The mental health of adult New Yorkers appears to be improving since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, while teenagers are increasingly reporting feeling sad or hopeless, according to a new report by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “What we see in the data is that mental health is neither static nor homogenous. We see a deep crisis in some communities, while observing relative wellness in others,” city Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said in a statement. “We also see an evolving post-Covid-19 picture of New Yorkers recovering from some of the worst impacts of the pandemic and longer-term effects still developing.” Despite the uneven picture, substantial shares of both adults and youth in New York City say they have unmet mental health needs, the report found. More than two-thirds of adults with a mental health diagnosis said they received treatment in the past year, but 34 percent still reported unmet needs — meaning they couldn’t easily access services or that they weren’t getting as much care as they wanted, as soon as they’d hoped. While 3.2 percent of New York City residents reported receiving substance use treatment in the past year, 1.3 percent said they needed treatment but did not receive it, according to a 2023 survey cited in the report. And nearly one in four New York City teens said they needed or wanted mental health care at some point in the last 12 months but did not get it. When it comes to youth mental health, both Vasan and Gov. Kathy Hochul have focused on the role of social media. Hochul most recently has been pressing state lawmakers to pass a package of legislation regulating minors’ social media access before session ends this week. But social media’s impact is not so black-and-white: 56 percent of children and teenagers surveyed by the city in 2023 said they used social media as a coping mechanism. Only music was a more popular coping strategy, per the Health Department’s report. As far as policy recommendations, the report calls for an end to Medicaid’s exclusion of coverage for psychiatric care in residential facilities with more than 16 beds, the removal of restrictions on methadone treatment, expansion of telehealth services, increased investments in school-based mental health clinics, and standardized mental health and substance use screenings, among other proposals. IN OTHER NEWS: — Ryan Chelsea-Clinton is using $30,000 in state funding allocated by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal to expand free availability of the Mpox vaccine, the federally qualified health center announced Friday. Cases of Mpox, the contagious disease formerly known as monkeypox, primarily spread through sex and other intimate contact and have continued to circulate in New York City. ON THE AGENDA: — Wednesday, 1 to 3 p.m. The Public Health and Health Planning Council's Public Health Committee will convene. — Thursday, 10 a.m. The Public Health and Health Planning Council’s Committee On Establishment and Project Review meets. MAKING ROUNDS: — NYC Health + Hospitals has named Omer Cabuk as its first-ever chief decarbonization officer, spearheading the health system’s efforts to adhere to the emissions reduction targets set by Local Law 97. Cabuk previously served as senior director of decarbonization and sustainability for Health + Hospitals. — State Attorney General Letitia James appointed Tracie M. Gardner, co-director of the National Black Harm Reduction Network, to the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board. GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at mkaufman@politico.com. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
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