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. 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. He was told a team like that could not come for at least a day, maybe two; for immediate help, call 911. Susan Herman does the day-to-day management and makes the decisions, Ms. McCray said when asked about her role, adding that her role was to amplify ThriveNYCs message to the public., Pressed on how much of the programs budget went to the seriously mentally ill, Ms. McCray responded by questioning how that category is defined. (Some are repeat callers, with a few who call as many as 200 times a day.). Chris Pleasance for MailOnline Meanwhile, the same number either closed or were merged with other schools while under the initiative. 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. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion! That is, reversing Bloomberg administration plans to shut down 100 miserably malfunctioning schools, thus saving the jobs of barely competent teachers and administrators and shutting up small bands of noisy parents who loved the schools despite their failings. Even as the city has poured money into mental health programs and training, nonprofit directors said they still struggle with providing treatment, citing inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates and even less generous reimbursements from commercial insurers. 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. Sign up for our free email newsletter, and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop. The city invested heavily on mental health before the de Blasio administration: For example, the Health Department spent $243 million in the 2014 fiscal year on mental health contracts. But the budget discrepancies illustrate the difficulty in tracking Thrive. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. Seven mayors attended a 2017 national mental health conference in New York City. The Thrive program budgeted millions to create diversion centers, a place other than jail for officers to bring those experiencing a mental health crisis. The MIDD progress report also explains how well each program was executed, what challenges were faced and the outcomes. Where did Russell Senior go to college and high school? New York has given up on policing drugs, and the city suffers, David Paterson is right Mayor Adams needs to get tougher. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. Chirlane McCray, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, was entrusted in 2015 with running a new initiative in the city called ThriveNYC, a program that attempted to address issues of homelessness, substance use, depression and suicide, all centered around mental health and with a price tag of $250 million per year in tax payer dollars. She took a mental health first aid course in October 2014. Hey, its Noah and I want to make sure were connected on Twitter. With Thrive, spending rose to $346 million in fiscal year 2018, according to an analysis by the City Council. 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. Head of content and Editor-at-large at Ghanafuo.com Dickson Ofori Siaw is a blunt writer who loves to make his readers see "the other perspectives of a news story". We do have some outcomes. Updated: 02/27/2019 05:14 PM EST Since its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC the city's sprawling $850 million initiative to address a variety of mental health issues has operated without much. Borderline socialist New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio's wife has lost a staggering amount of money and now people are demanding answers. 12:52 GMT 01 Mar 2019 Not all of the programs in her plan were new. 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. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. Repeatedly presented by City Hall as a four-year $850 million plan, city officials now say $560 million will have been spent in that time. Despite the worrying misuse of taxpayermoney highlighted by the revelations, the government has granted a huge increasein the project's budget going forward. Just this week, McCray sat side-by-side with de Blasio as he presented his newly appointed public schools chancellor and on Thursday she is slated to co-host a town hall with the mayor on gun violence in schools. And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. But this is 2019, and the general feeling at least in the deBlasio administration is that if theres not a lot of dough attached to the spousal sinecure, it doesnt really matter enough. Its not easy to track, because Thrive is a multi-agency program that has functions in all sorts of different agencies in the city, so you need someone very detailed with aggregated budget data to sum up the total spending, Champeny said. However, it does not show whether programs met or surpassed their goals, and whether New Yorkers are better off for it. https://t.co/vQU2PxB7dg. Chirlane McCray, the wife of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, can't account for hundreds of millions in federal taxpayer money. To serve that population, the city is spending $12 million a year on the NYC-WELL hotline not including nearly $11 million spent on advertising in 2017, mostly to promote the service. , updated But over the course of two years between 2016 and 2018 the hospital screened a little over 28,000 patients and just 570 were offered help, a fraction of the 12,000 to 15,000 who were estimated to need care. We cant have a universality in this from day one, he added. .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. The TikTok famous 4-in-1 red light wand and facial massage tool . People are allowed to call anonymously, and the calls are confidential. Spencer Cox to sign bill banning abortion clinic operations. 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. McCray's organization is now on track to spend $1 billion over five years. But that kind of programming wont address institutional problems like homelessness and serious mental illness, which are financial and safety burdens to the city, he said. 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. 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. Completing this poll entitles you to our news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. For example, 29 hospitals had agreed to screen almost 78,000 new mothers for post-natal depression each year as part of the scheme. Think Stockholm syndrome, rolled into a big ball with the United Federation of Teachers. Please check your email inbox to confirm your message and send it to our editorial team. David Woodlock, president of the Institute for Community Living and a former top state health official, praised Ms. McCray for her courage in taking on mental health issues. And because Thrive encompasses a variety of initiatives some new, some already in existence across more than a dozen agencies, it is difficult to establish a central, line-item budget delineating how the city is spending taxpayer dollars on the program. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Officials are also collecting survey data. The data comes from aPoliticoreport that shows those running the scheme have largely failed to measure its impact or keep track of spending. ThriveNYC has led to an expansion of mental health first aid training. To bypass internet censorship, connect with us directly by enabling our notifications (using the red subscription bell in the bottom right corner) or by subscribing to our free daily newsletter. But this is 2019, and the general feeling at least in the deBlasio administration is that if theres not a lot of dough attached to the spousal sinecure, it doesnt really matter enough. He receives regular visits from a psychiatrist and a peer counselor. Deutsch said it also took Thrive weeks to get back to him about training his constituents in Mental Health First Aid a free, eight-hour course that helps individuals identify and respond to mental illness. And while it sounds good to spend heavily on a mental health initiative, it appears that nobody has noticed any real benefits from that investment. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? In the three years it has been running, organizers at ThriveNYC have largely failed to keep records of the initiative's achievements - and data that has been collected shows it lagging . That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. TheNY Postreports that among multiple failed programs and bad accounting, the figure is actually not $850 millionbut rather $1.8 billion. For all the talk, the initiative has been less sweeping than envisioned: A third of the budget has not been spent, according to an analysis of city data by The New York Times. This story has been shared 121,909 times. One frequent critic of the program said McCrays reticence in discussing violence related to mental health was a cop-out. The city said that was a function of the programs design. 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. On his now-frequent tours of early presidential primary states, Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken to invoking a less-familiar aspect of his tenure: a nearly $1 billion plan to address mental illness in New York City. 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? The service also includes text and web chat. The officers eventually brought him to Elmhurst Hospital, nearby. And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. It was not as obvious what I, as first lady, would take on; I wanted to take on something big, Ms. McCray said in the interview. 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? Advertisement - story continues below The New York Post ran a story on speculation that McCray was being groomed for political office. The biggest challenge for Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray has been to identify concrete results. Tap below and Follow @DailyNoahNewsthats me! For example, 29 hospitals had agreed to screen almost 78,000 new mothers for post-natal depression each year as part of the scheme. Bill de Blasio wife: Meet Chirlane McCray. And while it sounds good to spend heavily on a mental health initiative, it appears that nobody has noticed any real benefits from that investment. 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. (VIDEO) Donald Trump Pitches Agenda 47: Create Freedom Cities. (Separately, the Health Department spends nearly 10 times as much on the seriously mentally ill.), Ms. Herman stressed more than once during the hearing that Thrive was not a new mental health system. That message contrasted one repeated by Mr. de Blasio, including during a radio interview on Friday. Things happen. She occasionally speaks of her own experience with therapy, and in the interview, she spoke obliquely of her brief return to treatment last year. But the co-mayor made performance promises when he initiated the Renewal program, few of which even remotely were met, and presently gravity prevailed: The program caved in on itself. But the co-mayor made performance promises when he initiated the Renewal program, few of which even remotely were met, and presently gravity prevailed: The program caved in on itself. And guess what I finally found it. (She receives no pay for her city work.). 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. In the three years it has been running, organizers at ThriveNYC have largely failed to keep records of the initiative's achievements - and data that has been collected shows it lagging well behind targets. 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. At least one available barometer hinted at the challenges that the city still faces in dealing with mental illness: More New Yorkers dialed 911 to report a person in the midst of a mental health crisis last year 179,000 calls than at any point in more than a decade. POLITICO spoke to more than 16 people, including elected officials, advocates, representatives of community organizations, researchers and consultants who said that although it is crucial for the city to invest in mental health resources, they did not know whether Thrive was successful and said the city has an obligation to publicize its numbers and how it compares to the goals it set out to accomplish. I think that would be the difference: not simply how many people youre screening or youre training, but what impact that actually has on their life.. Thrive is really corrective to the narrowness with which we approach this issue, which leaves a lot of people without care, a lot of people untouched, a lot of people not getting what they need, and its precisely the need to widen it that were trying to fix.. A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Stop the censors, sign up to get today's top stories delivered right to your inbox. She is routinely visible around de Blasio at times when he is making high profile announcements and administration appointments. The outcome has not come close to reaching the goal. De Blasio did not say hed pursue a change in the law and acknowledged there were good historical reasons for the rule. That it should happen in a single week is worse its an embarrassment. | Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to theNew York Post. However, according to current and former employees in the Mayors office -- and public records --McCrays staff makes closer to $2 million. Its a big city, there must be thousands of OB-GYN providers in communities, in isolated offices. Thrives two-year report, released in February 2018, offers cumulative data, like the number of medical professionals trained to prescribe treatment for opioid use. 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. Folks, let me tell you something, if there truly is a "scheme" here and the money was intentionally "misused" or funnelled somewhere, that is criminal. Tap below and Follow @DailyNoahNewsthats me! Last month, McCray and de Blasio announced the appointment of Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson together. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. 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. Fast-forward to Wednesday, when the City Council was startled to discover that McCray and Team Thrive are closing in on havingspent an eye-popping $900 millionsince the programs inception and nobody seems to have a clue on what. Initially, his son refused to cooperate. Roughly 10 percent of the Thrive budget, more than $30 million in the current fiscal year, goes to address serious mental illness, according to City Hall. McCray is the proprietress of ThriveNYC, a mental-health-related something-or-other created four-plus years ago to give a little heft to the conceit that Bill and Chirlane were elected as co-mayors which is nonsense on stilts. 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. Ms. McCray, who created and oversees ThriveNYC, faced tough questions on its performance and spending during a packed special hearing of the City Council on Tuesday. Speaking to the Post,Queens Councilman Robert Holden told theNew York Post: "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. Zelensky Exposed (Literally): This Is The Guy We Are Sending Billions To? The city comptroller is also investigating. And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. Type above and press Enter to search. Only 28,560 new mothers were screened between September 2016 and October 2018, according to Thrives data. 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? It's gone. That is, no one appears to have kept receipts; the subways and street corners are still crawling with lunatics, and no one in control knows what will happen next. But alsomayoral spouseChirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. In recent months the administration moved to change that, creating a centralized office for the program, appointing a senior adviser to oversee it and releasing budget details and data on 472 metrics against which it could weigh the programs effectiveness. Press Esc to cancel. Hey, its Noah and I want to make sure were connected on Twitter. Speaking to the Post,Queens Councilman Robert Holden told the New York Post: '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. Few of those who dial the number agree to a follow-up call, making it hard to gauge its effectiveness. 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. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Black Democrat DA tells the truth on crime, but progressives won't listen. And even some experienced in mental health services have been surprised at what the service does not offer. At least one stat the program tracks showed underperformance in an area of particular importance to McCray. So far, she has not been able to get the mayor to take it. Well, he didnt actually say rathole, and the price tag has doubtless been lowballed but he also had no credible explanation for the debacle, nor did he apologize for it. 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. So far, almost all of the information on follow-up care comes from the limited cases in which a social worker and psychiatrist have been sent to visit the person. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, 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. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $850 million for a mental health program she was spearheading, The Daily Mail reported. So, ipso presto, co-Mayor Bill coughed up enough cash to break a pack mules back and sent it off to co-Mayor Chirlane who then went forth to cure Gothams mental-illness problems. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. 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. . Only 570 of the estimated 12-15,000 mothers who experience postpartum depression have been reached by the program, Politico reported, a number NYC disputes. From The Daily Mail (published in early March): Questions have mounted in recent days over McCrays expansive role in high-level City Hall decisions, despite having no official title other than wife of the mayor. Dr. Belkin said that while suicide rates are not the best measure, the Health Department has been looking at trends in suicide attempts, based on emergency room visits. 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? But also mayoral spouse Chirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. City officials, for example, could not say how many people have been connected to treatment after calling the citys new mental health hotline, because fewer than 10 percent agree to a follow-up. Market data provided by Factset. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. Seven mayors attended a 2017 national mental health conference in New York City. Actually, first lady Chirlane McCray works hard for free, her husband Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, and he is not happy about it. Fellow contender for the Brooklyn borough presidency,City Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), slammed the spending, according to The New York Post. The city also published a 150-day update report in June 2016 that described key milestones produced within the first five months of the program such as bringing educational programming to homeless shelters and community groups and outlined what it hoped to accomplish in the coming years. If you love what we do, please consider a $1/month donation to keep us live! That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. The mayor, for his part, has brushed off questions about his wifes activities in his administration, making no apologies for her high-level role in city business. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Two locations have been selected, in East Harlem and the Bronx, but neither has opened yet. It is a hard thing to measure, because its never existed before, Ms. McCray said in an interview at Gracie Mansion last month. Of the 78,000 newborn deliveries in the city annually, only 28,560 new mothers have been screened by the Thrive program. Mr. de Blasios wife, Chirlane McCray, has done the same, presenting the effort as a national model to audiences from Atlanta to Seattle. Well, he didnt actually say rathole, and the price tag has doubtless been lowballed but he also had no credible explanation for the debacle, nor did he apologize for it. 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. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. 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. Before the Thrive initiative, he said, there was not even a pretense of a mental health system in the city.. It is not, in the end, just about money. SheisalsothechairmanoftheMayorsFundtoAdvanceNewYorkCityandtheexecutivedirectorofThriveNYC. In the three years the program has been running, organizers at ThriveNYC have failed to keep complete records of the initiative's achievements, with the fragments of data that has been collected, showing it lagging well behind targets. Market data provided by Factset. Ms. McCray implores those she meets to take the course, which includes discussions and role playing. Good thing it wasn't an even $1 billion, huh? 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.