Coalition for the Homeless Responds to Mayor Adams’ Mental Health Announcement

NEW YORK, NY — The following statement can be attributed to Dave Giffen, Executive Director with Coalition for the Homeless:

“While we appreciate Mayor Adams’ focus on the mental health crisis and the urgent need for more mental health resources and permanent housing options for homeless New Yorkers with mental health needs, the plan presented today is disappointing in its lack of detail and ambition. For example, while the report acknowledges that stable housing is a cornerstone of mental health, it offers nothing new, simply referencing the supportive housing units put in the pipeline by the previous administration. There is no commitment to accelerate the creation of needed units or to dedicate funding for more badly needed housing. Likewise, the goal of reducing overdose deaths by 15% — while such deaths are soaring — is alarmingly unambitious. And the Mayor’s plan to increase in-patient units, while welcome, does not meet the scale of the need.

 

To make real progress in this fight, the City and State must work together to commit the resources it will take to help New Yorkers struggling with mental health challenges. That means new investments in more and expedited supportive housing, reopening offline inpatient psychiatric beds at city hospitals immediately, and more forceful action to end overdose deaths.”