Wednesday
New York has increased spending for mental health services more than 20% from last year. Cortland County has added $100,000 to pay for school-based mental health programs.
It’s not enough, said Lisa Hoeschele, the CEO of Family and Children’s Counseling Services based in Cortland. Costs for mental-health providers rose, too, and demand is up 300% since 2019.
And then there’s inflation up 13.3% since January 2020, reports the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state budget adopted in April allocates $4.7 billion in operating funds to the state Office of Mental Health, an increase of almost $800 million.
Hoeschele said she thinks that Gov. Kathy Hochul has done more for mental health issues than Andrew Cuomo, but that even with the increases in the budget for mental health, it's not enough.
Hoeschele said Cortland County could have done more to alleviate some of the burden that the COVID-19 pandemic had on health-care providers.
“They could’ve given me money from the COVID funds,” Hoeschele said, instead of using them for capital projects like the Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex in Cortlandville and projects with the Center for the Arts of Homer. “How is that helping our people who were impacted by COVID?”
County legislators, school officials and health-care providers discussed at a meeting last week applying for a $3 million, three-year grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
