According to Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of Central Nassau’s Guidance and Counseling Services, Mental Health Clinic in Long Island has closed programs diagnosed with young adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses, as well as other serious mental illnesses.
The statewide mental health and substance use programs are within reach as they are community-based nonprofits awaiting words about whether Trump administration’s funding cuts will progress. Many programs that rely on risky funds continue to operate, but how long it is unknown.
“Navigating the mental health system on a good day is hard enough,” Friedman said. “And when you’re finally connected to the service and your loved one is undergoing treatment, and then suddenly the program is over, it’s really sad.”
Last month, the Trump administration’s decision to cancel a $11 billion federal health grant was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Rhode Island. The judge will need to decide whether to extend the suspension this week.
The Ministry of Health and Human Services says these grants are no longer necessary as they are tied to the Covid-19 pandemic.
New York has launched $160 million in federal health funds. This includes $67 million for drug use and mental health services. Some supporters and state legislators are pushing Governor Kathy Hochul to establish a contingency fund in the state budget that can be used to maintain risky services when necessary.
Friedman said he works to connect 21 patients in a program that has closed to other services.
This program is one of about 20 ontrackny The statewide program aims to early catching young people with severe mental illness and providing team-based care.
Not all state on-track programs rely on the funds of the same grants, and it is unclear how many people are at risk. Some are not community-based organizations, but run in hospitals.
Behavioral Health acknowledges the Trump administration is trying to cut flows through state agencies to individual providers. Neither the State Department of Mental Health nor the Department of Addiction Services and Support provided a complete list of programs that could be affected.
Many state behavioral health providers are trying to get information about what programs could potentially lose funds, said Laurecall, executive director of the NYS Community Behavioral Health Council.
“Providers can make important decisions about their ability to continue their programs and services,” she said.
Evan Frost, a spokesman for the Addiction Services and Support Bureau, said the agency has been in touch with its providers about the potential impact of federal cuts from the start, and the programming so far has not been affected.
“This federal funding supported key mental health programs across the state. There’s no doubt that many people will feel a huge impact from this sudden shortage. He pointed out that New York has taken action to combat the cuts by taking part in the lawsuit and blocking them in federal courts.
Federal grants for Friedman’s Onlack program are scheduled to continue through September. He said funding for this type of temporary grant is common in the behavioural health sector and expected the state to find another source of funding for the program to continue. If not, he said he expected at least time to move patients to other services.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this, and sometimes the funders tell you that the grant was over right away,” Friedman said.
Other providers continue to run programs that are at risk while federal funds are within reach.
Seep Varma is president and CEO of Therapeutic Communities, a Brooklyn-based behavioral health services. He said he runs an outreach program that connects people to drug use treatments, funded by $600,000 to one of the federal grants that can be reduced.
“We continue to operate the program,” Varma said. “Obviously, we assume some risk by doing that. At the moment, we don’t have a clear refund system so we can’t run for very long, but I think this program is very important.”
Varma also said he expected the current grant to disappear in September, but expected the state to secure new federal funds to replace it. Now he said, he’s not that sure.
“During the first Trump administration, they actually expanded many of these grants,” Varma said. “But this is a complete reversal.”
The NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is requesting a $67 million emergency ranking fund in the state budget to cover the full cost of risky behavioral health funds. A group of state and city councillors wrote to Hochul in late March, calling for a $13.3 million emergency fund “to stabilize providers for 60 days while long-term solutions are being developed.”
However, Congressman Jessica Gonzalez Rojas, a Queens Democrat who signed the letter, said the emergency fund had not been discussed during the introduced consultations on the expired budget.
When the cuts were first announced, Hochul said there was no state that they had no resources to fill these sweeping cuts. Her office did not respond to requests for comment on the possibility of creating an emergency fund.
