New York (WRGB) — Gov. Hochul has received a national award recognizing her administration’s efforts to expand access to mental health care across New York State, including what her office described as roughly $2 billion in investments to strengthen the state’s continuum of care.
Mental Health America presented Hochul with its 2026 Governor’s Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in mental health policy, citing “significant and sustained investments” that have strengthened mental health systems statewide.
Gov. Hochul said,
Our ongoing investments into expanding access to care is providing renewed hope for New Yorkers who experience mental health issues. With roughly $2 billion prioritized for this purpose, we have built up a system that is both responsive to the needs across our state and providing an example for others to follow nationally.
The award was announced virtually during Mental Health America’s Regional Policy Council meeting earlier this month. Glenn Liebman, chief executive officer of the Mental Health Association in New York State, presented Hochul with the award.
Hochul’s administration pointed to a $1 billion initiative launched in 2023 to strengthen New York’s mental health care system, followed by additional investments in subsequent budgets. The state has expanded inpatient capacity, broadened outpatient programs and created thousands of new units of specialized housing, among other steps aimed at improving access to services, including for individuals and families from previously underserved populations.
Hochul also has focused on youth mental health, including legislative initiatives addressing social media and smartphone use in schools. Signed into law last year, the Safe for Kids Act requires social media companies to restrict addictive feeds on their platforms for users under 18. Hochul also has advanced efforts to eliminate the use of smartphones by students in K-12 public schools.
In September, Mental Health America ranked New York first nationally in its report, “The State of Mental Health in America,” based on 17 indicators measuring the prevalence of mental illness and access to care. The measures cited as having the largest effect on New York’s overall ranking were the state’s percentage of youth with serious thoughts of suicide, youth with a major depressive episode in the past year, and uninsured adults living with mental illness. New York also ranked first in the report’s adult rankings, which include eight measures focused on adults 18 and older.
New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said the state is beginning to see the impact of those investments. “Since taking office, Governor Hochul has made unprecedented investments into our state’s continuum of care. We are now seeing many of these funded programs and initiatives come to fruition, and the positive impact these investments are having on individuals and families across our state,” Sullivan said. “This national recognition reflects both the Governor’s leadership and her unwavering commitment to strengthening our mental health care system.”
Hochul’s FY 2027 Executive Budget includes several mental health proposals, including $17.5 million to ensure all 10th graders have access to Teen Mental Health First Aid training, with the goal of reaching 180,000 high school students annually.
The budget also includes $500,000 to establish two additional Youth Safe Spaces, described as peer-led, non-clinical programs that serve young people in community-based settings and connect them with resources. The executive budget also proposes creating a “Schools of Distinction in Supporting Strong Mental Health” to reward schools for mental health support and substance abuse reduction.
Other proposals include a $71 million increase to supportive housing rates to help maintain capacity statewide, including higher stipends for scattered-site units and increased rates for single room occupancy units.
The executive budget also includes $1.8 million to train 988 crisis counselors to better understand challenges facing young people in the LGBTQIA+ community, intended to help replace the specialized “press 3” option that was eliminated by the federal government last summer. The proposal also would establish a new legal hotline and website for the LGBTQIA+ community with information about legal resources, housing and health care.
The budget further proposes expanding the Office of Mental Health’s Indigenous Mental Wellbeing pilot program by adding transitional support workers and peer advocates to all Tribal Nations and Indigenous-serving school districts that have a government-to-government relationship. It also calls for an Indigenous School Mental Health Workforce Center to support SUNY students pursuing careers in school-based mental health.
Hochul’s budget also proposes creating a joint licensure for providers offering both mental health and addiction services, aligning programs licensed by the Office of Mental Health and the Office of Substance Abuse Services and Supports.
MHANYS CEO Glenn Liebman said,
MHANYS is proud to stand alongside Mental Health America in honoring Governor Hochul for her extraordinary leadership and commitment to mental health that is leading the way not only for New York State but as a model for other states. Governor Hochul has overseen an extraordinary investment in community-based mental health services including school-based mental health clinics, youth safe spaces, mental health literacy including youth and teen Mental Health First Aid, and the enactment of precedent-setting laws requiring insurers and health plans to provide timely appointments, restricting cell phones in schools, and new stringent safety measures to protect youth online and from addictive social media platforms and AI chatbots.
Mental Health America Interim President and CEO Dr. Pierluigi Mancini said,
Mental Health America is honored to present this award to Governor Hochul, for her outstanding leadership in expanding access to lifesaving mental health services and support in New York. Through significant and sustained investments, Governor Hochul has strengthened mental health systems across the continuum of care, meeting people where they are and addressing the needs of communities across the state.