Mayoral hopeful Kathryn Garcia said Thursday she has no clue how Mayor Bill de Blasios wife, Chirlane McCray, spent $1 billion on her mental illness project, ThriveNYC with so little to show for it. They are hoping to be able to distinguish a violent and non-violent EDP (emotionally disturbed person) over the phone, he said. Despite that, the program has been granted an even bigger budget going forward and is now on track to spend $1billion over five years. Its critically important for all city initiatives to maintain a level of transparency which allows the public to have oversight and allay concerns about government waste especially with tremendous sums.. Mental health first aid classes include discussions and role playing; Ms. McCray implores people to take the course, but has not yet been able to get her husband to do it. It is a hard thing to measure, because its never existed before, Ms. McCray said in an interview at Gracie Mansion last month. On Friday, the NYC comptroller announced a "deep dive" into exactly what Thrive has accomplished and exactly where the exorbitant amount of taxpayer money has been spent. On his now-frequent tours of early presidential primary states, Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken to invoking a less-familiar aspect of his tenure: a nearly $1 billion plan to address mental illness in New York City. "It's a smoke-and-mirrors slush fund for the first . The Thrive program budgeted millions to create diversion centers, a place other than jail for officers to bring those experiencing a mental health crisis. Over the next four years, Ms. McCray would transform herself into a mental health evangelist. . EMTs, though, arent signing up in big numbers. When record keeping is lacking and politicians are involved, it normally means that any missing money is not going to be found and probably ended up in those politicians pockets. Meanwhile, the same number either closed or were merged with other schools while under the initiative. The money is there and so is the need." Correction (June 6) An earlier version of this article included the wrong ratio of guidance counselors and social workers per student in the 2017-18 . Underdog mayoral candidate Loree Sutton has raked in $113,000 in donations just two months after launching her 2021 campaign -- from a colorful cast of contributors including Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. INVESTOR TIMES is always open to the incorporation of talent in its team of journalists and editors. I dont know what the questions will be. Wife of Corrupt NY Mayor Bill de Blasio Makes $850 Million of Taxpayer That's kind of a huge problem. America is in serious trouble, folks. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. The NYPD has long struggled to correct this disturbing history, providing specialized training to officers. A sign honors Saheed Vassell near where he was killed in Crown Heights. I do not have any idea where the billion went, said Garcia, the former Department of Sanitation commissioner and one of the mayors longest-serving senior officials, on Fox 5s Good Day New York.. Home; About Us. The city invested heavily on mental health before the de Blasio administration: For example, the Health Department spent $243 million in the 2014 fiscal year on mental health contracts. Redirect ThriveNYC funds to address serious mental illness Jason Hansman, from Mayor Eric Adam's office, next described existing services to help New Yorkers quickly connect with mental health help, including a new service, in addition to 311 and 911, called NYC Well. Now, four years later, there are serious concerns and calls for official inquiries into the program because no one can determine if its actually been successful. Sometimes you feel like youre in a conversation and suddenly youre left out in terms of being part of a thoughtful planning process that involves input from impacted communities, she added. Training for the EMTs only began May 3 two months after the program was supposed to have started and days after de Blasio said he would expand the program citywide. 57 Mortality is the ultimate outcome but may occur well after poor care is provided and requires linking to non-Medicaid data sets. In November, Susan Herman, director of ThriveNYC and a senior advisor to de Blasio, announced the administration had decided to put the 911 plan on pause. But problems with the citys initial proposals delayed the process, those involved said. The overall number of mental health 911 calls citywide dropped from 163,279 in 2019 to 154,045 last year. To date, only 16 EMTs have signed up, according to Barzilay. You may opt out at anytime. to tell City Council members how the money was being spent. If this is what Chirlane and her co-mayor husband are calling a success, then they need to seek some counseling of their own, quipped Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens). In the three years the program has been running . The number of people brought in for help so far: 45, or $1.1 million per visit. A report from Politico back in February gently sounded the alarm the piece almost apologetically mentioned that Thrive NYC was headed for a reset but calls for transparency have increased in the last week after Thrive was unable in late February to tell City Council members how the money was being spent. But he bemoaned the inadequacy of state funding, and called the citys contracting process broken. Last week, de Blasio rebranded ThriveNYC changing its name to the Mayors Office of Community Mental Health. When record keeping is lacking and politicians are involved, it normally means that any missing money is not going to be found and probably ended up in those politicians pockets. Sign up and get the latest stories from THE CITY delivered to your inbox each morning, Failure to Thrive: NYCs $100 Million Diversion Centers for Mentally Ill Sit Empty or Barely Used. Both City Hall and IBO suspect the Office of Management and Budget included fewer programs in the City Hall version, accounting for the difference. In the three years the program has been running, organizers at ThriveNYC have failed to keep complete records of the initiative's achievements, with the fragments of data that has been collected, showing it lagging well behind targets. Thrive also is meant to focus on communities African Americans, Latinos, military veterans who are less likely to seek care for mental health problems. Without him, I wouldnt even pay attention to anything at Fox News. Article posted with permission from Dean Garrison. Borderline socialist New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio's wife has lost a staggering amount of money and now people are demanding answers. POLITICO filed a records request for the programs line-item budget in October 2018, but the city has twice requested an extension. Of $1B Missing from NYC Mental Health Program Some Went to Unused Diversion Centers. Its time for them to pack up their tired ThriveNYC act and try to sell it somewhere else, Holden said. The mental health initiative, known as ThriveNYC, is crucial to Ms. McCray's potential as a future political candidate, and has become increasingly important to Mr. de Blasio as he toys with a.