Gov. Kathy Hochul is launching what she described Thursday as a network of 24/7 “welcome centers” in the city’s subway, where health professionals and social workers will connect homeless New Yorkers with shelter options and supportive services.
The governor’s office told Crain’s that the state will launch up to five facilities in subway stations to help people who are struggling with mental health issues and who are bedding down in the system to access treatment and shelter. The effort is part of a $40 million investment in the state budget for outreach teams, which are made up of workers contracted by the state, to build relationships with the unhoused and eventually get them to accept help, said Hochul during a Thursday briefing on the state budget.
“Let people have a place to go, to get warmed up, take care of them, and then be persuasive and say, now we have a better option,” said Hochul. “You know, dial down the stress of it for everybody and have it in a place where you can have more positive outcomes.”
Hochul’s office said it is currently working with the MTA and the Adams administration to identify locations for the centers. It’s likely they’ll be placed in underutilized retail storefronts at major subways stations, which are owned by the MTA, such as at 42nd Street-Times-Square. The centers will not include shelter beds, said Hochul.
Nicolette Simmonds, a spokeswoman for Hochul, declined to share a timeline for the launch of these facilities, what specific services will be offered and exactly how much the state intends to spend on outfitting spaces.
The MTA also declined to share specifics with Crain’s about the new centers.
Outreach teams, such as those contracted through the state’s Safe Options Support program, will staff the initiative. The state Office of Mental Health currently oversees 16 teams in New York City in coordination with the MTA and city’s Department of Social Services.
The outreach program is designed to target residents who are not yet taking advantage of city services. The initiative is unique in that the teams maintain contact with individuals for up to a year after staffers have connected them to services, to ensure they continue to receive care.
A majority of the teams are staffed by the Financial District-based Coordinated Behavioral Care, a nonprofit contracted by the state, to operate in Manhattan, with other organizations focused on Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
Hochul added that the centers will be a sort of base of operations for clinicians focused on reaching people in the subway, and that the program seeks to make the system a more comfortable place for travelers to navigate by helping homeless New Yorkers transition out of the subway.
“I think this is a strategy that’s going to result in healthier New Yorkers, more people getting the care they need from a compassionate system,” said Hochul, “but ultimately making our streets and subways safer as well.”
