Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, Office of

Agency Web Site: http://www.oasas.ny.gov/

Mission

The mission of the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) is to improve the lives of New Yorkers by leading a premier system of addiction services through prevention, treatment and recovery.

Budget Highlights

The 2012-13 Executive Budget recommends $672 million All Funds ($439 million State Operating Funds; $233 million Other Funds) for OASAS to continue to support a comprehensive system of prevention, treatment and recovery serving more than 260,000 individuals with chemical dependencies and problem gambling issues annually. This represents a decrease of $0.5 million (-0.1 percent) from 2011-12, which is largely attributable to the following actions summarized below.

Major new budget actions to promote cost efficiency, streamline operations, and restructure programs and services include:

Eliminate Planned Cost of Living Adjustments/Rate Increases. Currently, providers receive automatic payment increases with no relation to actual cost growth or performance. The Executive Budget eliminates the planned 3.6 percent annual human services COLA. A new program will be established for 2013-14 which will provide increases based on actual costs and meeting performance outcomes and will include limits on administrative expenses and executive compensation.

OASAS Actions. State Operations savings include implementing enterprise-wide efforts to reduce purchasing costs, streamlining IT applications, and reducing agency administrative staffing levels. The local assistance reforms include expanding services at a lower rate than projected, and continuing reforms begun in 2011.

The Executive Budget reinvests these savings to support 25 new veteran's beds and 12 new residential treatment opportunities for women with children. In addition, $1.5 million in new funding — previously carried by OTDA — is available to support new supportive housing units for homeless families with members suffering from a chemical dependency in New York City consistent with the NY-NY III agreement.

Centralized 24-hour hotline for reporting allegations of abuse and neglect. Pursuant to the recommendations from the preliminary report from the Governor's Special Advisor on Vulnerable Persons which is expected to be released in early 2012, a new, centralized 24-hour hotline will be created for the reporting of allegations of abuse and neglect. This reporting system should include all residential programs operated, licensed or certified by OMH, OPWDD, OASAS, the Office for Children and Family Services (OCFS), the Department of Health Adult Care Facilities and State Education Department facilities both in-state and out-of-state. The hotline will have a trained staff to screen, classify and route the report to the appropriate state agency for investigation. Funding will be housed in OCFS.

Behavioral Health Organizations. Consistent with the recommendations of the Medicaid Redesign Team, OMH and OASAS now have the authority to contract jointly with Managed Behavioral Health Organizations (BHOs). These BHOs will be charged with managing behavioral health services for individuals with substance abuse issues and serious mental illness.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Mental Hygiene (PDF)

Note: Most recent estimates as of 1/17/2012

Click for additional detailed appropriation tables