Mobile Mental Health Clinics Bring Care to NYC Streets

Strategic Insights -

On two days a week, a specially equipped RV-like van parks outside a Chelsea soup kitchen, offering psychiatric care to anyone who needs it. There's no need for a referral, insurance, or prior diagnosis. This mobile initiative, led by Project Renewal, aims to treat people living on the streets and subways with serious mental illness. The goal is to provide care before a crisis occurs or before someone is taken to the hospital by police against their will.

Key Takeaways:

  • The mobile clinic, operated by Project Renewal, offers psychiatric care without requiring a referral, insurance, or prior diagnosis.
  • The clinic has helped 2,400 patients in the last two years, with the goal of expanding to include an additional van focused on psychiatric services.
  • The city's health department runs mobile treatment teams that provide mental health and substance abuse treatment, while NYC Health and Hospitals operates a five-van fleet called Street Health Outreach and Wellness.
  • Patients, like Vanda Sutton, credit the mobile clinic with helping them manage their medication and providing a supportive environment for therapy.
  • The mobile clinic model challenges traditional clinic operations, requiring less information from patients to prescribe medication and focusing on building trust with patients.

Statistics:

  • 2,000 people living with serious mental illness are cycling through the streets, subways, jails, and hospitals in NYC.
  • Project Renewal has helped 2,400 patients with the mobile clinic in the last two years.
  • NYC Health and Hospitals' Street Health Outreach and Wellness program has treated nearly 3,000 patients.
  • 3% of the homeless population in NYC is living on the street, while a record number of New Yorkers are living on the street.

Sources:

  • Project Renewal (https://www.projectrenewal.org/)
  • Gothamist (https://gothamist.com/news/hitting-the-pavement-in-harlem-with-one-of-nycs-street-psychiatrists)
  • Comptroller's Office (https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-lander-announces-blueprint-to-end-street-homelessness-for-people-with-serious-mental-illness-in-new-york-city/#:~:text=The%20report%20estimates%20that%20there%20are%20approximately,New%20Yorkers%20currently%20sleeping%20on%20the%20street.)
  • Gothamist (https://gothamist.com/news/involuntary-commitments-start-far-more-often-in-nycs-homes-than-public-spaces-data-shows)
  • Gothamist (https://gothamist.com/news/new-yorkers-feel-somewhat-safer-in-public-but-subway-fears-persist-survey-finds)
  • Gothamist (https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochul-announces-254b-budget-to-ban-phone-use-in-school-send-out-rebate-checks)
  • NYC Health and Hospitals (https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/street-health-outreach-wellness-mobile-units/)
  • NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (https://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/program/intensive-mobile-treatment-imt)