Mary Ellen Copeland and , Shery Mead and and Peggy Swarbrick and the and Peer Wellness Coaching model.

Our theme this year is “Leading the Charge for Recovery, Rights and Justice” and will be drawing self and system advocates and innovators from across the state and nation and across the lifespan. During the conference, we’ll also be taking steps to help launch a coalition and campaign to “take back the narrative” that counters and replaces the rising use of coercion, criminalization, institutionalization and discrimination across our country with a broad array of progressive policies, public education and voluntary innovations that work.

Scholarship Applications are open until August 1st!
Apply today using this link:

The post Copeland, Mead, Swarbrick Panel Heads up 2024 Alliance Conference Program: Register Today! appeared first on The Alliance for Rights and Recovery.

Alliance Update from the Capital: Budget Negotiations Nearing End

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:22:00 +0000

Alliance Update from the Capital

We are less than 24 hours away from the extended NYS budget deadline, which is currently tomorrow at noon! It is still unclear whether Albany lawmakers will need to approve another extender, but legislative leaders have expressed their desire to finalize the budget by the end of the week.

The Assembly and Senate continue to negotiate unresolved issues, including finalizing a deal to spur more affordable housing, NYC Mayoral control of city schools, and funding for health services.

Whether many of our priorities are included in the budget is still to be determined. The legislature is still negotiating funding a 3.2% COLA for human services agencies. I will be in the capital today to continue advocating for a flexible 3.2% increase so agencies can cover essential infrastructure costs and improve pay for the workforce.

The Alliance also continues our work with the Daniel’s Law Coalition and our legislative champions to have Daniel’s Law first responder pilot funding included in the final budget.

Other items we continue to push for include funding for additional Intensive and Sustained Engagement Teams (INSET) programs and money for Peer Bridger pilots.

We will continue to advocate for our community’s needs until the budget is enacted. Monitor this email to get additional updates and learn ways you can support our efforts.

Luke Sikinyi
Director of Public Policy and Public Engagement
The Alliance for Rights and Recovery
194 Washington Ave. Suite 400
Albany, �� 12210
Cell: 518-703-0264
Office: 518-436-0008

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Update from the Capital

The Alliance for Rights and Recovery — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 19:07:00 +0000

Alliance Update from the Capital:

I’ve spent the last two days gathering more information on the state of budget negotiations and continuing to push our priorities like the flexible 3.2% Cost of Living Adjustment.

While the Governor’s announcement of the “parameters” of the final budget yesterday created the impression a deal had been reached, we have been told by legislators in the capital that negotiations are still ongoing and could last throughout the week.

A major item the legislators are still deliberating on is the flexible 3.2% COLA for human services agencies. I am joining other statewide advocates to speak with more lawmakers to educate them about why the current proposed language is inadequate to support our agencies as needed and ensure our needs are represented during negotiations. It is still unclear whether the investment in agencies and the workforce will be included.

I am also continuing to push for Daniel’s Law pilot funding along with our legislative champions, Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblymember Harry Bronson. We still have not received any indication the legislature and Governor approved any funding for these deeply needed pilots. ��ers cannot wait another year to get appropriate health responses to mental health and substance use crises.

We are also still pushing for funding for critical programs including Peer Bridgers to support more people as they leave the hospital and INSET programs to voluntarily support people who would otherwise be eligible for court mandated treatment.

Although many of the items we have spent the year pushing for are still not guaranteed, I and the rest of the Alliance team will continue to fight for what we know ��ers need until the budget is finalized and passed. Until then, we will do everything we can to push the legislature and governor to truly listen to the needs of ��ers experiencing mental health, substance use, and trauma related challenges.

Monitor this email for updates as we get more information about the budget process and whether our priorities are included.