City Hall, NY – During the City Council’s Executive Budget hearing by its Committee on Health, Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction, and Committee on Finance, the Council identified outstanding funding gaps in the Mayor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Executive Budget for physical and mental health services provided by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to New Yorkers.

The FY 2026 Executive Budget includes $2.31 billion for DOHMH, up $179.7 million from the FY 2026 Preliminary Budget and up $80.9 million from the FY 2025 adopted budget.

DOHMH’s Mental Hygiene budget in the FY 2026 Executive Budget is $774.9 million, $61.2 million more than in the Preliminary Budget and $22.3 million less than in the FY 2025 adopted budget. The adjusted funding includes $47.3 million in City funding to replace expiring funds from the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) for mobile treatment teams and $4 million for Mental Health Clubhouses that were saved with Council funding in the FY 2025 adopted budget. The Executive Budget also includes $4.8 million for Trauma Recover Centers and $3 million for the Syringe Redemption Pilot Program, both of which were included in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response. However, the Council’s Response identified several additional funding needs to support New Yorkers’ mental health that were not addressed in the Executive Budget, including Justice-Involved Supportive Housing, the Intensive Mobile Treatment Step-Down Program, and the NYC 988 funding restoration.

DOHMH’s Public Health budget in the FY 2026 Executive Budget is nearly $1.42 billion, which is $117.5 million more than in the Preliminary Budget and $87 million more than in the FY 2025 adopted budget. New spending includes an additional $68.5 million for school-based contract nurses and $10 million for the Groceries to Go program that helps New Yorkers pay for groceries. However, the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response identified several DOHMH Public Health funding needs that were omitted from the Mayor’s Executive Budget, including $48.2 million for school-based health centers, increased maternal health services, and other programs.

The following programs, outlined in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response, were omitted or underfunded the Mayor’s FY 2026 Executive Budget:

Mental Hygiene

Justice-Involved Supportive Housing

The Council called on the Administration to allocate an additional $26.6 million to enhance Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) to fulfill the City’s previous commitment to provide 500 supportive housing units for individuals leaving Rikers. JISH can reduce recidivism by providing stability and successful reentry for those transitioning from incarceration and at risk of homelessness, preventing their entry into homeless shelters. This funding would increase service funding rates for new and existing supportive housing units to adequately fund the existing 120 units and bring the additional 380 units that the City has been unable to find providers for due to insufficient funding for the program. JISH is currently the only designated supportive housing program in the City for people exiting Rikers. It is estimated that the need for JISH exceeds 2,500 units, but the current funding gap has undermined the program’s ability to help reduce recidivism and facilitate successful reentry in violation of the Close Rikers points of agreement. The recently enacted state budget included up to $30 million in capital funding for JISH, resulting from the funding agreement for the Council’s City for All housing plan, but it is not yet clear how these capital funds will be employed.

Supervised Release Intensive Case Management Pilot Expansion

Studies have shown that a relatively small core group of people commit a disproportionate number of lower-level crimes in New York City. People in this group often suffer from drug addiction, have experienced abuse or serious mental illness, and often do not receive the interventions necessary to avoid recidivism. The City has initiated a Pre-Trial Supervised Release Intensive Case Management (ICM) pilot program that provides intensive case management and connection to services, therapy, and treatment for people with serious mental illness and addiction issues who were arrested and released pre-trial. The existing pilot includes funding for two Supervised Release ICM pilots. The initial results of the pilot show positive results for people unresponsive to traditional supervised release programs, connecting more people with serious mental illness and addiction issues to services that ensure they appear in court and avoid re-offending. To build on this success, the Council has called on the Administration to expand this program to all five boroughs with an additional $46 million.

Intensive Mobile Treatment Step-Down Program

Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) programs provide essential, high-intensity treatment and wraparound support services for individuals with severe mental health challenges, substance use disorders, frequent contact with the criminal justice system, and experiences with homelessness. Currently, there are 1,300 people on wait lists for the City’s IMT programs. To appropriately address the wait lists and strengthen the continuum of care, the Council has called on the Administration to allocate $30 million in the FY 2026 budget for the creation of a pilot step-down program for clients who have progressed in their recovery and require less-intensive services and IMT teams. By moving stabilized patients to step-down programs, their continued mental health improvement and stability can be supported, while freeing up existing IMT space for new clients in urgent need. This increased community-based care ultimately improves mental health outcomes, reducing hospitalizations and justice system involvement, for those in need of mental healthcare.

Syringe Services Expansion

Syringe Services programs are a crucial element in reducing potential harms to people who use syringes. The programs typically offer clean needles, test strips, access to addiction treatment medication, and other social services. Providing sterile syringes and other safe supplies significantly reduces the chances of contracting a disease. Access to sterile syringes has helped reduce the number of new HIV cases among injection drug users by 95 percent in the last 20 years. Through legal settlements with opioid manufacturers, as of the end of FY 2024, the City had secured $154.3 million from the Opioid Settlement Fund. Currently the City plans to dispense $41 million of the funds in FY 2025, $48 million in FY 2026, and $50 million in FY 2027. These funds will primarily be allocated to programs that connect drug users to treatment through public health emergency rooms and inpatient units in the City. The Council has urged the Administration to allocate an additional $9 million to support the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention Care and Treatment’s Harm Reduction Unit and increased access to sterile syringes. The Executive Budget included $3 million for eight syringe redemption sites across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens, as mandated by Local Law 124 of 2022.

NYC 988 Funding Restoration

The NYC 988 or NYC Well program connects individuals to confidential mental health support and substance abuse services. The 988 hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and in 200 languages. In the November 2023 Financial Plan, the program was reduced by $12.1 million starting in FY 2026. The Preliminary Budget included $24.2 million baselined starting in FY 2026 for NYC 988. Recently, more people have come to rely on 988 instead of dialing 911 for mental health responses. To sustain staffing so that NYC 988 wait times do not increase, the Council has called on the Administration to include $10 million in FY 2026 to partially restore NYC 988’s budget.

Re-entry Restoration

Re-entry services provide vital resources and assistance to individuals who are returning home post-incarceration. The City works with providers to offer employment opportunities and job training, as well as holistic services such as mental, behavioral, and physical health care, substance abuse treatment, case management, and legal services for formerly incarcerated individuals. These programs can better serve individuals in their own neighborhoods, where community-based services can help to ensure their success in securing employment, achieving stability, and as a result, lower recidivism. Approximately 70 percent of people detained at Rikers who are released return to the City, rather than move into State custody. Reentry providers have found that individuals who receive re-entry services are 70 percent less likely to experience homelessness, and they saw a 50 percent reduction in psychiatric hospitalizations post-incarceration. One study found that two years after completion of court monitoring, 94 percent had no new felony convictions and 100 percent had no new violent felony convictions. The Administration has cut funding from these programs in recent financial plans. The Council calls on the Administration to reverse cuts made to re-entry programs by restoring and baselining $8 million starting in FY 2026.

Assertive Community Treatment Step-Down Program

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs provide essential team-based, high-intensity treatment and wraparound support services for individuals with severe mental health challenges, substance use disorders, frequent contact with the criminal justice system, and experience with homelessness. ACT teams are critical to ensuring that individuals with complex needs receive comprehensive, community-based care. Currently, there are 1,000 individuals on waitlists to be enrolled in ACT programs. The Council has called for the allocation of $7 million in FY 2026 for ACT programs and the creation of a step-down program for their clients who have progressed in recovery and require less-intensive services. By moving stabilized patients to step-down programs, their continued mental health improvement and stability can be supported, while opening ACT spaces for new clients in urgent need. This increased community-based care ultimately improves mental health outcomes, reducing hospitalizations and justice system involvement, for those in need of mental healthcare.

Crisis Respite Centers

Local Law 118 of 2023 called for the establishment of four new Crisis Respite Centers to provide individuals experiencing mental crisis with increased access to community-based, peer run facilities that serve as alternatives to hospitalization. Yet, despite the passage of the law, these centers have still not been opened. The Council has called on the Administration to open the respite centers and provide baselined $6 million to support the operations of the centers.

Peer Specialists Staffing

A mental health peer specialist is a provider with their own experiences of mental health struggles and is trained to support others facing similar issues. Peer specialists are particularly valuable in mental health care, because their lived experience gives them a nuanced understanding of how to effectively provide care for people with mental health issues. The Council has proposed the Administration allocate $4.5 million in FY 2026 to hire 60 fairly compensated peer specialists to staff the City’s multi-agency mental health and crisis response teams.

Public Health

School Based Health Centers

School Based Health Centers (SBHC) work to ensure that the City’s most vulnerable children in our schools access primary medical and mental health care. SBHCs provide a full-time licensed clinical medical provider and mental and behavioral health services to students, while many provide dental and vision care. The Preliminary Budget included $7.6 million in baselined City funds to support 35 of the 134 SBHCs currently operating in New York City public schools. The additional 99 SBHCs do not receive any City funding but are sponsored by non-profit health organizations and receive some reimbursement through Medicaid and other forms of insurance. Over the past year, five SBHCs closed because the sponsoring agencies could no longer afford to keep them open. SBHCs are a cost-effective, essential approach to providing comprehensive medical and mental health services to children in some of the City’s most underserved schools. The Council has urged the Administration to provide an additional $18 million in FY 2026, bringing the City funding total to $25.5 million for school-based health centers. These additional funds would provide financial stability for the 99 currently unfunded SBHCs to sustain vital healthcare services for students across 450 schools. Without this support, these students risk losing critical access to care.

Maternal Health and Nurse Family Partnership Expansion

Maternal Health remains a critical public health issue, with stark disparities disproportionately affecting Black women and other birthing people of color. In New York City, between 50 and 60 women and birthing people lose their life during pregnancy or within one year from the end of pregnancy. Black New Yorkers are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes compared to white New Yorkers.

The Council has prioritized addressing these longstanding racial inequities, passing over a dozen bills, initiating the City’s first municipally funded guaranteed basic income program, and establishing a Maternal Health Steering Committee. In its Preliminary Budget response, the Council has urged the Administration to increase the baseline funding for the City’s Maternal Health program by $15.7 million in FY 2026. This will restore the $13.3 million in maternal health-related reductions that were part of previous PEGs and provide an additional $2.4 million to expand education outreach and services to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce disparities, ensuring access to resources and support for at-risk communities.

Additionally, the Nurse Family Partnership connects expecting parents with a personal nurse to provide support and ensure both a healthy pregnancy and a healthy infant. The Partnership nurse offers support to expecting parents, providing education on what to expect during pregnancy, how to care for a baby, infant development, as well as connecting parents with resources to health insurance and childcare. The Council has proposed that the Administration enhance the Nurse Family Partnership by providing an additional $12 million baselined starting in FY 2026 to expand their services.

Trap, Neuter, and Release for Stray Animals Citywide Initiative

One of the major contributors to the overcrowding at the Animal Care Centers of New York (ACC) is the proliferation of homeless and stray animals that are brought to shelters. One of the most effective measures to humanely reduce the stray cat and dog population is through Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) programs. TNR programs provide neutering of stray animals who are then placed in foster homes or back on the streets. However, this procedure is often too cost prohibitive for non-profit animal rescue organizations to provide at a rate that could significantly reduce the homeless animal population. The Council has called on the Administration to allocate $1.5 million in FY 2026 for a citywide initiative to provide resources, support, and assistance for the TNR effort in partnership with non-profit, community-based animal rescue organizations. These funds could provide spay and neuter surgeries for over 8,000 animals annually.

Glucometer Distribution Pilot

Many New Yorkers have issues accessing vital diabetes management products, such as glucometers, due to their cost. The cost of a glucometer varies between $1,500 and $4,000 annually and requires numerous test strips in addition to the meter, which can become expensive. The Council has called on the Administration to include $1 million in FY 2026 for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create a pilot glucose meter program where DOHMH identifies neighborhoods with the highest rate of diabetes and provides free glucose meters to underserved community members to assist with reversing their diabetes. This funding could provide between 250 and 670 glucose monitors.

Council-Funded Initiatives for Public Health

The Council’s funding initiatives address gaps in health services that offer vital programs and support New Yorkers across the city. The approximately $24.7 million for various citywide heath programs supports initiatives like the Abortion Access Fund and Maternal and Child Health Services, which support women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy to improve maternal and child health outcomes and reduce infant mortality rates. It is critical that this funding, left out of the Mayor’s Executive Budget, is included in the final budget through a continued full commitment towards Council discretionary funding.     

“Resources like the 988 Crisis Lifeline, clubhouses, and mobile treatment teams are vital to our city’s mental health continuum of care,” said Council Member Linda Lee, Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction. “With growing fiscal uncertainty at the Federal level, the City must do everything possible to keep these critical programs fully funded, accessible to New Yorkers in need, and supported by a robust workforce. Mental health is intrinsically tied to issues such as homelessness, public safety, and quality of life. That’s why we must continue investing in these services to ensure that we are strengthening our mental health infrastructure in this year’s budget.”

“As Chair of the Council’s Committee on Health, I am committed to ensuring that New York City remains a national leader in public health,” said Council Member Lynn Schulman, Chair of the Committee on Health. “While the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene includes critical investments—such as expanded funding for school-based nurses and food access programs— a deep concern remains about looming federal cuts to infectious disease and vaccination programs. The Council will continue to fight for a budget that protects and strengthens the health infrastructure our communities rely on, particularly in areas like HIV/AIDS services, maternal health, and chronic disease prevention.”

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