Bring It Home Coalition Statement

Response to Governor Cuomo’s 2020-2021 Executive Budget Address

The Bring It Home Coalition released the following statement from Antonia Lasicki, executive director of the Association for Community Living (ACL) NYS, in response to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s allocation of $20 million in additional funding for mental health housing programs:

“New York is facing a multi-billion-dollar deficit this year, which translates to significant cuts for worthy programs across the state in 2020. We are exceptionally grateful to Governor Cuomo for increasing funding for mental health housing programs by $20 million in his Executive Budget, which is double the increase he allocated last year. This support is a welcome and much-needed boost for these programs, which serve thousands of New Yorkers who desperately need our help.

“However, the reality is that these programs are still severely underfunded, a fact made clear by ACL when they released a report in December that confirmed the dire fiscal situation faced by providers. While we appreciate the Governor’s effort, and believe this increase—especially under such harsh budget circumstances—is an acknowledgement of the problems we have documented, we urge legislators in the Assembly and the Senate to read the ACL report, and allocate additional funding for the mental health housing programs that provide critically-needed care for our state’s most vulnerable population.”