Block Grant for Community Mental Health Services Summary

The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) received an $18.42 million Block Grant for Community Mental Health Services from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CFDA 93.958), effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027. This block grant enables OMH to provide comprehensive community-based mental health services to adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbances across New York State. Permissible uses of block grant funds include outpatient counseling, substance abuse treatment, crisis intervention, case management, housing assistance, peer support, workforce training, and public education campaigns. States may expend up to 5 percent of allocated funds for grant administration, and funds must support community mental health centers, psychosocial rehabilitation programs, mental health peer-support programs, and mental health consumer-directed programs that meet prescribed criteria.

OMH distributed sub-awards to 25 entities throughout New York State to implement specialized mental health service programs. Notable sub-awardees include Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Staten Island University Hospital, and Montefiore Medical Center, which provide the On-Track New York program serving young people experiencing their first episodes of psychosis through specialized, team-based care. Additional sub-grantees including Suffolk County Department of Health Services, County of Clinton, Housing Options Made Easy, Institute for Community Living, and multiple community behavioral health organizations provide adult mental health services, jail diversion programs to redirect individuals with serious mental illness from incarceration into community-based treatment, peer-led recovery engagement services, and crisis intervention and support services. The grant structure reflects SAMHSA's requirement that states maintain comprehensive, integrated community mental health service networks while setting aside 10 percent of funding for evidence-based programs targeting individuals with early-onset serious mental illness, including psychotic disorders.