-
Beyond Either/Or: Where Assisted Outpatient Treatment Fits in Mental Health Care
Debates over Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) too often ask us to choose a side. Either we respect autonomy and rely exclusively on voluntary treatment, or we accept coercion as necessary to ensure people receive care. Neither position adequately reflects the complexity of serious mental illness...
-
Still Arresting Our Way Out: Why New York Needs to Expand Its Diversion Courts
For decades, New Yorkers dealing with mental health and substance use issues have been funneled into our jails and prisons and denied the treatment they need to get better. Far too often, local correctional facilities end up serving as the default mental health provider. New York is not alone in...
-
Financial Stability: Building Practical Infrastructure for Reentry
James1 completes a 90-day residential treatment program with a job interview set up for the coming week and a probation meeting he cannot miss. He also leaves with thousands of dollars in outstanding legal financial obligations (LFOs), a suspended driver's license related to unpaid fees, and no...
-
The NYSPA Report – The Fifteen-Month Clock: Substance Use Disorder, Recovery Timelines, and the Law’s Deadline for Parents
The forensic dilemma at the intersection of substance use disorder (SUD) and family law appears at several junctures: pregnancy, child welfare, custody and divorce, juvenile justice, and education. Pregnancy is an especially telling case, a physical state that invites a future orientation toward...
-
Cannabis Legalization and Adolescent Behavioral Health: Are Current Policies Sufficiently Protecting Adolescents?
The rapid expansion of cannabis legalization across the U.S. has raised growing concerns about its impact on adolescents. Cannabis remains the most commonly used recreational drug among U.S. youth (Young-Wolff et al., 2026), and while cannabis use is not legal at the federal level, medical use has...
-
Mind the Gap: Inside New York City’s Mental Health Crisis
Nearly a million New Yorkers cannot access the mental health care they need. A broken workforce, a fraying safety net, and deep inequities are forcing the nation's largest city to reimagine how — and for whom — mental health care is delivered. The Emergency Room at Midnight The...
-
Remembering Semyon F. Gluzman, MD: A Psychiatric Hero and Role Model
Most psychiatrists whose names are recognized beyond their professional colleagues have made significant intellectual contributions to our understanding of human behavior through their explorations of psychology and its neurologic underpinnings. Semyon F. Gluzman, MD, who died earlier this year at...
-
AI/Agentic AI Behavioral Health Systems Ready for New Privacy Regulations
For years, many behavioral health leaders treated privacy rule 42 CFR Part 2 as a policy and training issue. In 2026, that is no longer enough. What has changed is the environment around the rule. Substance use disorder (SUD) records now move across EHRs, referral networks, analytics...
-
The Future of CCBHCs: From Program Expansion to System Transformation
As policymakers search for solutions to the nation's mental health and substance use crisis, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) represent one of the most promising opportunities for meaningful system change. CCBHCs were established through the Protecting Access to Medicare Act...
-
Governor Hochul Announces $21 Million to Expand Emergency Programs for Individuals Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis
Comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs provide 24/7 emergency services, extended observation, and crisis outreach. Funding to establish new programs at hospitals in New York City, the Hudson Valley, and northern New York regions; help improve four others. On August 10, 2026, Governor...
