NYC first lady touts effort to improve mental health care

New York City first lady Chirlane McCray says the city’s mental health initiatives will be bolstered by a new plan guaranteeing health care to all city residents.

Earlier this month, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that uninsured residents will now be able to receive health care, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay. McCray said those changes will improve access to mental health care for thousands of New Yorkers.

“The city now has guaranteed health care, so we can connect people to a therapist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist who takes their insurance,” McCray told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.”

“But we don’t turn anyone away, we find a match for whatever that person needs,” she added. “The person can get a follow-up call to make sure that that appointment went well or that it was the right provider for them.”

McCray’s initiative to improve the city’s mental health care offerings, known as ThriveNYC, was launched in 2015. The 54-program initiative is spread across nearly two-dozen agencies and departments. It looks to address both mental illness and substance abuse.

Since the launch, McCray estimates that half a million New Yorkers have received support through NYC Well, a hub that connects people to free, confidential crisis counseling.

In addition to offering courses on mental health, she said the initiative has also placed counselors in communities across the city, including in schools, senior centers, jails and homeless shelters.

McCray emphasized that there is still a great deal of stigma associated with mental illness among the general public, saying the crisis is not given nearly as much attention as physical health.

“If you can’t talk about a problem, you certainly can’t solve it, so what we wanted to do with Thrive is change the culture,” she said. “We wanted to make mental health services more accessible, and we are doing that.” 

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 adults — or more than 43 million people — will experience a mental illness in their lifetime.

— Tess Bonn