Mental Health, Office of

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

Mission

The Office of Mental Health’s (OMH) mission is to promote the mental health of all New Yorkers, with a particular focus on providing hope and recovery for adults and children with serious mental illness or emotional disturbances.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $3.5 billion in All Funds appropriations for the Office of Mental Health (OMH). This is a net decrease of $41.3 million (-1.2 percent).

OMH continues to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of its operations and the network of non-profit providers it supports, and has ongoing efforts to reform or restructure activities based on a review of its core mission. Major new budget actions to promote cost efficiency and rationalize reimbursement include:

The Executive Budget maintains current levels of funding for certain programs rather than provide increases scheduled for 2012-13. Proposals are included to eliminate the planned 3.6 percent annual human services COLA and maintain existing rates for other programs including OMH residential treatment facilities, community residences, family based treatment, and various residential and day programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. 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.

The local assistance reforms include efforts to recover State funds through enhanced audit activities and financial reviews of not-for-profit providers, restructuring the Continuing Day Treatment program to encourage use of the more effective Personalized Recovery Oriented Services program, shifting funding from targeted Sheltered Workshop programs to more effective supported employment models, providing aid to supported housing providers consistent with regional per-bed pricing models, and converting residential pipeline units to lower-cost alternatives where feasible.

The State operations savings include implementing enterprise-wide efforts to reduce purchasing costs, streamline IT applications, and reduce agency administrative staffing levels, keeping certain individuals in the sex offender program in less costly prison settings longer when appropriate, and permitting video teleconferencing of certain proceedings; and continued placement of individuals from inpatient settings to the most integrated setting possible.

The Executive Budget partially reinvests these savings to support 1,000 supported housing units for residents of nursing homes (600 by the end of 2013), 5,100 supported housing beds over the next three years to deal with emerging needs, including individuals in adult homes and those moving to the community from State Psychiatric Centers (2,100 by the end of 2013) and 3,400 beds for the NY-NY III program (800 by the end of 2013). The budget also includes funding for mobile rehabilitation and crisis teams to provide skill development for people with psychiatric disabilities; training for primary care physicians to improve early identification of behavioral health issues in children; regional First Episode Psychosis Teams and Suicide prevention programs to prevent hospitalizations for individuals with psychotic disorders; and one time IT enhancement grants for mental health providers to support the capacity development for transition to a managed care environment.

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