This piece highlights our successful campaign this year to add 2.7% to the Human Service Workforce. As Laura said in the article, the reason for this year’s successful campaign was based on years of trust, collaboration and relationship building. Never has that been more evident than our work this past year on the Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII).
Though we are often frustrated because we see firsthand how the lack of funding devastates our community, we are also emboldened to see strides that have been made. Governor Hochul and the Legislature are more engaged in funding our workforce than in any time in recent state history. Behavioral health advocates will continue our advocacy on this front and many others.
I also want to give a shout out to our friends at Northern Rivers, while not a statewide advocacy group, have been integral to the success of our Workforce strategy.
Showing Up Matters:
The Power of Relationship-Based Advocacy
in Behavioral Health
Behavioral Health Advocates: Association for Community Living, Coalition of Medication-Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates of New York State (COMPA), Families Together in New York State, InUnity Alliance, Mental Health Association in New York State, National Alliance on Mental Illness New York State (NAMI), New York State Care Management Coalition, New York State Coalition for Children’s Behavioral Health, NYS Council for Community Behavioral Health Care, Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and Supportive Housing Network of New York
Relationships Are the Foundation of Advocacy
Advocacy is often associated with rallies, legislative visits, social media campaigns, and testimony before elected officials. While these activities are critical tools for advancing policy priorities, they are made possible, and made more effective, through the strong relationships, trust, and collaboration that are built long before a campaign begins.
Behavioral Health Advocates with Asm. Kelles during the Photofor4% Campaign
(L to R): Zachary Phillips, Jamie Papapetros, Glenn Liebmann, John Richter, James Norton, Asm. Kelles, Luke Sikinyi, Emil Slane, Laura Isabelle, David Boodram
At its core, advocacy is the art of educating policymakers and stakeholders about the needs of a community and working toward policies that improve lives. Effective advocacy requires sharing information, elevating lived experiences, identifying solutions, and helping state officials understand the real-world impact of their decisions.
In today’s day and age, advocacy looks very different than it did even a decade ago. Social media can amplify a message in seconds, and information is shared faster than ever before. Yet despite these changes, one thing has remained constant: relationships still matter.
Effective advocacy depends on connections across the behavioral health community — from statewide advocacy organization partners and policymakers to providers, direct care staff, peers, families, and individuals with lived experience. Over time, those connections build trust, and trust creates opportunities for hard, but meaningful and important conversations about the policies that affect our communities and the people we serve.
Decades of Partnership Across Behavioral Health
Over time, those shared interests evolved into a longstanding partnership. While we do not always agree on every issue, we have consistently found common ground on matters that affect behavioral health providers, the workforce, and the adults, children, and families who rely on these services.
Working together has allowed us to amplify our collective voice while drawing on the diverse expertise and perspectives represented across our organizations. Our advocacy partners serve different populations and sectors of the behavioral health system, bringing unique insights into housing, substance use disorder services, children and families, care management, peer services, community-based supports, and other areas of behavioral health care. Together, we provide policymakers with a more complete picture of the challenges and opportunities facing New York’s behavioral health system.
Stronger Together: The Power of Collective Advocacy
Our collaboration has taken many forms over the years. We have coordinated legislative priorities, developed shared messaging, organized advocacy days, rallies, press conferences, call-in and e-letter campaigns, and met jointly with policymakers to advance common goals. We have supported one another’s advocacy efforts, mobilized providers, families, peers, and community members, and maintained a visible presence on issues affecting the behavioral health system. We have also partnered on data collection initiatives, including workforce and staffing surveys, that provide policymakers with a broader view of conditions across the behavioral health sector. By bringing together information from organizations serving different populations and service systems, we can present an accurate depiction of workforce shortages, gaps in services and supports, housing needs, and the growing demands placed on behavioral health providers.
One recent example was our collective advocacy for a Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII, formerly known as the cost-of-living increase) during the FY 2026-27 state budget process. Building upon years of coordinated advocacy around workforce challenges, inflationary pressures, and service sustainability, advocacy partners worked together to secure a TII of at least 2.7% in the final state budget to match the current rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the request of the sector. While no single campaign can claim responsibility for a budget outcome, the achievement reflected the value of a unified voice and sustained engagement with policymakers.
As part of that advocacy effort, our groups launched the Photo for 4% campaign, which resulted in 138 legislators — nearly two-thirds of the New York State Legislature — publicly demonstrating their support for a 4% Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) for behavioral health services in the FY 2026-27 State Budget. This support represented a significant increase from the 1.7% TII proposed in the Executive Budget and built upon the coalition’s original request for a 2.7% increase tied to inflation.
While the final enacted budget did not include the full 4% increase supported by legislators, the campaign helped generate momentum and pressure that ultimately resulted in an additional
100 million being added to the TII, bringing the final increase to 2.7% and a total investment of $279.6 million. By engaging lawmakers directly and maintaining a consistent presence at the Capitol, the campaign elevated the conversation around behavioral health funding and visibly demonstrated broad legislative support for additional investment in the sector as recruitment and retention challenges persist amidst growing demand for services from New Yorkers and their families.
What made the campaign successful was not simply the photographs or the social media posts. The campaign worked because it was built upon years of trust, collaboration, and relationship-building, resulting in coordinated outreach, shared information, and a consistent presence at the state Capitol throughout the legislative session. Legislators responded not only to the campaign itself, but also to the relationships that had been established long before the first photograph was taken.
The campaign also demonstrated an important lesson about advocacy: meaningful change is not solely driven by financial resources. Many sectors have the ability to invest in large-scale advertising campaigns, expensive lobbying operations, or highly visible public events. Behavioral health advocates often work with far more limited resources and without the financial advantages available to some of the state’s most powerful interests. Yet through persistence, coordination, and a shared commitment to a common goal, our group was able to elevate the conversation around behavioral health funding and engage policymakers across the state.
Everyone Has a Role to Play
That lesson is particularly important for individuals who may not see themselves as advocates.
Advocacy is not limited to policy experts, lobbyists, or organizational leaders. Providers, direct care staff, peers, family members, and individuals with lived experience all bring perspectives that can help shape public policy. In fact, some of the most compelling advocacy comes from those who experience the impact of policy decisions firsthand.
For those interested in becoming more involved, the first step is often simpler than it seems. Connect with an advocacy organization or association, attend a meeting, learn about current issues, and share your experiences. Advocacy begins with engagement, and meaningful engagement begins with relationships.
Advocacy is not a destination or a single event. It is an ongoing process of education, mobilization, and relationship-building. Progress is often incremental, but meaningful change happens when people continue to show up, work together, and remain committed to a shared vision.
The tools used in advocacy may continue to evolve, but the foundation remains the same. Strong relationships, credible information, and consistent engagement will always matter. In behavioral health advocacy, showing up is more than a strategy; it is how lasting change begins.
Laura Isabelle, LCSW, is Director of Policy at the Association for Community Living, Inc. For more information, email Laura@aclnys.org, 518-795-0613, or visit aclnys.org.
Link to Access Above Article: https://behavioralhealthnews.
