Establishing 10 Youth Assertive Community Treatment Teams

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that $4.5 million in state funding was awarded to establish 10 new Youth Assertive Community Treatment teams, including five in New York City, two on Long Island and three in areas north of the metropolitan area. Administered by the state Office of Mental Health, the new multidisciplinary teams will support 360 additional youth with serious emotional disturbances who are either at risk of entering, or are returning home from high intensity services, such as inpatient settings or residential services.

“Children and youth living with mental illness sometimes require additional care to remain at home or return back into the community,” Governor Hochul said. “This expansion of our Youth ACT program will help provide more families with this critical support and the services they can rely on to bring their child home after inpatient care or from a residential facility.”

OMH provided $450,000 in one-time start-up funding to 10 service providers to establish the new teams, with each serving up to 36 children between the ages of 10 and 21. Award recipients include:

• Access Supports for Living Inc., serving Westchester County
• The Charles Evans Center, serving Nassau County
• Central Nassau Guidance and Counseling, serving Suffolk County
• Children's Home of Wyoming Conference, serving Chenango County
• Interborough Developmental & Consultation Center, serving Brooklyn
• The Child Center of NY, two teams serving Manhattan and Queens
• Jewish Child Care Association of NY, serving the Bronx
• Child and Family Services of Erie County, serving Erie County
• Richmond University Medical Center, serving Staten Island

In addition to announcing the awards, Governor Hochul also issued a proclamation designating Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week in New York State. The proclamation was presented this week during the annual ‘What’s Great in Our State’ Celebration of Children’s Mental Health event in Albany, which recognizes individuals and programs successfully advancing the cause of children’s mental health.

With the first teams established in 2022, New York was the first state nationally to adapt the successful Assertive Community Treatment model to serve youth and young adults. The state now hosts 20 Youth ACT teams in 27 counties, providing services including youth and family therapy, medication management, family and peer supports, and skill-building.

Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, “New York’s Youth ACT program is a fantastic first-in-the-nation adaptation to a model that has proven extremely successful with adults living with mental illness. By adding teams statewide, we can help more young people and their families to access the care and support they can use to live and thrive within their community. The expansion of this successful program demonstrates Governor Hochul’s ongoing commitment to expand access to mental healthcare throughout our state.”

Youth ACT teams include mental health clinicians and psychiatric prescribers, peer advocates, and clinical support staff, offering 24-hour support, seven days per week. These teams are focused on improving or ameliorating the significant functional impairments and severe symptomatology experienced by the youth due to mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

Clinical and rehabilitative interventions are also focused on enhancing family functioning to foster wellbeing, stability, and re-integration. Services are delivered using a family-driven, youth-guided, and developmentally appropriate approach that comprehensively addresses the needs of the youth.

Governor Hochul’s support for youth mental health has resulted in major investments into youth services and supports and nation-leading legislation to address online safety. Her $1 billion mental health initiative and the FY 2025 Budget has significantly expanded access to mental health care and is providing resources for young people and their families.

Last year, Governor Hochul established the Youth Mental Health Advisory Board, a 30-member advisory board which includes youth between the ages of 11 and 17. The advisory board convenes quarterly and is designed to ensure that youth-informed best practices continue to be incorporated in developing behavioral health programs and policies.

New York also now supports more than 1,200 school-based mental health clinic satellites to provide mental health services at districts statewide. These clinics bring a licensed mental health care provider to school campuses, allowing students to access these services in a familiar stigma-free setting.

Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the state has also significantly expanded HealthySteps, an innovative program that supports young families with high-quality care for mental and physical health development for children 3 years old or younger. New York now supports 125 sites in 35 counties statewide.

Additionally, the state continues to expand Home-Based Crisis Intervention teams, which provide critical mental health services so that at-risk children and youth can avoid psychiatric hospitalization. The state now funds 55 teams, which have the capacity to assist 3,500 families annually.

New York State Coalition for Children's Behavioral Health President and CEO Kayleigh Zaloga said, “New York's Youth ACT program fills a critical role in the behavioral health service continuum for adolescents and families, enabling hundreds of young people with significant mental health needs to remain or reintegrate into their families, schools, and communities. The multidisciplinary team approach offers families the support they need when they need it, delivering intensive in-home therapy, peer support, medication management, and crisis intervention centered on each young person's goals. This work not only stabilizes youth and families in the short term, but also helps them build the skills, resilience, and community connections necessary to thrive into adulthood.”

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said, “Youth Assertive Community Treatment teams are meeting young people where they are at, in their homes, in their communities, and often at their most critical moments. This investment means more families won’t have to choose between getting help and staying together. By surrounding youth with compassionate and expert care, we’re not just addressing symptoms, we’re giving them the support they need,” said