In early March, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan launched a new, comprehensive mental health agenda for New York City. At the City Hall event for the release of “Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for New York City,” Mayor Adams said, “By investing in family and child mental health, addressing the overdose crisis, and supporting New Yorkers with serious mental illness, this plan focuses on where our need is greatest, going upstream to build a healthier city for all New Yorkers.”
FPHNYC, in its long-standing role connecting the Health Department to the philanthropic community, organized a mid-March briefing for foundations to learn more about this transformative mental health plan and opportunities for partnerships. Commissioner Vasan and senior Department staff walked the attendees through the plan’s three pillars: Children, Youth and Families; People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI); and People at Risk of Drug Overdose.
The briefing also focused on specific initiatives within the plan that the Department is eager to engage and partner with the philanthropic community, including the citywide Clubhouse expansion, telehealth mental health support for all NYC teens, and piloting a Supportive Place for Observation and Treatment (SPOT) program in NYC shelters. As Dr. Vasan noted, “We started the premise of this plan with the idea and the knowledge that we (the city) can’t solve this all on our own.”
View a short overview of the plan below (and you can download a PDF of the complete plan). To learn more and support the initiatives FPHNYC is helping the City rollout, contact us. For mental health support, visit NYC Well; call 1-888-NYC-WELL (1-888-692-9355); text “WELL” to 651-73.