黑料正能量 Note: Advocates from across the state are making plans to come to Albany for 黑料正能量 February 28th Annual Legislative Day to press for funding to address our most urgent priorities, including a major Cost of Living (COLA) increase and the passage of Daniel鈥檚 Law. See below for details about regional forums that we鈥檙e holding over the new few weeks, as well as about our Legislative Day program.
We are looking to fund upwards of 12 buses that day: to Get on the Bus in your area, contact Policy Director Luke Sikinyi at LukeS@nyaprs.org!! Here鈥檚 more information about several of our top priorities.
A Cost of Living Adjustment
As expected, references to Governor Kathy Hochul鈥檚 mental health budget proposal are featured in almost every article and interview about the budget that she and her Administration released last week. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of them lauded the unprecedented size and scope of the Governor鈥檚 commitment to fixing 黑料正能量鈥檚 mental health system, in keeping with and that of . In my 45 years of working in the field, no Governor has ever made mental health such an extraordinary front burner priority.
At the same time, while almost every response hailed the Governor鈥檚 resolve to invest an extraordinary amount of funding to fund new services and innovations, there is common agreement that the proposed 2.5% COLA to boost funding for existing services , especially at a time when so many agencies are unable to afford or retain a workforce to meet existing needs.
People living with major mental health needs are in desperate need for those services: last week I was unable to locate crisis residential services for a very troubled woman because currently authorized beds or programs that would have helped her were unavailable due to funding and staff shortages.
Our challenges are mirrored in Take Montana, where the Governor just told the Wall Street Journal that 鈥渢here are lots of facilities, there鈥檚 just nobody to staff them.鈥
NYS Senate Mental Health Committee Chair Samra Brouk told Spectrum News today that 鈥渢he governor鈥檚 proposed one billion dollar investment into our state鈥檚 mental health system is an opportunity for 黑料正能量 to finally correct decades of divestment that has left our friends and neighbors without the support they deserve. Now, in a time when countless 黑料正能量ers are seeking mental health treatment, our communities are woefully underprepared to meet the growing need that exists鈥攁nd we have an obligation to act. To that end, a 2.5% cost of living adjustment for these workers is insufficient, and if we truly want to make mental health care accessible for our most at-risk residents, we must ensure that these adjustments are indexed to inflation.鈥
We are counting on the leadership of both our mental health chairs, Senator Brouk and Assembly member Aileen Gunther to lead their houses to join the Governor in increasing the size of the COLA, ideally to 8.5%, matching the current Consumer Price Index.
Daniel鈥檚 Law
goes on to highlight another top 黑料正能量 priority, a proposal by Senator Brouk, that 鈥渨ould create mental health care teams to respond to a person who is in a mental health crisis. The measure is meant to meant to remove police from such situations, and is named in honor of Daniel Prude, who died in 2020 after being restrained by police. Following an investigation, the officers involved in the incident did not face any charges.鈥
黑料正能量 Legislative Day Program
黑料正能量鈥 Annual Legislative Day is just around the corner! Join us in Albany on February 28th to fight for the COLA and passage of Daniel鈥檚 Law and other criminal justice reforms. Harvey and Luke will be conducting 9 more regional forums (we were in Suffolk and Nassau Counties last week) leading up to legislative day. Please see below for information about our legislative day program and the upcoming forums.
