Funding consistently sought by Council and advocates, recommended by Independent Rikers Commission’s Blueprint to Close Rikers, is finally available after years of delayed investments have led to inflated jail population and increased jail-related deaths
City Hall, NY — Today, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Members, advocates, and New Yorkers impacted by Rikers jails celebrated newly expanded mental health and safety investments secured in the City’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget and called on Mayor Adams’ administration to urgently implement them, as intended, to stem the ongoing mental health and jail crises. The FY 2026 adopted budget finally committed over $50 million in new funding, after the Council and advocates have consistently demanded additional budget investments for mental health and safety programs to fulfill city commitments towards improving mental health and advancing the legally mandated closure of Rikers over the past four years. The newly secured investments include funds to create additional units of Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) that have been delayed due to a lack of funding, expand mental health mobile treatment teams and establish step-down programs that reduce waitlists, and support other community-based mental health and recidivism reduction programming. Together, they can help address the city’s mental health crisis and reduce the overreliance on jails that has led to an inflated population, which are key to closing Rikers.
In addition to urging implementation of these new investments, the Council and advocates also called on the mayoral administration to immediately prioritize the long-delayed opening of hundreds of hospital jail beds and increase the use of the 6-A Work Release Program to safely decrease the excessively inflated jail population amidst ongoing overcrowding.
Additional investments into these solutions and their urgent implementation were recommendations in the Independent Rikers Commission’s Blueprint to Close Rikers. The demand for swift action comes as the City’s jail population remains severely inflated and jail-related deaths continue to increase. At least 42 people have died during Mayor Adams’ administration, including four deaths in the weeks since June 21. More than half of those held on Rikers have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and one in five has a serious mental health condition.
“The Council is proud to have secured over $50 million in meaningful investments into mental health care programs and essential safety solutions in this year’s city budget that our communities have long needed,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “These investments are critical to our goals of improving mental health issues in our city, safely reducing the inflated jail population, and ultimately, closing Rikers for good. For too long, the City’s failure to effectively address the mental health crisis and resistance to advancing proven solutions has allowed Rikers to become a de facto mental health facility, an injustice we must confront. The mayoral administration must take immediate action to urgently and appropriately implement these funds to expand programs, so all New Yorkers can be healthy and safe.”
The Fiscal Year 2026 Budget investments that must be implemented immediately include:
Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) Expansion – $11 million to support the expansion of teams that provide intensive and continuous mental health treatment to individuals in their communities and create new step-down programming for clients who have progressed in their recovery and require less-intensive services. Demand for these services far exceeds their capacity, creating long waitlists that prevent individuals from accessing the care they need. Currently, there are 300 individuals on IMT waitlists in the city. Speaker Adams first called for the creation of step-down programs in her 2025 State of the City Address, noting the need to clear the waitlists for mobile treatment programs and strength the continuum of care.
Assertive Community Treatment Expansion (ACT) – $4.5 million to expand specialized, mobile mental health teams that provide intensive, comprehensive support to individuals with severe mental illness and create a new step-down program. 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. By moving stabilized patients to step-down programs, ACT teams can support New Yorkers’ continued mental health improvement and stability, while opening spaces for new clients in urgent need.
Crisis Respite Centers – $2.5 million to support expanded operations of the residential crisis support centers that provide a community-based alternative to hospitalization for people experiencing a mental health crisis.
Justice Involved Supportive Housing (JISH): $4.8 million to enhance the JISH Request for Proposals (RFP) to fulfill the City’s commitment to create an additional 380 supportive housing units for individuals with justice system involvement. When the agreement to close Rikers was reached, the City pledged to create 500 units of supportive housing, but so far, only 120 have been developed. Last year, the Council succeeded in raising the reimbursement rate of the existing 120 beds, which was a necessary step to make the contracts viable for existing providers. However, the RFP for the remaining 380 units has remained dormant due to insufficient funding. This year, the Council successfully secured the baselined addition of $4.8 million to ensure the remaining 380 units can finally be created, unlocking severely needed housing for individuals with justice system involvement, who are excluded from other supportive housing programs.
Supervised Release Intensive Case Management Expansion – $9.1 million to provide intensive pre-trial case management for more people with serious mental illness and addiction issues that reduces recidivism and leads to successful outcomes.
Alternatives to Incarceration Programs – $8.9 million to fully restore programs that help reduce unnecessary incarceration and recidivism, including $7.6 million baselined.
Reentry Services – $8 million to fully restore programs that support successful re-entry and reduce recidivism, including $4.7 million baselined.
Electronic Monitoring Capacity Increase – $5 million to expand the use of electronic monitors that reduces the number of people unnecessarily held in pre-trial detention.
“Instead of receiving the care they need, too many New Yorkers struggling with mental health challenges are inappropriately funneled into the justice system, where they get stuck in harmful cycles of trauma and violence,” said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala. “As someone with a family member who experienced this vicious cycle, I know how important it is to invest in proven mental health solutions and move towards finally closing Rikers. The Council has consistently fought alongside advocates to secure greater investments in mental health care, housing, and community-based safety solutions that keep our city safe. With over $50 million in secured investments in the city budget, it’s time for Mayor Adams’ administration to act with urgency and implement these resources to address these crises.”
“As our city strives to address the intersection of mental health and the criminal justice system, we must confront the consequences of decades of disinvestment in our mental healthcare infrastructure,” said Council Member Linda Lee, Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction. “Rikers has become one of the largest providers of psychiatric care in the country, with half its population diagnosed with a mental illness. True rehabilitation requires equipping our city with the tools to deliver life-saving care, reduce recidivism, and expand supportive housing for those most in need. With so many of our city’s challenges deeply tied to mental health, it is critical that we fully implement the investments secured in FY26 to support New Yorkers in crisis.”
“If we are serious about public safety, we must move beyond the failed status quo of mass incarceration and invest in proven, community-based solutions,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera. “With the FY26 budget, the Council has made a firm and necessary investment in mental health and safety, securing funding for treatment, re-entry services, supportive housing, and alternatives to incarceration that are essential to reducing our jail population and stopping the tragic cycle of jail-related deaths. This funding will help reduce the jail population, disrupt cycles of trauma, and bring us closer to the just, humane, and accountable criminal legal system our city deserves. The Administration must act with urgency to ensure this funding reaches providers, so we can close Rikers and build a safer city for everyone.”
“Because of the organizing of survivors of Rikers and impacted families, along with our allies including the City Council, New York City is finally positioned to take steps toward ending the shameful use of Rikers Island to warehouse people with serious mental health needs. These are the kind of resources our communities have always deserved, and they are just the beginning of the reinvestment needed. As we close Rikers Island and redirect our City’s resources from criminalization to care, we stand to see more than $1.2 billion invested in healthcare, housing, economic development, and other community needs,” said Darren Mack, Co-Director of Freedom Agenda. “We also need to ensure that the resources we have are fully utilized. In the midst of an unprecedented surge in the jail population and deaths in custody since February, the administration has been unwilling to expand use of the 6A Work Release Program, despite its record of success. New York City has an experienced network of reentry providers who are ready to work with people released under 6A, and the time to use that resource is now.
“The Independent Rikers Commission is grateful to see long overdue investments in the City budget to ensure that more people can access supportive housing and mental health care instead of being consigned to incarceration on Rikers Island,” says Stanley Richards, Member of the Independent Rikers Commission and President and CEO of The Fortune Society. “At a time when the number of people on Rikers Island has climbed past 7,000, with 57% having a mental illness and 1,400 who are seriously mentally ill, we call on the Administration to implement the FY26 budget investments in these supports with a sense of urgency. We also call on the Administration to finally open the outposted therapeutic units for the hundreds of people in our jails in dire need of the kind of constant and serious medical and mental health care that simply cannot be provided outside of a hospital setting. Allowing seriously ill people to languish in our overcrowded jails while missing outside appointments for potentially life-saving care should shock the conscience of all New Yorkers. Our city can and must do better.”
“Urban Pathways has spent the past 50 years working to end homelessness through housing, support services, and advocacy for systemic change, all grounded in a housing first approach,” said Kandra Clark, Director of Policy with Urban Pathways. “As a current Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) provider, we offer justice-impacted people with comprehensive case management, life skills training, holistic health services, employment support and community engagement offerings. We are thrilled to see that the City Budget includes additional funding to expand JISH and ensures providers are compensated equitably. We look forward to not only expanding our JISH portfolio in the future, but continuing the advocacy work needed to reduce recidivism and create lasing, systemic change.”
“Treating mental illness as a crime isn’t just unjust, it’s deadly,” said Jonathan McLean, CEO, CASES. “At CASES, we operate a range of mobile treatment programs that provide intensive mental health care in the community, keeping people out of jail so they finally have a chance to heal, grow and succeed. But right now, far too many New Yorkers are stuck on waitlists for these life-saving services. This $50 million investment gives us a chance to do things differently, reducing unnecessary incarceration and creating true community safety. With urgency and leadership from City Hall, we can finally replace Rikers with real solutions.”
“Urban Youth Alliance joins the ATI community in praising the intentional 50 million dollar investment in providing necessary support to an all too often overlooked population,” said Reverend Wendy Calderón- Payne, Executive Director, Urban Youth Alliance (BronxConnect). “Treating the mental health and housing crisis on Rikers are steps in the right direction. We urge the administration to further deepen supports in FY26 and the years ahead. At UYAI Individuals that have completed our programming have less than a 10 percent chance of recidivism. That is due to meeting the needs that become barriers in their lives. There is a statistically successful structure in place through community based ATI programming. All that is needed is sufficient continual investments to maintain and expand efforts.”
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