Mental Health Update
Gazette Article on Advocacy for a 2.7% TII (formerly COLA)
Advocates continue to rally around support for a 2.7% TII. Article from Gazette is attached. Tomorrow the Alliance for Rights and Recovery will be holding a rally at the Capitol calling for this funding.
Mental-health, substance use-agencies call for additional state funding
ALBANY — Emily Szary has difficulty finding the words that express how much she loves working at St. Catherine’s Center for Children in Albany, where she provides a range of services to some of the most vulnerable.
But Szary worries if she’ll be able to continue her work as a children’s health care home manager as the cost of living soars and her salary stagnates. She recently had to take on a second job to pay her bills.
“Now, I will be going from a full day of high stakes and emotional work, supporting our children and families, straight to another shift at my second job, all with the proper credentials needed that were intended to make sure I would not be in this position,” she said.
Szary was one of more than a dozen mental health and substance-use-disorder advocates who gathered in Albany on Tuesday to raise the alarm about a growing workforce shortage they say is disrupting care for existing patients and leading to a growing waitlist for services across the state.
Their message to state lawmakers: include a $270 million, or 2.7% funding increase so agencies can better fund operations and bolster wages for frontline workers who dedicate their lives to helping New Yorkers in need.
“We always say that people come to our field because they’re very, very mission driven,” said Glenn Libeman, CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State, based in Albany. “But mission driven doesn’t put food on the table.”
The request builds on a 1.7% inflationary increase for human services Gov. Kathy Hochul included in her executive budget released last month. Advocates say although the bump is a good start, it ultimately falls short of what is needed to provide the cost-of-living expenses needed to retain staff and support the growing cost of providing care.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Hochul said the governor is “committed to building robust behavioral health capacity statewide” and pointed to inflationary increases increases made the past three fiscal years.
The state has also invested heavily in workforce development and a loan repayment program that has committed $45 million for more than 1,400 mental health workers in the state.
“In addition to the increases included in the past three budgets, Governor Hochul is proposing another targeted inflationary boost for these providers in her FY 27 Executive Budget and looks forward to working with her partners in the Legislature on initiatives that continue to support the needs of this critical workforce,” the statement reads.
But recruitment and retention remains an issue for agencies in the mental-health and substance-use sector, with statewide vacancy rates reaching as high as 30% for some provider type, with an annual turnover rate of 35%, according to a recent survey released by the Mental Health Association.
At some agencies, the starting wage is comparable to that of a fast-food worker or an Amazon delivery driver — jobs that don’t require the same level of training as a care worker.
“We need to invest in people who care for all New Yorkers,” said William Gettman Jr., the CEO of Northern Rivers, which provides behavioral health and other services for 18,000 people throughout the greater Capital Region, based in Albany.
Gettman said the organization employs around 1,400 people, with direct care workers earning a starting salary of around $20 per hour, which he said has led to an annual turnover rate of around 25%.
Lagging reimbursement rates from government providers coupled with years of disinvestment from the state has made it harder for organizations like Northern Rivers to compete with private sector entities that offer better benefits and wages of around $30 per hour for similar work, Gettman said.
“Our folks are dedicated. They’re mission driven,” he said. “But the mission doesn’t pay the bills every month. It’s time we invest.”
The turnover rate has major implications for patients, said Luke Sikinyi, the public policy director for the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, who noted continuity is “the foundation of recovery.”
“Every time a worker is lost, people are forced into rebuilding trust, restarting their recovery journey, and risk falling through the cracks of an already overburdened system for someone receiving mental health or substance use services,” he said.
Sybil Newell, CEO of RISE Housing and Support Services based in Saratoga Springs, said the 2.7% funding increase is the floor for organizations to maintain staffing.
Newell said RISE provides housing and support services to around 1,000 individuals, many of whom require extensive mental-health services.
She said the staff of 150 are “a really dedicated workforce,” but many are struggling with the high cost of living. The starting hourly salary for care staff is $20, which has made filling vacancies difficult.
Newell said, “A 2.7% targeted inflationary increase is not optional. It’s the bare minimum required to keep programs open, staff employed and people stable in their communities.”
