We know that in order to make New York City the best place to raise a family, we need to keep families and all New Yorkers healthy. That means ensuring New Yorkers have access to the mental health care they need.
Every day we hear about mental health struggles from parents, children, and older adults, and we see it in front of us on our subways and on our streets. In our State of the City address this year, we made a commitment to address mental health concerns across all five boroughs. And every day and everywhere, we are delivering on that promise. This week marks what we are calling “Mental Health Week” in New York City, where we are showing all the ways our administration is investing in solutions to support New Yorkers’ mental health and give New Yorkers the resources to have thriving lives.
Our schools are the first line of defense when it comes to mental health. That is why we are investing in mental health clinics in our public schools and making it easier for our young people to get help and healing. We recently opened 16 new school-based mental health clinics, which offers individual, family, and group therapy, and which enable teachers to get the training they need to support their students. These clinics — now in more than 230 schools — open up a clear road ahead for our teens, giving them a place to learn coping skills and resilience without financial burden on families. And it gives them a place to share their problems and concerns, as well as people to share them with.
We will not allow our kids to fall into crisis and through the cracks of the system. Through Teenspace—our free tele-mental health service—we have brought therapy and mental health resources to young people across the five boroughs. And we have designated social media as a “public health hazard,” becoming the first major American city to take this step. We are getting families and our kids the support they need, where and when they need it.
We are also helping connect those with severe mental illness to services. In this year’s State of the City address, we announced a $650 million investment to tackle severe mental illeness and homelessness, which includes investments in Safe Haven beds, and runaway homeless youth beds—making this the largest investment in street homelessness in our city’s history. We know that too many New Yorkers cycle between the hospital and homelessness, so we are investing in “Bridge to Home,” a first-of-its-kind model that provides homeless New Yorkers suffering from severe mental illness with a supportive facility to meet their treatment and temporary housing needs.
We have been clear: The city will not abandon our homeless brothers and sisters to lives of suffering and pain. Since the start of our administration, we have opened 1,400 Safe Haven and stabilization beds and doubled the number of street outreach teams.
We are also taking preventive action to get our vulnerable New Yorkers the care they need and protect those who ride the subway. Since we launched our Subway Safety Plan in February 2022, we have connected over 8,000 New Yorkers to shelter, with over 2,800 now in permanent, affordable housing. And our Partnership Assistance for Transit Homelessness (PATH) program, which brings together law enforcement and trained clinicians, are reaching more corners of our subway system to help people in need while keeping every subway rider safe. Since the beginning of PATH, the administration has contacted over 10,800 unhoused New Yorkers and delivered services to over 3,300 people.
We have seen the tragic consequences when severe mental illness on our streets and subways goes unchecked, and that is why we are fighting in Albany to pass our Supportive Interventions Act, so we can provide care to those who show signs of mental illness but cannot meet their basic needs.
Mental health is personal for so many New Yorkers, including myself. I often talk about the feelings I felt as a police officer, the feelings I felt when I lost my mother, the feelings I gelt when I was diagnosed with diabetes and told I may lose my eyesight. That is why I have made sure to maintain a healthy routine that includes my mental health, through things like exercise, healthy eating, and meditation.
When we talk about health care, we must focus on the brain as much as the body because we know healthy minds equal a healthy New York City. That’s why our administration is investing in the services crucial to improving New Yorkers’ mental health.
Every day, we are delivering on our promise to make New York City healthier and ensuring that New Yorkers can access the care and support they need to thrive.
