Programs & Services Overview

Local Programs and Services
MHA-NYC provides life-saving programs, services and resources for adolescents, adults and families in need.

Children and Adolescents
Research demonstrates that individualized, family-driven care with a focus on the strengths of children and families, not on their deficits, results in better outcomes for children's mental health and emotional development. MHA-NYC has been a leader in putting these core principles into action since 2002 when a six year System of Care Grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was awarded to develop a comprehensive system of care throughout New York City called the Coordinated Children's Services Initiative.

MHA-NYC's Adolescent Skills Centers strive for and succeed in offering smart and distinctive programs to give adolescents and young adults with serious emotional and mental health issues the opportunity to improve their academic standing with remedial instruction and GED preparation. The Adolescent Skills Centers also help students acquire job skills with vocational training and internships - all to support their efforts for a productive and healthier re-entry into the community.

Families
The MHA-NYC has long recognized that parents are their children's best advocates when given the tools and knowledge to make informed choices; and that other parents who have already succeeded in navigating this path are the best resource to offer guidance. Today, with Family Resource Centers and respite care services throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens, MHA-NYC is the largest provider of support services for families with emotionally challenged children.

Adults
The MHA-NYC's model programs for adults integrate multiple approaches vital for recovery and life in the community, offering individuals a full range of recovery-focused employment, housing, education and support tailored to meet their specific needs.

Fast Track to Employment, recognized as a national best practice model by the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, helps individuals with psychiatric disabilities to obtain and keep permanent, competitive employment.

The Harlem Bay Clubhouse offers adults with serious mental illness a safe place to develop independent living skills.

MHA-NYC's array of residential services, Recovery Works provides critical first steps to those returning to independent life with a stable place to live. Transitional and supported housing programs offer independent housing to men, women, couples and parents who are in recovery from mental illness or with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and chemical addiction.

LifeNet Call Center
Over 10,000 callers per month utilize LifeNet, New York City's only toll-free, multilingual, multi-cultural, confidential referral hotline network available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week for anyone seeking help for mental health and/or substance abuse treatment. The LifeNet call center is staffed by trained behavioral health professionals and maintains the city's largest computerized database and website offering resources and referrals to mental health, substance abuse and social service providers.

LifeNet manages nine different hotline access numbers including separate, culturally competent hotlines for Asian and Latino callers: 1-877-AYUDESE serves those speaking Spanish and Asian LifeNet (1-877-990-8585) serves those speaking Mandarin or Cantonese. For all other languages, LifeNet utilizes an efficient translation service that can accommodate over 140 different dialects.

In 2009, LifeNet extended its reach beyond New York City when MHA-NYC partnered with the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse into offer a state-wide, toll-free telephone hotline, 1-877-8-HOPENY, offering help for alcoholism, drug abuse, and/or problem gambling. The HOPEline offers assistance from clinically trained professionals on a confidential basis, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service provides information, referrals and crisis intervention for callers in need, and offers a new call follow-up service. Callers have access to addiction crisis support and referrals to more than 1,500 substance use prevention and treatment providers across the state.

LifeNet's database is now available online at: www.800lifenet.org

Staying in Balance: Coping in an Uncertain Economy
MHA-NYC's groundbreaking new program promotes mental wellness during the economic crisis. Staying In Balance: Coping in an Uncertain Economy helps eight organizations that provide basic human services to New Yorkers most hurt by the current economic crisis deal with their clients' emotional distress. Supported by a grant from The New York Community Trust, MHA-NYC produced a Staying in Balance toolkit and is offering expert training to the agencies' staffs. The program will also help the staffs to manage the stresses that come with helping individuals and families in crisis.

Community Education
MHA-NYC is committed to educating the public about mental wellness, encouraging those in need to seek help, providing information on treatment options. Our messages of wellness reach those burdened by stress and encourage early detection and intervention. MHA-NYC's outreach programs target underserved populations, raising awareness and understanding of mental illness, and enabling those in need to seek treatment. MHA-NYC offers community screening programs and referral assistance.

Older adults have higher rates of depression than the general population. To address this problem, MHA-NYC partners with New York City's Departments for the Aging, and Health and Mental Hygiene to provide depression education and screening programs at senior centers throughout the city.

MHA-NYC's Geriatric Depression Screening and Referral initiative has received the Aging Innovations Award from the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and the Innovation and Quality in Healthcare and Aging 2008 Award from the America Society on Aging.