ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
In July, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) published a plan to redesign state-operated inpatient services throughout the state. The plan provides for the establishment of 15 "Regional Centers of Excellence" that will serve specific populations. The plan also calls for the closure and redesign of several state-operated facilities, many of which have played an integral part in regional mental health systems of care for decades.
This hearing will examine the potential impact of OMH facility closures on service recipients, families, employees and communities. The Committees are seeking to gain a better understanding of the implementation of the plan, including services that will be continued or lost in the region and the impact the change in services will have on recipients and families; details of workforce redeployment; and the overall process that will be followed to accomplish the envisioned restructuring. Furthermore, the Committees are seeking testimony on the needs of the communities that will be impacted by facility closures, specifically in terms of resources that should be reinvested into the communities in order to sustain or enhance mental health services in the region.
Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committees at the above hearing should complete and return the enclosed reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.
Oral testimony will be limited to 10 minutes' duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committee will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to Committee staff as early as possible.
Ten copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements.
In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committees' interest in hearing testimony from all sources.
In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.