By HFT Staff

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan to overhaul New York's continuum of mental healthcare and reduce the number of individuals with unmet mental health needs throughout the state. The multi-year plan includes increasing operational capacity by 1,000 beds for inpatient psychiatric treatment, creating 3,500 units of housing to serve New Yorkers with mental illness. This includes: 

Increasing operational capacity for inpatient psychiatric treatment by 1,000 beds:  

• Governor Hochul's plan will direct Article 28 community hospitals to immediately bring 850 currently offline inpatient psychiatric beds online. New legislation will allow the state Office of Mental Health to fine Article 28 community hospitals up to $2,000 per violation per day for failing to comply with the number of psychiatric beds outlined in their operating certificate. The State will also open 150 new adult beds in state-operated psychiatric hospitals, including 100 in New York City alone, which are in addition to the 50 beds that the Governor announced last November. 

Creating 3,500 new housing units for individuals with mental illness:  

• 500 community residence-single room occupancy units to provide housing and intensive services to individuals with serious mental illness and at the highest risk of homelessness. 
• 900 transitional stepdown units to help individuals transitioning from various levels of care to community-based living. 
• 600 licensed apartment units to serve individuals requiring an intermediate level of services to be able to live in the community. 
• 1,500 supportive housing units serving individuals with serious mental illness, split between scattered-site rental units that can be opened quickly and new construction or renovated facilities completed over the next five years.