New York City Mayor Eric Adams' new plan for aiding the mentally ill is facing backlash for its effectiveness.

Adams' plan allows police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other trained professionals to involuntarily hospitalize anyone deemed to be severely mentally ill. The new plan is aimed specifically at homeless people dealing with severe mental illness.

But, experts view the plan as shortsighted, and not as a more permanent solution.

Billye Jones is a licensed clinical social worker and an adjunct professor at New York University's Silver School of Social Work.

She said she feels the plan doesn't necessarily address long-term benefits of in-patient care, and adds that it also overlooks the issue of homelessness.

"Fundamentally, not having a home is destabilizing and it can diminish anyone's mental health and overall sense of safety," said Jones. "I don't really think that's being addressed in the plan."

Jones said there needs to be a long-term commitment to mental health systems, dealing with homelessness and stabilizing people long-term.

She said the plan would be better if it addressed the intersections of homelessness and mental illness.

For the plan to be salvaged, Jones said she feels a multi-year plan with city agencies involved with mental health and housing need to have a voice at the table.

Some experts are glad the conversation about this issue is being brought to the forefront of the city's consciousness.

Michael Capiello is former president of the National Association of Social Workers' New York chapter. He said there should be some different ways of starting a plan, and wants to see an assessment done of people this plan will involve.

"I do not think we have a clear assessment of the population who are, what is referred to as treatment refractory," said Capiello, "who are not the types of people who engage in traditional mental-health services."

He said he thinks the city should also consider the difficulty of engaging this sector of the population.

The assessment should examine how people got to this point. He questions if these are people who have long-standing disabilities, or would have been identified by New York State's offices of Disabilities or Mental Health.

In the end, Capiello said he wants to understand where the disconnect began.

The hope for this plan is to quell the recent rash of violent attacks plaguing New York City's mass transit system.

Kendall Atterbury is a social worker and an adjunct professor at NYU's Silver School of Social Work who said she feels the Adams administration is not asking the right questions to help severely mentally ill people.

She adds there are solutions to solve the problem of homelessness, but not exactly an ideal one.

"There is no ideal solution," said Atterbury. "We have a little bit of a Gordian knot here and there is no Alexander's sword; none of us has that. So, I think that's important to just sit with. There are a lot of things I would do differently. The first step is address homelessness through housing stock. If you want to end homelessness, you figure out a way for people to have homes."

She noted that housing isn't just a solution to homelessness but is a priority to begin the work of helping someone with their mental illness.

Atterbury said she thinks this could be a city policy, in spite of the costs.

Since the moral obligation has been up front with this plan, she said she wonders where it rests, at the beginning of the process, the end, or when it's convenient.

As the school year begins, experts are advising schools on how to preserve students' mental health but politics in states such as Wyoming limit policies that could help.

The youth suicide rate in Wyoming is increasing and has led the national rate for at least the past decade, according to Wyoming Department of Health data. Experts said K-12 schools can be good points of contact for student mental health but there are barriers for schools.

Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, is on the state's Mental Health Task Force and said suicide prevention and mental health treatment can be challenging in rural areas.

"Just due to our lack of population and the rural nature, it's really tough to recruit and find individuals in this space to come in and work with the kids in many of our areas," Zwonitzer pointed out.

He and other members of the state Legislature tried to change it this year with House Bill 119, which would have made funding available for school districts to supply additional mental health providers for students. In a break from typical practice for interim session bills, it was voted down for introduction to the House.

Gov. Mark Gordon has prioritized the expansion of mental health services while in office. But Zwonitzer pointed out there is a lot of ideological diversity across the state.

"There's just a large segment of Wyoming, at least in their legislative representatives, don't believe that we need to be spending more money for the schools to deal with mental health challenges; that should be in the churches or nonprofits or within the family," Zwonitzer explained.

Zwonitzer and experts agreed schools are a critical place to identify student mental health problems or patterns.

A school checklist from the mental health advocacy organization Inseparable includes age-appropriate mental health education for students, engagement with families and community partners and a recommended professional ratio of one social worker and one counselor for every 250 students.

Caitlin Hochul, vice president of public policy for Inseparable, said schools provide the best opportunity to reach students in need of help.

"When we talk about access issues, we know that most kids are not receiving the care that they need. Schools are such a critical component to improving youth mental health because that is where students spend most of their time."

Columbia County, New York, is developing a new center to help people with mental illness and substance use disorder.

The Wellness Hub stems from a county study showing the best ways to fill gaps in care for people. It will provide emergency housing for people with mental health and substance use disorders.

Cheryl Roberts, executive director of the Greenburger Center for Social and Criminal Justice, said not many places offer services for populations in need.

"A lot of the emergency housing is nothing more than motels that are often located far from services," Roberts pointed out. "No food in the area, no other services, and that's the case in Columbia County. There's one hotel that provides services, but most do not."

The hub will have a ground flood-safe haven shelter with 25 single-room occupancy units. The hub will also have 35 units of permanent supportive housing and up to 14 120-day supportive housing units staffed with clinicians. Additional funding would be spent on a welcome center with space for peer-support services, a commercial kitchen to train people in culinary arts and other amenities for homeless people in the area not staying at the hub.

Early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The hub has become more necessary since the pandemic exacerbated mental health issues and homelessness. Roberts notes the Wellness Hub will work hand-in-hand with the county's mental health court. She said the 35 units of permanent housing can provide added resources for people in the criminal justice system.

"Half of it will be set aside for people with serious mental illness," Roberts outlined. "A quarter of it will be for people who are justice-involved, so coming out of incarceration or may be in the midst of the justice process where they might be taking a plea in the treatment court and being required to follow a treatment protocol."

One of the biggest challenges for maintaining the Wellness Hub is the ongoing shortage of mental health professionals. Reports show the number of New Yorkers with a mental illness has grown since the pandemic. The Health Resources and Services Administration found there are 192 designated mental health professional shortage areas, leaving more than 3.5 million people without access to mental health services.


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Transitioning back to school can bring as much stress as excitement for many students and a new checklist created by the group Inseparable aims to help parents and educators ensure children are getting the mental health care they need.

Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City, said it is important for services to be available where children spend the biggest part of their day.

"They are more likely to participate in a mental health assessment or intervention at school than they are outside of school," Jenet pointed out.

Half of students between the ages of 12 and 17 experiencing depression are not getting treatment, due to stigma, cost, transportation and other barriers. The checklist includes training teachers and staff in mental health, substance use and suicide prevention; the ratio of on-site mental health professionals to students; regular mental wellness check-ins; teaching kids relationship and other life skills, and mental health literacy.

Colorado lawmakers recently passed House Bill 1406, which creates a new School-Based Mental Health Support Program expected to serve up to 400 public schools by the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Matt Holtman, children and youth intergovernmental liaison for the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, said the program will emphasize supporting rural schools and other areas where students do not have equitable access to mental health care.

"That includes classroom-based mental health wellness and resiliency, a cognitive behavioral and mindfulness skill building training," Holtman outlined. "Also resources and training for the schools to manage suicide risk and coordinate care."

Jenet pointed to Colorado's I Matter program as another option for parents and educators. After filling out a short online survey, students can access free therapy sessions. Because children are more willing to open up to people who understand their situation, she added it is important for schools to recruit mental health professionals reflecting the state's diverse residents.

"I had an African American mom who reached out to me in crisis," Jenet recounted. "I suggested she try the I Matter program, and she was able to get therapy that evening for her child from an African American therapist. And that meant a lot to their family."


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