|
Protecting Our Kids: Governor Hochul Announces Nation-Leading Proposals to Protect Kids Online, Restrict AI Chatbots and Combat the Youth Mental Health Crisis
Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday unveiled her first State of the State proposals, which will continue to build on her progress to keep New York’s kids safe online and combat the youth mental health crisis statewide. The new legislation will help protect children from online predators, scammers and harmful AI chatbots integrated on online platforms. Additionally, the Governor is proposing a first-of-its-kind, statewide expansion of Teen Mental Health First Aid training, designed to give young people the tools to identify, understand, and effectively respond to signs of mental health and substance abuse challenges among their friends and peers. These proposals build on Governor Hochul’s nation-leading work to ban smartphones in schools, enact social media warning labels, restrict addictive feeds, and create safeguards against harmful AI companions. Governor Hochul’s focus on youth mental health also led to the creation of more school-based mental health clinics, community-based treatment options, and peer-based supports for youth and adults. Read more here.
Related: Governor Hochul Signs Legislation to Require Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms
Governor Hochul Announces Tools to Improve Digital Wellness Among New Yorkers
New York state high schools train teens in mental health first aid
| |
He Was Locked Up in a Psych Ward. It Helped Him Get His Life Together.
Lamar Brown was one of the people some New Yorkers instinctively flinch from on the subway. Living with schizoaffective disorder, talking to himself and surrounded by trash bags full of his possessions, he would ride the trains for hours. He spent years living in the subway system and on the streets. Early last year, he was spotted on a train in Midtown Manhattan, yelling and muttering, and paramedics took him to a hospital psychiatric ward. It was a trip he had made before, one that mentally ill, homeless New Yorkers made involuntarily more than 1,500 times last year. Typically, hospitals treat and medicate people like Mr. Brown, 40, for a few days or weeks, until they are temporarily stable enough to be discharged. Then they are released to a shelter, a safe haven (a shelter with fewer restrictions) or back onto the street. They often stop taking their medication and quickly lose the ground they gained at the hospital and slide back into the depths of their illness. This time, though, after three weeks in the hospital, Mr. Brown was not released. He was sent to a locked ward in a hulking state-run psychiatric institution on a small island off Manhattan. he spent more than seven months there, left last fall and has been stably housed ever since. Read more here.
| |
New York State Announces $6.6 Million Available to Establish ‘Clubhouses’ Statewide
The state Office of Mental Health on December 29 announced the availability of $6.6 million to markedly expand a community-based program that is providing crucial services and supports to New Yorkers living with mental health challenges. The funding will establish up to eight new Clubhouses in areas of the state outside of New York City, offering individuals social support, employment resources, and life skills training in a safe environment. New or existing providers can apply for up to $551,175 annually for programs in rural counties; $956,765 annually for programs in suburban counties; and $1.45 million for programs in Erie, Monroe, and Westchester counties, which are considered urban. Funding for the program is over five years, with the goal of making two awards each in the Long Island, Hudson River, Central New York and Western New York regions, but only one in the urban counties. Read more here.
| |
OASAS Shows Significant Progress in 2025, Sets Course for 2026
The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (NYS OASAS) has taken significant steps to expand and enhance addiction services across New York State and ensure that all New Yorkers in need are able to find help and support. This includes expansions across our entire system of care. Together, these efforts have helped contribute to a drop in overdose deaths of more than 30% in 2025. OASAS Commissioner Dr. Chinazo Cunningham spoke about accomplishments of the agency over the past year, and the plan for the coming year in a video news release. Read more here.
| |
CMS Announces Establishment of the Office of Rural Health Transformation
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the establishment of the Office of Rural Health Transformation (ORHT) within the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS). Following the creation of the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program earlier this year under President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut legislation (Public Law 119-21), CMS has been carrying out this work and has now formally established ORHT within its organizational structure. The office will continue overseeing the RHT Program - a historic, $50 billion initiative to strengthen rural health systems and expand sustainable access to care nationwide. ORHT, which announced approved awardees on December 29, 2025, will guide states in implementing their rural health transformation plans, provide technical assistance, coordinate federal and state partnerships, and ensure strong oversight and accountability throughout the five-year program, which will run through September 30, 2031. Read more here.
Related: Rural Health Transformation Program State Application Summary: State-level Initiatives & Proposed Activities
First-Year Rural Health Fund Awards Range From Less Than $100 Per Rural Resident in Ten States to More Than $500 in Eight
| |
The Little-Known Program Contributing to a Decline in Overdose Deaths in the US
Overdoses have been declining nationally since the fall of 2023, and public health experts have been unable to agree as to why. The decline has been uneven across states, and West Virginia, long known as the epicenter of the opioid crisis, is also among the states that have most reduced overdose fatalities, as noted in a recent Guardian analysis. One little explored factor is the increased adoption of crisis intervention training (CIT) for law enforcement. Early research that compares jurisdictions that have CIT programs to those that do not show that this intervention is associated with a decline in overdose fatalities. Invented in the late 1980s, CIT was intended to help officers recognize mental health conditions and help those struggling access resources and treatment, rather than jailing them. In the wake of the overdose epidemic, these programs have become increasingly popular among law enforcement. Read more here.
| |
One Doctor’s Experience Shows the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine
NEW ORLEANS — Dr. Elyse Stevens had a reputation for taking on complex medical cases, including people who'd been battling addiction for decades. Some were chronic-pain patients on high doses of opioids; others were sex workers and people living on the street. Many of my patients are messy, the ones that don't know if they want to stop using drugs or not," said Stevens, a primary care and addiction medicine doctor. While other doctors avoided these patients, Stevens — who was familiar with New Orleans from her time in medical school at Tulane University — sought them out. She regularly attended 6 a.m. breakfasts for homeless people, volunteered at a homeless shelter clinic on Saturdays, and, on Monday evenings, visited an abandoned Family Dollar store where advocates distributed supplies to people who use drugs. Read more here.
Related: A Fentanyl Vaccine Is About to Get Its First Major Test
| |
As Patient Acuity Rises, Mental Health Urgent Cares Face Mounting Pressures
Urgent care models have been in the U.S. since the 1970s. The concept, however, is relatively new to the health field, where patients are often only aware of a choice between therapy or an emergency department, with few options in between to triage their care. Existing mental health urgent cares mental face an uphill climb to become relevant care options due to a lack of awareness about their existence as an alternative care path. Poor reimbursement structures and fragmented referral systems further exacerbate sustainability issues. Yet, the need for their existence within the continuum of care is only growing – especially as patient acuity rises. “We’re seeing more youth who seem to need these crisis services, and when they are coming in, they seem to have a lot of complexity,” Sean Schreiber, the chief operating officer for Alliance Health Plan, said. “On the adult side, we’re seeing, again, this issue where the acuity level is high. A larger percentage are coming to urgent care and are being recommended for high levels of care, either IOP, inpatient or bed-based services. The trend we’ve seen is this mix of kind of higher acuity and youth.” Read more here.
| | |
UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Risk Assessment for Suicide and Overdose
January 8, 12:30 - 1:30 pm, Zero Overdose/Zero Suicide
Early Intervention: Evidence-Based Pathways for Youth Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
January 13, 3 - 4 pm, AAAS
From Awareness to Action: Igniting Ideas for Addressing Social Isolation and Loneliness in Clinical Practice
January 14, 2026, 12 - 1 pm, CCSMH
From Insight to Action: Affirming Clinical Strategies for LGBTQ+ Clients with Co-Occurring Disorders
January 14, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Navigating Workforce Challenges
January 14, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
The Fundamentals of How to Conduct the Person-Centered Service Planning Process
January 14, 1:30 - 3 pm, CMS
Carry the Message Toolkit
January 15, 2 - 2:30 pm, NCSACW
Supporting Wellness Through Supervision: Workforce Wellness Series
January 15, 2 - 3 pm, SAMHSA
From Outreach to Shared Leadership: Expanding Collaborations with Young Adults with Lived Expertise
January 20, 2 - 3 pm, CIRC Center
How to Conduct a Quality Substance Use Evaluation
January 21, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
2026 Eligibility Must-Knows For Human Services
January 21, 1 - 2 pm, Netsmart
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Data, Systems, and Strategies for Change
January 21, 2 - 3 pm, NCSACW
Transitional-Aged Youth (TAY) Services
January 22, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
CFRI Integrating SUD Prevention with Physical Health Care: Progress in States Webinar
January 28, 2 - 3 pm, SAMHSA/CFRI
Centering Families in Outpatient Treatment
January 29, 2 - 2:30 pm, NCSACW
Family Education Webinar - Supporting School Mental Health in 2026: A Conversation with the SMHRTCenter's New Director
January 29, 7 - 8 pm, SMHRTCenter
Data Management: Person-Directed Approaches and Perspectives
February 4, 1 - 2:30 pm, CSH
Navigating Ethical Boundaries: Decision Making for Peer Support Specialists and Addiction Counselors
February 11, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Ensuring People’s Rights, Choice, and Control in the Person-Centered Service Planning Process
February 11, 1:30 - 3 pm, CMS
Toolkit for Trauma-Informed Care
February 12, 2 - 2:30 pm, NCSACW
Integrated Safety Planning (Suicide Safety Plans & Overdose Safety Plans)
February 19, 12:30 - 1:30 pm, Zero Overdose/Zero Suicide
Older Adults Behavioral Health Services
February 19, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Process Addictions: Maladaptive Coping Across the Ages
February 25, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Strengthening Helping Professionals: Ethics, Resilience, & Attachment-Informed Approaches
March 11, 12 - 1:30 pm, NAADAC
Means Reduction Counseling and Overdose Prevention Strategies
March 12, 12:30 - 1:30 pm, Zero Overdose/Zero Suicide
| |
CLMHD CALENDAR
JANUARY 2026
Mental Health Committee Meeting
January 8: 3 - 4 pm
LGU Clinic Operators Call
January 13: 10 - 11 am
Addiction Services & Recovery Committee Meeting
January 15: 11 am - 12 pm
Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
January 15: 1 - 2 pm
CLMHD Office Closed - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 19
Children & Families Committee Meeting
January 20: 12 - 1:30 pm
Membership Call
January 21: 9 - 10:30 am
| |
