Albany, NY – New York State today announced the first three of six
new community-based mental health services for children, youth, and
families. These services will help address the stigma of mental health
treatment by providing more rapid access to mental health care where
families are more comfortable, including in homes, schools, and other
community locations.
These new services
reflect the goal of the Children’s Medicaid Redesign Subcommittee: to
ensure children and their families receive the right services at the
right time, in the right amount, and in the right place. In the past, a
child would need to be at risk of hospitalization before they could
access intensive community-based mental health services. These new
services are available to any child on Medicaid who needs them.
Bringing these
services into the home and other community settings, rather than
receiving them in traditional clinical settings, makes mental health
care more accessible, helping New York State to serve more children,
youth, and families much earlier and with a greater likelihood of
success.
The three new
services launched January 1, 2019 are called “Other Licensed
Practitioner,” “Psychosocial Rehabilitation” and “Community Psychiatric
Supports and Treatment” and provide therapeutic and rehabilitation
support services. They are child-centered and family-focused, involving a
multi-system and culturally competent approach.
“These new
services show New York State’s commitment to children. We are developing
strategies to help kids for their entire lives, through family support
and expanded access to treatment,” said OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan. “This
person-centered, trauma-informed care will set children and youth up
for success by providing the treatment they need, when and where they
need it.”
“Governor Cuomo has
once again shown his dedication to transforming New York’s Medicaid
program to promote better health outcomes for vulnerable children and to
strengthen families,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. “Expanding access to these vital behavioral health services will go a
long way towards keeping children with their families, rather than
placing them in an inpatient setting.”
OCFS Acting Commissioner Sheila J. Poole said,
“These new services will greatly enhance a family’s ability to care for
their children in their homes and in their communities. I thank
Governor Cuomo for his leadership in meeting this need for families, so
children can receive the behavioral health and substance abuse services
they need to keep families together and children from entering foster
care.”
“Putting the needs of our children first ensures that they can succeed later in life,” said OASAS Commissioner Arlene González-Sánchez. “These
comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services will not only
provide help when and where they need it most, but will also encourage a
lifestyle of long-term health and wellness.”
“This collaborative approach will help ensure that young people with
both developmental disabilities and behavioral health issues have access
to appropriate treatment options at a young age,” said OPWDD Acting Executive Deputy Commissioner Roger A. Bearden.
“By providing young people with developmental disabilities and their
families with community-based crisis and peer prevention services, we
can better help support young people with more complex needs to remain
in their family home, and to be participating members of their
communities.”
Any child under
age 21 who is Medicaid-eligible and has an identified behavioral health
need can access New York’s new Children and Family Treatment and Support
Services.
Find out more about the services here: https://on.ny.gov/
Source: New York State Office of Mental Health
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