New York State Must Intervene in the Behavioral Health Crisis

• By: Lauri Cole, MSW NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
• April 1st, 2026
• behavioral health policy, managed care, MCO accountability, Medicaid reform, mental health access, New York State, substance use disorder, workforce crisis
• 439    0

New York State is in the middle of a behavioral health crisis. Suicide rates are up over 40% in the last 20 years. Overdose rates are almost four times higher than they were in 2010. During this crisis, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) paid by the State are taking hundreds of millions of...

Caring for Older Adults

• By: Michael B. Friedman, LMSW Lisa Furst, LMSW, MPH Kimberly Williams, LMSW
• April 1st, 2019
• aging well, behavioral health policy, caregiver support, dementia, mental health, older adults, social isolation, substance use disorders
• 1744    0

We are now eight years into the “elder boom.” Sadly, the implications of this vast demographic shift are still not taken seriously. Yes, there is anxiety about sustaining Social Security and Medicare. And yes, there’s increasing talk about “healthy aging.” But even with these most obvious...

The NYSPA Report: Taking Stock and Taking Leave

• By: Barry B. Perlman, MD NY State Psychiatric Association (NYSPA)
• April 1st, 2017
• access to care, behavioral health policy, healthcare reform, Medicaid and Medicare, mental health advocacy, mental health parity, serious mental illness, substance use disorders
• 1589    0

Advocacy must be unending, ongoing work because there is always more to accomplish and always the danger that hard-won gains may be undone. For the past 14 years I have either written or edited the work of guest columnists for the quarterly NYSPA Report in Behavioral Health News (BHN) or in Mental...