For Immediate Release
Contact: Leanne Ricchiuti, Overit for Association for Community Living, 518.222.8073
January 5, 2022
STATEMENT
Association For Community Living Executive Director’s Statement in Response to Governor Hochul’s State of the State Address
(Albany, N.Y.) – The Association for Community Living (ACL) Executive Director, Sebrina Barrett, delivers the following statement in response to Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address today.
“On behalf of our members, and those we serve, I’m very grateful to hear that mental health is a priority for the Governor and the state. The Governor’s multi-year commitment of $10 billion in healthcare to include support wages and bonuses for workers is welcome, and necessary; but it is important to make sure that mental healthcare workers are included in this investment.
As is consistently made evident by the ensuing pandemic, and expressed by the Governor herself previously, mental health is a serious concern that needs to be addressed by the appropriate professionals. However, the current challenges faced by mental health care providers was an epidemic prior to the pandemic, and they have only become worse. The pandemic has merely shined a light on these issues–something we are thankful for in only that it made more people aware of the problem.
Our members operate Office of Mental Health (OMH) residential treatment and housing programs, but state funding for these programs has diminished by over 43% over the last 30 years. In addition, these program operators are now expected to incur pandemic related costs such as PPE, testing kits, and additional cleaning supplies, with less funds and fewer staff. These programs are expected, and required, to serve the most challenging clients, manage the health and mental health of people with many co-occurring conditions, and manage complicated medication regimens–none of which was anticipated when the housing funding program models were developed nearly 40 years ago.
For this reason, we applaud Governor Hochul’s prioritization of mental health and, with our statewide partners in community-based mental health and substance use disorder and addiction systems of care, look forward to partnering with her administration to bring the needed $500 million investment in our behavioral health workforce, services and support in the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal, as well as a 5.4% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase.
Due to decades of neglect, surging inflation and fair market rent values rising sharply, ACL’s members’ programs need $159.5 million alone just to make up for years of underfunding.”
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