McRay announces enhanced mental-health program
By Dan Goldberg
10/24/2016 03:39 PM EDT
Chirlane McCray has often told the story of how she, an upper-middle class, well-connected, well-educated woman, struggled to find help for her daughter Chiara’s mental health problems.
The struggle, she said, inspired her to make mental health a priority when she became the city’s first lady, and set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration on a course to commit nearly $1 billion toward mental health programs under the banner ThriveNYC, McCray’s signature project.
At a community center in Corona, Queens, on Monday, McCray announced her most direct effort to date to forestall the kinds of problems she faced with her daughter, announcing an enhanced version of the city’s help-line for mental health.
LifeNet, a crisis hotline that focused on suicide prevention, will now be called NYC Well, and act as a 311 for mental health issues.
The re-branding comes with $3.3 million budgeted for advertising that will broadcast the name and service across the city.
It expands on Lifenet by offering callers help making an appointment with a mental health professional, finding someone local who accepts their insurance, or patients without insurance. The 83 professionals who answer the phone will, upon request, follow up to ensure the appointment was attended and helpful. NYC Well can also handle 200,000 requests per year, twice the capacity of Lifenet.
Texting and chatting are available as well and the program is free for users, regardless of income.
“We are determined to make sure people know where to turn when they need help for themselves or someone they love,” McCray said. “Every family has a story about substance use. I have my own … I scoured the internet and the reality is I really didn’t know what I was looking for … I can never forget those terrible weeks … I knew help was out there. I couldn’t find it.”
ThriveNYC, an $850 million campaign that promises 23 new initiatives, was announced last November. In the past year, McCray has touted the thousands of people trained in mental health first aid, 100 new members of a mental health service corps and hospitals that focus on maternal depression screenings.
City health commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said her department’s goal was to make mental health help ubiquitous and no more stigmatizing than a basic health service.
“With the launch of NYC Well, we are that much closer to making it as easy as getting a flu shot,” Bassett said, after reminding everyone in the audience to get a flu shot.