Governor Kathy Hochul on May 16th, announced progress in the ongoing efforts to assist individuals experiencing chronic homelessness on the streets and in the subways of New York City into stable housing. The Safe Options Support initiative has successfully helped more than 450 of these New Yorkers – many of them living with mental illness – into permanent or specialized housing designed to help stabilize their lives. This initiative is continuing to expand and is aimed at helping hundreds of others into stable housing in the coming months.

“My administration and I have been working to transform mental health care and that starts with addressing the link between homelessness and behavioral health challenges not only in New York City, but statewide,” Governor Hochul said. “I am committed to advancing and expanding these efforts throughout New York State to provide individuals with the opportunity to have support systems to live more fulfilling lives.”

The 14 Safe Options Support or ‘SOS’ teams in New York City have now successfully assisted more than 450 individuals experiencing long-term homelessness – including many also living with mental illness – into safe, stable housing. This progress has been made based on a $28 million State investment to date in New York City-based SOS teams, which includes $21 million for the current fiscal year.

These teams are continuing to advance their work across New York City and statewide, with the overarching goal of providing support and assistance to any New Yorker living unhoused with behavioral health needs. Administered by the Office of Mental Health, the Safe Options Support program provides services to and rehouses individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, including many living with serious mental illness. Since April 2022, these teams have had roughly 27,000 outreach encounters. They have also been able to connect nearly 300 individuals with emergency medical, psychiatric or substance use disorder care.

Efforts to expand the program to other communities outside of New York City have been successful, with seven teams now canvassing communities with significant population of individuals experiencing long-term homelessness in the Finger Lakes, Capital Region, Southern Tier, Hudson Valley, Erie County, Westchester County and Long Island. Additionally, efforts are underway to add an additional team in New York City specialized to assist older adults, many of whom are living with unmanaged chronic disease and limited access to healthcare. The Office of Mental Health also recently announced an effort to invest $102 million to broaden wraparound care for individuals with serious mental illness, including adding 26 Critical Time Intervention or ‘CTI’ teams, and two more SOS teams focused on assisting young adults experiencing homelessness.

New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, “Using effective outreach techniques to build trust and relationships, Safe Options Support teams are identifying individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and connecting them with the critical services and assistance they need to obtain permanent and stable housing. I applaud Governor Hochul for this innovative model which is bringing life-changing mental health supports to New Yorkers most in need.

Governor Hochul’s $1 billion mental health agenda recognizes the links between chronic homelessness, substance use disorder and mental health challenges. In addition to creating thousands of housing units, the plan includes $50 million to help community-based hospitals expand capacity; increased funding for in-school youth mental health programs; a significant expansion of outpatient programming, and increased insurance coverage for mental health services and substance use disorder treatment.

Governor Hochul’s plan to strengthen mental health care statewide has also helped increase the number of inpatient psychiatric beds, including bringing online nearly 500 beds at community-based hospitals that were previously closed around the COVID-19 pandemic. The state has also established 150 beds at state-operated psychiatric facilities in the last year and will add an additional 200 beds under the FY 2025 Enacted Budget, including 75 Transition to Home Unit beds, providing inpatient services to those with recurring criminal justice involvement, and a history of chronic homelessness.