Mental Health Update

Governor Hochul’s 2026 State of the State Includes Major MHANYS’ Priorities:
Expansion of Teen & Youth Mental Health First Aid, &
New Supports for First Responders’ Mental Health & Wellness

Governor Hochul delivered her 2026 State of the State address today in Albany. This is an exciting day as the State of the State includes priorities of MHANYS related to expanding mental health literacy through Mental Health First Aid and supporting first responders’ mental health. The State of the State book can be accessed here.

Below is a summary/excerpts of the major initiatives included with more detail to come when Governor Hochul releases her Executive Budget on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

Major Initiatives 

1. Mental Health First Aid: New York State is set to lead the nation with Governor Hochul’s proposal to expand the availability of Teen Mental Health First Aid to all 10th grade high school students. The proposal also calls for expanding access to Youth Mental Health First Aid to adults who work with youth. MHANYS has been a pioneer in bringing Mental Health First Aid to New York along with its affiliate members and partner sites. This major expansion comes at a pivotal time for our teens. As Governor Hochul said, “By investing in our young people, New York will equip students with the basic skills needed to support themselves and their peers, drive lasting cultural change in addressing mental health stigma, and ensure students graduating high school have been equipped with crucial mental health skills.” Learn more about MHFA training here.

2. First Responders’ Mental Health & Wellness: The State of the State highlights a continued commitment to strengthening first responders’ mental health across New York State, with MHANYS playing a key role in supporting access to evidence-based, peer-to-peer approaches. This includes support for the development of the First Responder Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, envisioned as a statewide training and technical assistance hub to help build and sustain peer support programs. With more than 6,300 first responder agencies operating across New York State, and growing data underscoring the mental health challenges faced by this workforce, a coordinated and centralized approach is essential. Through this infrastructure, MHANYS will help advance equitable access to training, support, and prevention resources for first responders in every county.

3. Supporting State Police After Critical Incidents: Governor will advance legislation to enhance and codify paid critical incident leave for State Police members involved in justified qualifying uses of force. This proposal ensures troopers have the time and support needed to recover, fully cooperate with investigations, and safely return to duty – reinforcing accountability, professionalism, and the safety of the communities they serve. This would be consistent with efforts advanced by the Legislature in the last Legislative Session.

4. Integrating Care for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Governor Hochul will cut red tape and break down barriers to care by allowing clinics to provide mental health and substance use services under a single, jointly issued license. In addition, Governor Hochul will introduce a new Co-Occurring Capable (CoC) designation for OMH and OASAS-certified providers who meet the highest standards for treating complex, overlapping cases.

Other Mental Health Provisions 

1. Supporting Youth Mental Health for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers: Governor Hochul will direct the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) to partner with a national crisis center to provide youth with access to trained crisis counselors who specialize in issues the LGBTQ+ community face. The State will also provide training to hundreds of local 988 crisis counselors to prepare them to handle specific concerns of LGBTQ+ youth. Additionally, New York State will announce a new legal hotline and resource website for the LGBTQ+ community, including information about legal rights, housing, healthcare, and other important topics.

2. Expanding Youth Safe Spaces: New York will expand the Office of Mental Health’s (OMH) Youth Safe Spaces program by designating two additional community organizations to provide supportive, non-judgmental environments where young people can access mental wellness resources, foster positive peer relationships, and engage in non-clinical activities.

3. Recognizing Schools Providing Strong Mental Health Supports: New York will establish a new “Schools of Distinction in Supporting Strong Mental Health” designation. This designation will recognize and reward schools that have done an outstanding job providing strong, effective mental health supports, preventing crises, and reducing substance use. According to the State of the State book, “This award will set a recognized standard of excellence and go to schools that meet key benchmarks, such as conducting regular mental health screenings, promoting wellness and stigma reduction, and maintaining partnerships with community-based providers. Schools receiving this distinction will receive a financial award to recognize and further their work.”

4. Hosting a Youth-Led Substance Use Prevention Symposium: Governor Hochul is directing the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Support (OASAS) to host a youth-led substance use symposium in which students can learn from their peers about the dangers of substance use, ways to strengthen their mental health, and how to access community-based resources. In addition, Governor Hochul will direct OASAS to launch a youth-focused social media engagement strategy.

5. Ensuring All Child-Serving Clinicians in New York’s Office of Mental Health Settings Are Trained in Evidence-Based Practices: Governor Hochul is directing OMH (OMH) to publish a 10-year training roadmap for the implementation of evidence-based practices throughout New York State. As stated, “This will ensure all child serving clinicians in agency settings are trained in evidence-based practices and increase the standard of care that youth receive in New York. This roadmap will secure New York’s role as a national leader in the promotion of evidence-based practices for youth mental health.”

6. Opening up to 15 New Youth Clubhouses to Support Community-Based Recovery for Young People Suffering from a Substance Use Disorder: To create greater access statewide, particularly in underserved counties, OASAS will open up to 15 new Youth Clubhouses, co-located with existing Recovery Community and Outreach Centers.

7. Establishing a Young Adult Recovery Residence for Individuals Recovering from Opioid Addiction: Governor Hochul is directing OASAS to establish the state’s first Young Adult Recovery Residence. As stated, “This initiative will provide housing and services for up to 35 young adults with substance use disorder and opioid addiction. Wrap-around recovery services, including housing, are essential to helping individuals reach and maintain their recovery goals, and live a healthy lifestyle.”

8. Additional safeguards to protect youth online: Governor Hochul will pursue legislation that expands age verification requirements beyond social media platforms to online game platforms, establishes new safety and child-oriented design features to help shield children from online harms, vests greater control in parents, and enhances privacy standards on platforms. This includes:

• Restrict the use of integrated AI chatbot features on social media by children.
• Limit direct messages from non-connections to minor accounts.
• Default children to the highest privacy settings on covered platforms, including restrictions on real-time location sharing data.
• Implement common-sense parental controls over a child’s ability to make or receive payments on online platforms.

9. Ensuring Fair Play in Online Betting and Limiting Access for Young People: Governor Hochul will direct the Gaming Commission to explore effective ways to ensure young people are not illegally downloading betting apps, creating accounts, or using the accounts of others, including the use of biometric approaches.

10. Supporting Distraction-Free Schools and Student Mental Health: Governor will direct the New York State Education Department (SED) to develop a suite of resources for students, teachers, and parents to support responsible technology use and good digital citizenship. Complementing the recent work by OMH in sharing best practices for safe social media usage, “these resources will help students understand why devices can impact focus and learning, how to manage social media and AI responsibly, and how to protect their mental health.”

11. Scaling Mental Health Supports for Indigenous Youth: To improve mental health outcomes and strengthen cultural support for Indigenous students, Governor Hochul has announced a plan to partner with all Tribal Nations to support Indigenous students’ mental health in ways reflecting their cultures and communities. As stated in the State of the State book, “Building on the Indigenous Mental Wellbeing Pilot Program, the State will expand the use of transitional support workers and peer advocates to all Tribal Nations and Indigenous-serving school districts with a government-to-government relationship with the State. The initiative also stands up an Indigenous School Mental Health Workforce Center to support SUNY students seeking careers in school-based mental health.”

12. Strengthening Suicide Prevention and Well-being for Vulnerable New Yorkers: Governor Hochul direct OMH to lead and agencies to participate in a three-year suicide prevention action plan that raises awareness of risk factors including housing instability, financial insecurity, and limited access to culturally responsive care.

Other 

1. Prior Authorization Reform: Governor Hochul will seek to expand healthcare coverage protections for New Yorkers by reforming and creating more transparency in the prior authorization review process.  The plan includes the following:

• Require formularies, the lists of medications covered by health insurance plans, to be posted not just publicly but clearly via a standard, accessible format.
• Ensure prior authorizations for designated chronic conditions remain valid longer, so time isn’t wasted on unnecessary reviews for ongoing, stable treatments.
• Expand “continuity of care”—the period insurers must cover out-of-network treatment for new patients—from 60 days for life-threatening conditions or late-stage pregnancy to 90 days for all health conditions and the full postpartum period.
• Expand the data health insurers must report on their claims processes, including how often claims are subject to prior authorization and how often those requests are denied.
• Launch a public education campaign highlighting resources that help both consumers and providers navigate insurance challenges.

2. Supporting Not-for-Profits that Serve New Yorkers: Last year, Governor Hochul directed her Office of Customer Experience to undertake a review of not-for-profit contracting and to implement changes to streamline funding. Building on this ongoing effort, Governor Hochul will issue directions to all state agencies to provide consistent, clarifying guidance to contractors on timing and eligible expenses for reimbursement.

Our top priority remains the 2.7% Targeted Inflationary Increase for the Workforce and Provider Agencies.  There was no mention in the State of the State but we will get a better sense next week when the budget is introduced.