NEW YORK – Today, Jennifer March, executive director at the Citizens’ Committee for Children on New York, released the following statement in response to the New York State Senate and Assembly One-House budget resolutions:

“Throughout New York State, families are faced with impossible barriers to access the essential behavioral healthcare services their children desperately need. A staggering 20% of New York’s youth, aged two to 17, face one or more behavioral health needs, with suicide ranking as the second leading cause of death among 15 to 19 year olds and the third among five to 14 year olds. What’s more, over half of New York’s children who experienced a significant depressive episode in the past year were unable to receive the necessary care, despite nearly universal coverage through Medicaid or commercial insurance across the state.

Both the Senate and Assembly One-House resolutions support the Governor’s proposal to require commercial insurance plans to reimburse Article 31 and 32 licensed in-network outpatient behavioral health services at the same level as the Medicaid APG rate at a minimum. Senate and Assembly One-House resolutions go further by including a 3.2% COLA for the human services workforce, including the behavioral health workforce – however, operational costs beyond salaries should also be allowed for. These commitments must be included in the final budget to bring greater stability to the behavioral health workforce – a vital step to improve access to care.

Yet, the level of crisis New York’s children and their families face demands far more decisive action from the Governor, Senate and Assembly. State leaders must address how the state’s health care system is failing our children – families are waiting weeks, months and sometimes years to connect to urgent outpatient behavioral care. Children are caught in a cycle of emergency room visits, and tragically, many are losing their lives to suicide. We cannot stress enough that these are unacceptable circumstances that require immediate, bold solutions, including leveraging Medicaid revenue raised in the one-house proposals to support the children’s behavioral health continuum.

We urge the legislature and the Governor to build on the One-House resolutions and Governor’s proposals in the following ways:

• A $117 million investment to adjust children’s clinics rates for Article 31 and 31 clinics to reflect the complex needs of children;
• A $44 million investment to address CFTSS and HCBS reimbursement rates and expand service capacity;
• A $20 million investment to reimburse for care coordination performed by clinic and HCBS and CFTSS providers;
• And a continued commitment to annualize trend factors, consistent with the proposed

Swift action is desperately needed. Children and families cannot afford to wait – their lives and futures are on the line.”

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About The Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids

The Campaign for Healthy Minds, Healthy Kids is a statewide coalition of behavioral health providers, advocates, and New York families, joining together to create the public and political will necessary to ensure all children and adolescents in New York receive the high-quality behavioral health services they need.