Bronx to see more beds for mental health patients

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The Riverdale Mental Health Association (RMHA) could be expanding its services.

The group’s executive director, Robert Brewster, said it is considering applying to provide 351 beds throughout the Bronx for people with mental health challenges.

The move would come in answer to a state request for proposals for up to 900 new beds in the Bronx and on Staten Island.   The 351 beds for which RMHA may apply would be awarded from the Riverdale Manor Home and the Parkview Home in three phases, for a total of 117 beds each phase.

If selected as the state’s contractor, RMHA would be charged with “in-reach” services at those homes to help residents determine if they  are interested in moving. RMHA would provide those residents with affordable housing at small residences of typically four to 12 people, where tenants would have access to mental health and other professionals on site. The individuals would have to contribute one third of their incomes to rent. 

Mr. Brewster said that RMHA currently provides 35 beds at supportive housing “predominantly throughout the northwest Bronx.”

The additional beds would cast RMHA — which has focused more on providing mental health services than housing — in a new role. But Mr. Brewster said the organization would maintain a strong focus on providing services.

Deinstitutionalized

In July 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) five years to assess the most appropriate housing for approximately 4,000 individuals living in institutional homes  in New York City, including the Riverdale Manor Home. The proposal was based on the idea that living in deinstitutionalized settings would serve those residents’ best interests. The governor’s consent decree followed a suit filed against the state under the Americans With Disability Act.

According to Mr. Brewster, the consensus in the mental health community is that for many of those 4,000 people, the best option may be supportive housing. The 351 beds RMHA may propose would serve about nine percent of that group.

Riverdale Mental Health Assocation, Riverdale Manor Home, Office of Mental Health, deinstitutionalization, Robert Brewster, Andrew Cuomo, Nic Cavell
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