Families Together in New York State and other Behavioral Health Associations Issue Responses to Governor's Behavioral Health Concerns
Governor's Comments on COVID's Behavioral Health Impact Gains Widespread Attention
Families Together in New York State and other behavioral health organizations share the Governor's concern acknowledged yesterday that "WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM OF THE EMOTIONAL STRESS AND ANXIETY THAT COVID HAS CAUSED". We join behavioral health and children's mental health advocates to call for funding actions that allow the community to access the services that families desperately need.
Here is the video of Governor Cuomo discussing mental health:
Families Together is a member of the The Campaign for Healthy Minds/Healthy Kids, who released a statement in response. Spectrum News picked up the statement with the headline "Pandemic Places Renewed Focus on Mental Health Care". The article begins, "The mental health effects of the pandemic may not be understood for months or years after it finally ends. But groups that provide mental health care and advocate for it, as well as Governor Andrew Cuomo, are highlighting the mental strains created for people during the crisis".
Families Together is also working with a broad coalition of mental health and substance use organizations in response to the Governor's remarks.
This coalition also issued a letter to urge the Governor to provide immediate funding to support needed services. The statewide community-based behavioral health advocates, who serve more than one million New Yorkers annually, recommended the following:
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To avert program closures and reductions in service availability, the State must immediately provide full funding for mental health and substance use disorder services, and cannot continue withholds and/or cuts to these essential services;
- Release federal CARES funds currently available to New York to support the mental health and substance use disorder needs of adults, children and families; and
- Target FEMA funding to community-based providers who have received less than 1% of available federal provider relief funds to date and require immediate funding to continue serving communities with the highest need.
