PRESS RELEASE
Association for Community Living Welcomes State Lawmakers for Summer Community Tours
Annual Visits Give Legislators a Firsthand Look at the Impact of State Investments—and the Work Still Ahead
(Clifton Park, N.Y.) – Following another year of advocacy on behalf of New York’s community-based care providers, the Association for Community Living (ACL) is once again welcoming state legislators into member organizations across New York this summer for a series of community tours.
Taking place throughout the off-session months, the visits provide lawmakers with an opportunity to meet the member agencies and the people they serve and hear directly from frontline staff in their communities and see firsthand how state investments are strengthening services while highlighting the ongoing challenges providers continue to face.
Earlier this year, ACL applauded the inclusion of a flexible Targeted Inflationary Increase in the State Budget, recognizing it as an important investment in the nonprofit providers that deliver essential housing and support services throughout New York. While the funding represents meaningful progress, providers continue to navigate workforce shortages, rising operating costs, and the increasing needs of an aging population requiring more complex levels of care.
“These tours allow policy discussions to move beyond the Capitol and into our communities,” said Emil Slane, Executive Director of the Association for Community Living. “Legislators have the opportunity to meet the dedicated professionals providing these essential services every day, hear directly from the people whose lives have been transformed, and better understand where continued investments can make the greatest difference.”
Each tour offers an inside look at the innovative programs and person-centered supports provided by ACL member organizations, while creating meaningful conversations between providers and elected officials about the future of New York’s mental health and supportive housing system.
Throughout the visits, legislators will learn about workforce recruitment and retention, the realities of operating community-based programs in today’s economic environment, and the growing need to support individuals with increasingly complex medical and mental health needs.
For ACL, the tours have become an important part of the organization’s year-round advocacy efforts, ensuring policymakers enter the next legislative session with a deeper understanding of both the successes and challenges facing the nonprofit providers serving some of New York’s most vulnerable residents.
“Our members are building stable, healthy communities where people can live with dignity and independence,” Slane said. “There’s no substitute for seeing that work in person, and we’re grateful to the legislators who take the time to visit, ask questions, and engage with the people making that work possible.”
With more than 100 member agencies supporting nearly 50,000 individuals with serious mental illness, ACL remains committed to strengthening the state’s mental health housing system through ongoing advocacy, partnership, and engagement with policymakers.
For more information about ACL visit, https://aclnys.org/.
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About Association for Community Living. The Association for Community Living (ACL) is a statewide membership organization of not-for-profit agencies that provide housing and rehabilitation services to nearly 50,000 New Yorkers who have been diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illness. Many of the people served in these programs have co-occurring physical health problems and substance use disorders. The day-to-day rehabilitative and support activities performed in community residential and other housing settings are vital for people who face the daily challenges of living with a mental illness and want to live independent, productive and satisfying lives as members of the community.