Behavioral health workers said Wednesday lawmakers must significantly increase their pay in the budget to address a rise in severe mental health issues as state leaders debate Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to expand the criteria for coercive treatment when a person's condition could result in serious harm.
Advocates are pushing for a 7.8% increase for nonprofit behavior and human service workers based on inflation, and argue the governor's plan to broaden the involuntary commitment statute with an inadequate pay raise would make the state's mental health crisis worse.
"Because you won't have the services and the treatment necessary to care for the individuals who need mental health support," said Bill Gettman, CEO of Northern Rivers Family Services.
Budget negotiations continue to crawl along amid the controversial debate, and others like discovery reform and a potential mask ban — further delaying the late spending plan.
Gettman is one of several people who has rallied outside the legislative chambers every day, chanting "We can't wait for 7.8."
He said the need for mental health support for children and families is greater than ever, with hundreds of people on waitlists for clinics and home-based services.
"[A raise of] 7.8% allows us to give back to our workers who make, quite frankly, less than $20 an hour, which is $38,000 a year," Gettman said.
Lawmakers are growing frustrated without budget language from the Second Floor, and said the lack of specifics is making negotiations more difficult.
"We are still caught up in discovery and some of the other policy issues that have been injected into the budget," Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi told reporters Wednesday. "There has been no discussion of money so far is my understanding."
Many Democrats have opposed Hochul's proposal to clarify the information clinicians should consider, including a person's inability to provide essential needs like food, clothing, medical care, safety or shelter when deciding they need court-ordered care. Several local officials have come out in favor of the plan.
Lawmakers agree with staff that changing the policy without the proper pay increase for workers would have a counter effect.
"You're not going to keep people forever, and we don't have eough beds to do it anyway," Assembly Mental Health Committee chair Jo Anne Simon told Spectrum News 1. "I mean, people who are looking for beds who need treatment who are not opposed to receiving treatment can't get beds."
Simon said clinicians and untrained emergency personnel will misinterpret the law, and wants the state to focus on more housing for people with severe mental health issues.
For months, lawmakers against the plan have cited data that show expanding involuntary commitment is not the most effective intervention tool and will not ease the rise in severe mental health conditions.
"That's clearly not going to be successful because it's not successful already," Simon said. "...You can pass any law you want, but if you're not paying people enough to keep people or attract people to the field, you've got nothing. So we don't want that to happen, either. It's a real issue."
The Senate and Assembly budgeted for a 7.8% cost of living increase for mental health and human services workers in — up from the governor's slated increase of 2.1% — arguing staff must be paid more to give people the services they need.
Senate Mental Health Committee chair Samra Brouk is leading the fight for over $20 million in the budget to implement Daniel's Law statewide and require a crisis team to respond to emergency calls involving a mental health or substance abuse issue.
"Most of us have been touched by mental illness in some shape or form," Brouk said. "We understand that simply removing someone's civil rights or coercing them into treatment should always be the last resort."
The senator has repeatedly expressed concern that involuntary commitment disproportionately impacts people of color, and expanding the statute would exacerbate the disparity for vulnerable communities.
Hochul's top aides have said the governor is standing her ground to pass her top budget priorities she announced at the beginning of the year.
“In January, Gov. Hochul proposed a bold agenda to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets and keep our streets and subways safer," Hochul's Press Secretary Avi Small said in a statement. "The governor is committed to achieving those key priorities as the latest round of budget negotiations continue with our partners in the Legislature."
The Legislature supports Hochul's proposal to spend $10 million for seven new clubhouses for people with serious mental health issues, $4 million to create a hospital-based "peer bridger" program and expand Intensive and Sustained Engagement, or INSET, teams.