����������

Alliance Alert: See below for a very powerful article featuring warnings offered by our friend and colleague Jihoon Kim, CEO at InUnity Alliance about the tremendous threats to our community mental health system posed by last week’s and anticipated future federal cuts levied by the Trump Administration. In this stirring interview below, he warns that an increasing number of programs might be eliminated due to federal action and emphasizes that “contingency funding could help prevent disruptions to critical life-saving services, especially by providers that operate on razor-thin margins and may already be owed millions in delayed payments.”

The Alliance’s Albany Executive Seminar program will feature a panel entitled “Taking on the Mental Health Crisis in ���������� State and ���������� City” that will feature Jihoon, Dr. H. Jean Wright II, Executive Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Moira Tashjian, Executive Deputy Commissioner, NYS Office of Mental Health; Lara Kassel, Coalition Coordinator, Medicaid Matters NY and Ruth Lowenkron, Dir. Disability Justice Program, NY Lawyers for the Public Interest. Note the following price change:

Alliance Executive Seminar Program Will Address Increasingly Uncertain Times
with a 50% Rate Reductions and National and State Policymaker Panels

As we face the ripple effects of new and anticipated federal budget cuts and the extremely challenging impact of these and other pending federal and state policy changes, our Alliance has decided to cut our Executive Seminar registration rates by over 50% to recognize the financial strain we are collectively facing.

Accordingly, we’re lowering our registration rate from $219 to $99!

Our program features an array of very timely policy and programmatic presentations, most notably Federal our National and NYS/NYC expert panels that are aimed at exploring and making recommendations to help address some of the challenges we face. See below for more details. Register for the conference here and for the Marriott Hotel .

=================

Trump’s Federal Cuts Push ���������� Mental Health Programs to Brink of Collapse
Mental health providers are scrambling to prevent mass layoffs and program closures, leaving advocates urging state leaders to step in before it’s too late
Jie Jenny Zou  NY Focus   March 31, 2025

Advocates are urging the governor and legislature to take immediate action during the final weeks of the state’s annual budget negotiations. Layoffs, program reductions, and closures are on the table for ����������’s mental health providers after millions in federal funds were unexpectedly cut last week, jeopardizing an array of services for residents battling addiction and mental illness. The cancellations are part of drastic federal cuts by the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, whose headline-making tactics are being challenged in several .

“You’re going to start to see organizations making the hard decisions, even today, of laying people off,” said Jihoon Kim, the chief executive officer of , which represents over 200 substance use disorder and mental health care providers statewide. “People are going to fall through the cracks.”

Kim said the cuts undermine an already “fragile” sector that has been hobbled by years of delayed payments, insufficient reimbursement rates, staffing challenges and rising costs. The reductions are expected to impact a wide range of ����������ers from those seeking outpatient therapy to individuals trying to manage complex mental health conditions.

…On March 25,  that federal grants — originally set to expire at the end of September — had suddenly been terminated the day before, impacting programs by the state’s Office of Mental Health and the state’s Office of Addiction Services and Support.

The state anticipates losing $40 million for addiction services and substance abuse treatment as well as $27 million for mental health services, . The governor’s office is also tracking the impacts of $300 million in cuts to the state’s Department of Health, which covers a broad array of programs such as virus surveillance and outbreak response to infection prevention in hospitals and nursing homes.

While Hochul called the cuts “plain cruel” and “devastating,” she also seemingly shut down discussions about whether the state would be stepping in to offset the losses. “Here’s the sad truth: there is no State in the nation that has the resources to backfill these sweeping cuts. It’s up to ����������’s elected officials who serve in the House majority to stand up and fight back,” she said.

Kim said that while the cuts are at the federal level, the state is in a position to take action as it continues ongoing annual budget negotiations in Albany. Contingency funding could help prevent disruptions to critical life-saving services, especially by providers that operate on razor-thin margins and may already be owed millions in delayed payments, he said.

“The state government has a responsibility here,” said Kim. “Having been at budget negotiation tables myself, I do know there are opportunities for there to be an agreement.”

Kim previously served as deputy secretary for Human Services and Mental Hygiene under Hochul, who announced an ambitious  to revamp mental health services statewide back in 2023.

Elements of that nascent plan will likely be impacted by those cuts, too, Kim said, pointing to its signature  planned for across the state. Kim likened the 24/7 facilities to urgent care centers for mental health and substance use that could radically change the state’s approach to handling these crises. Cuts could also threaten the state’s efforts to , the national crisis hotline launched in 2022.

“There’s this entire infrastructure the state has been trying to build, and has been doing a good job building, that is now at risk,” said Kim.

..During this year’s budget negotiations, Hochul has pushed to expand the state’s power to force individuals into mental health treatment,  by advocates and civil liberty groups alike. The governor’s renewed interest in the policy comes after a string of  last year often involving homeless individuals or those with a history of mental illness.

Kim noted that one of the programs in danger of being pared back targets the same population of individuals struggling with serious mental illness who are homeless or at high risk of becoming homeless and have histories of involvement with the criminal justice system.

“I find it ironic or even hypocritical that while you’re saying we need to help these people and pass laws to do that, you’re actually saying, ‘Well, we’re sorry you lost money to help those people,’” Kim said. “We hope in the next two weeks or so they will heed our call.”