“Though society is scared and grieving, we cannot allow the knee jerk reaction to the devastating mass shooting in Uvalde to ignore the systemic, policy, and evidence-based realities and root causes of gun violence.”
The reality is that many older adults have already survived trauma—and those experiences carry so much wisdom, perspective, and resilience to share as a result. Investments to increase access to mental health support for seniors would go a long way.
“Deeply affordable housing with supportive services for this population has a proven track record of success and hits all the Adams administration’s goals of efficiency, smart government, addressing problems at their root, and getting things done.”
“We have all been on our path to accepting COVID-19 as a part of our lives, but let’s not forget that the stakes are higher for some.”
“More than half of Rikers inmates are affected by mental illness and almost 17 percent have a serious mental health diagnosis. Yet throughout New York State, there are 30 mental health courts, which can only serve 140 participants under the current system.”
“We must reject policies that single out, scapegoat, and sweep away the rights of our neighbors with mental illness.”
Service providers have urged the city to hire more workers to help move people more quickly out of shelter or public spaces and into permanent housing.
“The failure that we’re experiencing is the result of decades of disinvestment of mental health services,” Manhattan Councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, said during an appearance on WBAI’s City Watch this week.
Youth and advocates are optimistic, saying Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget takes important steps to expand resources, but that more needs to be done to make up for years of ‘chronic underfunding’ across the system.
“Access means a lot of different things, and language access is a huge part of it,” Councilmember Linda Lee, who now chairs the committee on mental health, told WBAI’s City Watch.
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