Funding will Establish Three New Intensive and Sustained Engagement Teams to Serve New York City, Long Island and Hudson River Region
Peer-Led Teams are Part of Governor Hochul’s Landmark Plan to Transform New York State’s Continuum of Mental Healthcare
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the award of $12 million to develop three new Intensive and Sustained Engagement Teams to serve communities in New York City, the Hudson River region and on Long Island. Administered by the state Office of Mental Health, the awards will enable three service providers to develop peer-led multidisciplinary teams that will provide intensive community support services for New Yorkers with complex needs who have difficulty connecting with traditional forms of mental health care.
“New Yorkers who have recovered from mental health issues or a crisis in the past are in a unique position to help those individuals struggling today,” Governor Hochul said. “By taking a holistic approach, these skilled teams will help build trust among individuals with complex mental health needs and support them as they navigate and embrace the services that will aid their recovery.”
Baltic Street AEH Inc. in New York City; Mental Health Association of Westchester; and Hands Across Long Island were each awarded $4 million over five years to establish these teams. The funding will help these organization develop a multidisciplinary team including a peer team leader, support staff, a family liaison, and licensed professionals, including a social worker and a nurse practitioner.
Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, “Peer support programs have a demonstrated record of effectiveness when it comes to helping to engage individuals with complicated mental and physical health needs. These teams will help kindle hope among the people they serve, showing them that recovery is both possible and attainable. These awards, like others outlined in Governor Hochul’s landmark plan, are helping us to address gaps in services and provide better mental health care for all New Yorkers.”
The teams represent a voluntary, peer-led engagement approach to improving access to needed community resources in the least restrictive and most person-centered manner possible. Lead by certified peers, the teams facilitate connections between the individuals they engage and the community, treatment, and other supports.
National studies show that peer support can help reach, engage, and connect with individuals who have trouble connecting to traditional mental health services. While peer professionals support others on the path to recovery, they also teach life skills and help people experiencing mental health challenges to lead successful and meaningful lives in the community.
The primary focus of the teams is on individuals identified as high risk or with complex mental health needs and are intended to help bridge gaps for those leaving incarceration, hospitals, or other institutional settings. The program also aims to conduct outreach and engage individuals historically absent from traditional services but identified as at-risk.
The funding for the teams is part of Governor Hochul’s $1 billion plan to improve New York State’s mental health care system by adding capacity system-wide, expanding existing programs with a record of success, and funding new evidence-based initiatives aimed at closing identified gaps. Adopted as part of the FY 2024 State Budget in May, this plan will dramatically expand access, reduce wait times, and ensure appropriate levels of care for all New Yorkers living with mental illness.
Governor Hochul’s plan also includes expanding outpatient community-based services, creating new supportive housing units to serve New Yorkers with mental illness, and building-out programs that have a demonstrated record of success. The plan also builds on prior investments made under Governor Hochul’s leadership, helping to close gaps and ensure the system adequately serves the mental health care needs of all New Yorkers in crisis, including marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Alliance for Rights CEO Harvey Rosenthal said, “The INSET model has demonstrated very impressive results in deploying peer to peer supporters to successfully and voluntarily engage individuals in need of mental health services without the use of involuntary treatment orders. We are extremely grateful to Governor Hochul and Commissioner Sullivan for affording peer run agencies with a robust five-year investment in this first in the nation innovation.”