BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

In her State of the State address on January 9, Governor Kathy Hochul detailed her plans for 2024, including added public safety initiatives, treating mental illness, addressing children and teens with mental health issues and creating more affordable housing in New York City and on state owned land. 

Hochul also spoke to continuing efforts to address climate change through green energy policies, improving enrollment in SUNY and CUNY schools and various other projects that will benefit New York City directly. 

“I’ve listened as New Yorkers have told me about the challenges they face and the dreams they hold. And it’s with them in mind that I proudly share my vision for 2024,” Hochul said. 

“The State of New York is strong. Stronger today than when I became Governor two years ago. Healthier. Safer. More affordable. We’ve traversed rocky terrain, but there are still some switchbacks before we reach the summit. Across our nation and our state people worry that a safe and affordable life is out of reach,” she continued. 

Addressing Crime 

Hochul said her administration will continue to take on “stubbornly persistent crimes”  by revolutionizing “mental health infrastructure so people actually get the help they need.”

Of the initiatives the administration intends to address, Hochul said expanding the list of crimes eligible for prosecution as a hate crime, combatting unlicensed sale of cannabis and stopping organized retail theft are top priorities. 

Hochul said the state intends to launch a dedicated state poise team to build cases against organized retail theft rings in the future. 

Along with those efforts, the state will also establish joint operations with local, state and federal agencies to tackle the organized retail thieves. 

State officials will also seek to eliminate the cap on the number of State Supreme Court justices to address the extensive backlog of cases. 

“The practice of pulling judges from the lower courts to serve as acting supreme court justices has exacerbated delays elsewhere in the system, deferring justice for too many New Yorkers. This year, Governor Hochul will take a bold first step toward ending this unworkable system by proposing a constitutional amendment to eliminate the cap on the number of elected Supreme Court justices,” officials say.

State officials will also seek to address domestic violence and assaults with stricter prosecution of such cases. 

Domestic homicides account for roughly 20% of homicides in any given year, officials say. 

“Many domestic violence offenders are never prosecuted, and dismissal rates remain high across the state but particularly in New York City. Absent prosecution, offenders’ abusive behavior may continue and escalate. Given this, and consistent with Governor Hochul’s long standing commitment to supporting victims of domestic violence, New York will make bold investments in a set of proven strategies to increase the likelihood of successfully prosecuting domestic violence cases and seizing firearms, deter future violence among high-risk offenders, and help survivors recover and gain stability,” officials say.

Addressing the mental health crisis 

State officials say the growing mental health crisis is one that the state needs to address immediately and devout resources to combat. In her State of the State, Hochul touched on some initiatives her administration will put into motion. 

Hochul said the state will focus on addressing untreated serious mental illness that can impact public safety. 

One initiative includes opening 200 new psychiatric inpatient beds to provide care to individuals with serious mental illness, including those who are experiencing homelessness. 

Those beds will be in state psychiatric hospitals and will offer specialized care, including for individuals with a history of recurring criminal justice involvement, she said. 

The administration will also seek to establish a law enforcement and mental health coordination team to focus on “the relatively small number of individuals known to cycle through shelter, hospitals, jails, and prisons.” 

The team will be responsible for establishing and monitoring data shared by law enforcement, correctional entities, hospitals, and providers to facilitate connections to services, including housing, and will work through OMH regional field offices to collaborate with local mental health providers and resources.

Officials also are seeking to improve mental health admission and discharge decisions by hospitals to ensure that patients receive the care they need in a timely manner. 

“To ensure New Yorkers do not fall through the cracks after hospital visits, hospitals will be required to screen patients with mental health conditions for risk of suicide, violence, substance use, and other complex needs; provide a hand-off to an aftercare provider for those with complex needs; and schedule a follow-up psychiatric appointment within seven days,” officials say.

The state will also create new mental health courts and expand existing courts to properly address individuals who need mental healthcare and do not pose a public safety risk. 

“To increase the number and availability of mental health courts, which have been successful in reducing rearrests and improving mental health outcomes, Governor Hochul will dedicate funding to establish new mental health courts and allow for existing courts to take on more cases,” officials say. 

Improving Healthcare 

Hochul said the state will push a number of initiatives to improve healthcare across the board, including expanding primary care access, improving dental care and improving cyber security resilience. 

“In the FY2024 budget, Governor Hochul also backed these regulations with $500 million of technology capital funding to help hospitals across the state implement a variety of technological improvements, including common sense procedures to mitigate the risk of cyberattacks. Building further on these efforts, this year 2024 State of the State 118 New York will establish a New York Hospital Cybersecurity Roundtable to share best practices across the state’s hospitals – ensuring that healthcare facilities have not only the mandate and necessary funding, but also the implementation and operational support they need to strengthen their cybersecurity posture,” officials said. 

New York will also see emergency medical services modernized with a new initiative, Hochul said. 

“This year, Governor Hochul will advance legislation to make EMS an essential service to ensure that emergency medical service providers are required to respond to emergencies. In addition, Governor Hochul will build upon the progress made in last year’s budget by directing the newly established EMS statewide taskforce to create five “EMS zones.” Each zone will maintain its own EMS workforce to augment local EMS agencies where the workforce is insufficient and can be deployed to respond to emergencies statewide,” she said. 

Efforts will also be made to sustain and retain healthcare workers, Hochul said. 

“New York is pursuing a waiver from the federal government to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in multi-year funding to launch new initiatives that will support workforce recruitment and retention. The state will fund new training and education programs that focus on both career advancement and recruiting new members of the workforce. These training programs will be overseen by three high-performing Workforce Investment Organizations to ensure that training and educational institutions, healthcare providers, and trainees establish necessary partnerships and are effectively coordinated,” she said. 

For a complete and detailed list of state initiatives for 2024, visit the following link: www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/2024-SOTS-Book-Online.pdf