New York abandoned the seriously mentally ill now were starting to save them

Eight decades ago, the United States launched one of the most dramatic social changes in modern history: the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill.Before that, mental health systems in New York and elsewhere consisted solely of state-run psychiatric institutions.Regardless of your condition, all government had to offer you was confinement in an asylum.Long story short, we decided not to do that anymore, and slashed over 90% of our public psych beds since the 1950s.The result was twofold: Many people got more appropriate care and treatment through “community-based” outpatient programs.Others wound up homeless, incarcerated and involved in violence. But good news: deinstitutionalization in New York is finally over.Since taking office in August 2021, Gov.Kathy Hochul has acted to stabilize New York’s psych bed supply, adding more than 300 beds to the total.She has invested in state psychiatric institutions, boosted the Medicaid reimbursement for psych beds in general hospitals, pressured private health systems to replenish the beds they cut during COVID and loosened New York’s civil commitment standard.These actions will benefit the seriously mentally ill, their families and the broader public — while benefiting the city budget.Hochul’s predecessor Gov.

Andrew Cuomo was a bed-slasher.Cuomo shifted resources from psychiatric institutions to community programs, using the traditional argument that it would mean better care at a lower cost.However, Cuomo’s bed reductions coincided with rising numbers of “emotionally disturbed person” calls fielded by the NYPD.Spending on city mental-health shelters increased, and more seriously mentally ill individuals ended up locked in city jails.In other words, what was sold as a cost shift from institutional to community-based programs turned out to be a cost shift from state to city taxpayers.All this has improved under Hochul.Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Please pr...