New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week that the Jewish Child Care Association of New York was one of 10 grant recipients for a new initiative to support youth mental health.
Deb Falk, chief program officer at JCCA, told JNS that the grant will allow the agency to expand its existing Brooklyn-based team, which has “demonstrated the power of community-based, mental-health care in helping youth with the most complex needs remain connected to their families, schools and communities while on a path to stability.”
The funds will go towards establishing Youth ACT teams for people “with serious emotional disturbances who are at risk of entering or are returning home from high-intensity services, such as inpatient settings or residential services,” according to the governor’s office.
Each of the 10 recipients got a $450,000 grant for a total of $4.5 million.
“Children and youth living with mental illness sometimes require additional care to remain at home or return back into the community,” said Hochul. “This expansion of our Youth ACT program will help provide more families with this critical support and the services they can rely on to bring their child home after inpatient care or from a residential facility.”