The agencies that deal with mental health and substance use disorders are facing rising costs. They are also reporting a statewide job vacancy rate of between 20%-30% with a turnover rate of 35%.
To help make these jobs more competitive, advocates are asking the Legislature for a 2.7% increase in the money these services receive in the state budget — that’s a 1% increase over the money Gov. Kathy Hochul included in her executive budget.
“There have been all these innovative programs that have been created, and they’re great, but the reality is, there’s not enough money to hire people to run these programs,” Glenn Liebman, the CEO of the Mental Health Association of New York, told Capital Tonight.
Earlier this week, 11 statewide agencies rallied at the state Capitol for more funding, saying the fundamentals of the mental health and substance use disorder system are broken.
The 1% increase is equal to about $100 million.
BY Susan Arbetter New York State