NAMI-NYC Metro: advocacy, support, education

NAMI-NYC Metro: A Leading Member of the New York State Campaign for Mental Health Housing

by Vuka Stricevic, M.S.S.W., J.D.
Campaign4Housing.org

When a 72-year old mother reveals that her two adult children, both of whom live with serious psychiatric disabilities, have nowhere to go and no one else to care for them, the desperation in her voice is clear.

When a married couple is unable to live together because almost all mental health housing is designed for singles, their frustration is palpable.

When a mother has survived and recovered from a psychotic breakdown and seeks reunification with her toddler, but is unable to obtain affordable housing designed for them both, her sadness resonates.

There are thousands of stories such as these - stories that could be avoided through significant improvements within the mental health housing system. The New York State Campaign for Mental Health Housing ("the Campaign") is committed to rewriting these stories into tales of New Yorkers having a safe, supportive place to call home.

More than fifty years ago, New York State began to move thousands of individuals with psychiatric disabilities from institutions into community-based settings. This translated into a dramatic downsizing of psychiatric center beds, from over 93,000 units to 4,200 units. With growing research demonstrating that individuals with psychiatric disabilities can successfully achieve recovery in the community with adequate supports, the deinstutionalization movement seemed promising. However, the promise remains unmet. Despite approximately 30,000 units of housing available to adults with psychiatric disabilities, tens of thousands of individuals living with psychiatric disabilities are still unable to access appropriate housing. With vacancy rates of less than two percent, all of the different models of mental health housing are in great demand.

People with psychiatric disabilities are often forced to wait years in expensive and inappropriate institutions, prisons, homeless shelters and other emergency settings before they gain entry into proper housing. Throughout New York, there are more than 10,000 people with mental illness who are homeless, over 12,000 people languishing in adult homes, at least 9,000 people released annually from New York's jails and prisons and an additional 1,500 young people with mental health housing needs leaving foster care each year. Moreover, there are thousands of individuals living with aging parents and hundreds more poised for discharge from inpatient settings with nowhere to go.

NAMI-NYC Metro has served as a leading supporter within the Campaign, which is committed to resolving this housing crisis by providing a focused, time-limited public education campaign to address the shortage and instability of housing for people with psychiatric disabilities. Launched in April 2006, the Campaign is comprised of a broad coalition of family members, providers, consumers, housing developers, public policy experts and concerned citizens. The Campaign will secure and expand political support for a statewide comprehensive mental health housing plan. Ideally, such a plan will be one of the early initiatives proposed by the new governor, and will include a far-reaching approach to document the need, financing and time table to create and preserve a range of housing options for everyone in need. It will also delineate new housing models for people with psychiatric disabilities, increase community participation in mental health planning processes and raise public awareness of these housing needs.

Developed in collaboration with stakeholders, consumers and local communities, such a plan will include the following measures to reform and expand New York's mental health housing system: