During the hearing, Ms. McCray distanced herself from the operations of the program, and left it to Ms. Herman and a budget official to answer many of the more specific questions. Breaking, Federal Appeals Court Rules Ohio Can Enforce Ban on Aborting Babies With Down Syndrome, Biden, Dems Have Found a Creative New Way To Mess With The Election, They're Calling For Virtual Voting, Are You Working For CNN? Trump Goes Off On Fox News Reporter For Parroting Democrat Talking Points, Democrat Frontrunner Joe Biden Says His Running Mate Could Be Michigan Governor Whitmer, In One Of The Worst Moments In The History of TV News CNN Decided To Not Air Trump's Start To The Daily Briefing. While this may appear to be a good idea to spend a lot of money on a mental health effort, it appears that no one has seen any actual results. For example, 29 hospitals had agreed to screen almost 78,000 new mothers for post-natal depression each year as part of the scheme. Legal Statement. And even some experienced in mental health services have been surprised at what the service does not offer. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to theNew York Post. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? That is, nobody appears to have kept receipts; the subways and street corners are still overrun with crazy people, and nobody in charge knows whats to happen next. Public health officials credit the plan for drawing attention to mental health, often too easily ignored by political leaders. More than $15 million has been budgeted over the last three years for the effort; none has been spent. Press Esc to cancel. Bill de Blasio's wife can't account for staggering amount of taxpayer money that the NY Mayor gave her for mental health project Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. The programs at issue ostensibly are meant to assist particularly challenged people the helpless, often homeless, mentally ill and small children whose futures are forfeited because they landed in shamefully nonfunctional schools, an experience from which they will never recover. Spencer Cox to sign bill banning abortion clinic operations. Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at the Washington University School of Law, said the legal rationale to keep McCray from collecting a salary is more than clear, but conceded there was a level of unfairness to the first ladys specific arrangement. Now we have to shift into another phase.. Frustration over Thrives veteran outreach program spilled over into a tense Council hearing just this week. Bill de Blasio's wife can't account for staggering amount of taxpayer money that the NY Mayor gave her for mental health project Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. One, fromfrom City Hall, showed $594million in spending, but a second, from the Independent Budget Office, showed $816milion. Right up there with co-Mayor Bill, who started the week on his own sour note announcing that his signature Renewal school program was closing up shop after pounding $773 million down a rathole. A university finally stands up to woke virtue signaling, GOPers stand up for life and against AG Merrick Garland, Biden's WHO pandemic treaty would kill Americans in the name of 'equity', Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, US home prices just did something they haven't done since 2012, Tom Sandoval breaks silence on Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims. Later, she wondered aloud whether her work with men like Mr. Abreu would be enough. Those moments often involve the police, and have led to confrontations where officers have been injured, and the person the officers came to help getting physically hurt or killed. While it plans to be more deliberate in the future, Thrive staff did not provide internal goals or benchmarks by which to judge its progress to this point. De Blasio says the questions smack of sexism, that McCray is a key decision-maker, and it should come as no surprise that she plays a role in staff picks and high-profile initiatives. We do have some outcomes. McCray's organization is now on track to spend $1 billion over five years. They have good ideas, but the implementation is what they stumble on, said Steve Coe, the chief executive of Community Access, which provides housing and other services to the mentally ill. Thrives primary focus is on the other end of the spectrum: New Yorkers who have less serious and possibly undiagnosed mental health problems, a population that according to City Hall encompasses 1.7 million city residents. According to the Daily Mail, Thrive said it has developed a list of 417 metrics to measure how effective the program is moving forward, but asked to assess its impact so far, Politico said the data was piecemeal and showed a largely failing picture. Thrive entered a resetting phase two years after implementation, which focused on getting programs off the ground, McCray said on the Max & Murphy podcast in March 2018. The program has made more than 7,800 referrals to outpatient treatment for those individuals between August 2015 and November 2018, according to city numbers. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? Does anybody know how well more likely, how poorly the co-mayors hugely expensive pre-K program is working, especially that portion consigned to the citys notoriously problematic not-for-profit sector? We did not say everything would be perfect, burbled the co-mayor as if anybody outside his immediate orbit expected an outcome even close to competent. The call center, operated under city contract, took over the old Lower Manhattan offices of a city suicide hotline known as LifeNet, a service with calls that peaked at 105,000 in 2014. It promotes that misconception that too many people have, that people who have mental illness or people suffering from substance use disorders are violent, which is not true, she said at a health care conference. I think its safe to say that Bill DeBlasios presidential prospects are dead in the water before they even started. The City Council was shocked when they learned that McCray and Team Thrive have spent about $900 million since the programs inception, and no one appears to know why. Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox for free every day by signing up below. The City Council discovered this shocking amount of potential waste . Zelensky Exposed (Literally): This Is The Guy We Are Sending Billions To? But even in spite of that the city has decided to increase the budget of the program which is expected to spend $5 billion in the next five years. 2023 Ghanafuo.com & DM Network. , updated You may opt out at anytime. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. During a meeting,the City Council learned this astounding amount of potential waste. One frequent critic of the program said McCrays reticence in discussing violence related to mental health was a cop-out. Belkin maintains the program has been an overall success. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. De Blasio insisted McCray is just as available to questions as he is, despite a majority of the first ladys events having no question and answer period. That Stringer could sleep through it all is the real scandal; why does the city even have a comptroller, if thats the standard of performance? The data comes from a Politico report that shows those running the scheme have largely failed to measure its impact or keep track of spending. But she cant get paid, so she is doing it as a volunteer.. Despite the worrying misuse of taxpayermoney highlighted by the revelations, the government has granted a huge increasein the project's budget going forward. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. POLITICO filed a records request for the programs line-item budget in October 2018, but the city has twice requested an extension. We cant have a universality in this from day one, he added. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to defend first lady Chirlane McCray against backlash on Wednesday after it was discovered she had private staff that's getting paid millions in. Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, wasawarded $900 million to launch a mental health project aimed at assisting the citys homeless. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. But there are other mysteries out there, too. Benedy Abreu, right, is in a program funded through Thrive to help those with serious mental illness and a criminal past. Among the concerns raised were that she is not subject to questions from the press or many disclosure requirements, as a government official would be. https://t.co/oKaowNxGjT #NYC #DeBlasio, Michael E. Newton (@MichaelENewton1) March 1, 2019, What a waste these two are.De Blasio and 'co-mayor' wife have wasted $1.8B of taxpayer money https://t.co/85S88hQUuq via @nypost, MyLivesGoUpTo11 (@AlexStrayCat_) March 1, 2019, Chirlane McCoy (DeBlasio) spends $850 MILLION & can't account for it???? "I'm not sure anybody does.". 19:12 GMT 01 Mar 2019. Last month, McCray and de Blasio announced the appointment of Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson together. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. Type above and press Enter to search. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. "I like the fact that money is going toward mental health, but when they say we're seeing a benefit in all areas, I take exception to that, because I don't see it everywhere," Queens Councilman Robert Holden told The Post. Powerful personality ChirlaneMcCrayisapoliticalfigureintheUnitedStates,aswellasawriter,communicationsexpert,editor,andactivist. But weve built the structure that can get us there.. It is not, in the end, just about money. They sent a whole army of police, said the father, who asked to be referred to only by his first name, Ralph, to protect his sons privacy. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. In fact, the mayor said Wednesday, McCray should get paid, but for widely accepted nepotism rules forbidding such an arrangement. .hustle-ui.hustle_module_id_1[data-id="1"] .hustle-layout .hustle-button-cta {width:100%!important;font-size:18px!important;}.hustle-ui.module_id_1 .hustle-popup-content {max-width: 400px!important;}.hustle-group-content p {font-size:18px!important;margin: 24px 0 0!important;}.hustle-content-wrap{padding-bottom:0!important;}, We may receive compensation from affiliate partners for some links on this site. https://t.co/fqUIyfFc8Z, John Naturally Immune Cardillo (@johncardillo) March 1, 2019. The data also showed almost 190,000 Narcan kits were handed out to hospital where opioid use is common, but there is no evidence of how many were used. Only 28,560 new mothers were screened between September 2016 and October 2018, according to Thrives data. De Blasio cancels high-costing Renewal school program, With opaque budget and elusive metrics, $850M ThriveNYC program attempts a reset, Chirlane McCray's 'Thrive' initiative on track to spend $1B in 5 years. But he bemoaned the inadequacy of state funding, and called the citys contracting process broken. Chris Pleasance for MailOnline How many other big-bucks initiatives are in similar straits is unknowable mostly because bureaucrats never blow the whistle on themselves and also because Gothams formal watchdog, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, is among the most incurious individuals ever to hold the office. Some have closed their doors; others have chosen to stop providing mental health services. Claim Your Free Trump 2020 Hat - Just Cover Shipping Poof. New York has given up on policing drugs, and the city suffers, David Paterson is right Mayor Adams needs to get tougher. Chirlane McCray can't explain where the $850m in funding has gone after it was given to the organization she runs, ThriveNYC. Thank you! No, Dr. Gary Belkin, a top health official and the chief of policy and strategy for Thrive, said of using the hotline to connect people to care effectively. A retired psychiatric social worker dialed NYC-WELL last year hoping for a nonpolice response for his 37-year-old son, who had been making threats and had a history of manic episodes. He receives regular visits from Stacey Hamilton, left, a peer counselor, and Jeremy Klopman, a psychiatrist, center. People are allowed to call anonymously, and the calls are confidential. The site said it had tried and failed to acquire a line-item budget from Thrive, and the two budget breakdowns it had seen showed wildly different numbers. You wish Kathy! But the interaction is not therapy, cautioned Dr. Anitha Iyer, who helps oversee the call center. All rights reserved. At the same time, some initiatives failed to get started, while others placed unrealistic demands on already strained mental health services. This story has been shared 175,437 times. Oh, brother. I first saw the story online under the title: Bill DeBlasios Wife Reportedly Loses $850 Million of Taxpayer Funds!, Sometimes you look at a headline like this and think: that cant possibly be true.. A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes. Besides the ramped-up spending, a big part of Thrive has been Ms. McCrays advocacy. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. All registered. There is a program NYC Safe that is embedded into the criminal justice and homeless services agencies to connect high-risk individuals to outpatient treatment, according to a 2015 city announcement. The mayor has a point in this individual case it may seem unfair because shes working, and lets assume she is doing a good job, Clark said. But now, that money cannot be accounted for, and . The data also showed almost 190,000 Narcan kits were handed out to hospital where opioid use is common, but there is no evidence of how many were used. If this is the highest level of care, she asked, how many success stories are there really?, Chirlane McCray, de Blasios Wife, Is Questioned Over His Revolutionary $1 Billion Mental Health Plan, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/nyregion/thrivenyc-mental-health-.html. Meanwhile de Blasio announced earlier this week that he is mothballing his failed Renewal school program after spending $773million. Arizona Hospital Temporarily Suspends Admission of Cardiac Arrest Patients Due Democrats Hiding That John Fetterman is Brain Dead to Prevent Special Election? Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. The MIDD progress report also explains how well each program was executed, what challenges were faced and the outcomes. All rights reserved. Similar programs like the Mental Illness and Drug Dependence program in King County, Washington, produce reports that illustrate the target number of people it hopes to reach and the actual number served data that Thrive lacks. Something happened that triggered the need for me to go, she said without elaborating. Mental health first aid classes include discussions and role playing; Ms. McCray implores people to take the course, but has not yet been able to get her husband to do it. The mayor and first lady have falsely declared stigma rather than lack of services as being the major barrier faced by the seriously mentally ill thereby justifying the diversion of funds to public relations campaigns rather than services, DJ Jaffe, executive director of Mental Illness Policy Organization, an advocacy group, wrote in an email. Initially, his son refused to cooperate. De Blasio's wife can't account for $850m given to mental health scheme https://t.co/gTEJcrCeob via @MailOnline, Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 1, 2019, NYC Mayor De Blasio's wife spent $900 million in taxpayer moneywith no record of how it was used https://t.co/UGe8liu6L0, De Blasio and co-mayor wife have wasted $1.8B of taxpayer money, Frankly Im surprised its not much more considering these two incompetent lazy stoners are at the helm.
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