New York City Mayor Eric Adams' new plan for aiding the mentally ill is facing backlash for its effectiveness.

Adams' plan allows police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other trained professionals to involuntarily hospitalize anyone deemed to be severely mentally ill. The new plan is aimed specifically at homeless people dealing with severe mental illness.

But, experts view the plan as shortsighted, and not as a more permanent solution.

Billye Jones is a licensed clinical social worker and an adjunct professor at New York University's Silver School of Social Work.

She said she feels the plan doesn't necessarily address long-term benefits of in-patient care, and adds that it also overlooks the issue of homelessness.

"Fundamentally, not having a home is destabilizing and it can diminish anyone's mental health and overall sense of safety," said Jones. "I don't really think that's being addressed in the plan."

Jones said there needs to be a long-term commitment to mental health systems, dealing with homelessness and stabilizing people long-term.

She said the plan would be better if it addressed the intersections of homelessness and mental illness.

For the plan to be salvaged, Jones said she feels a multi-year plan with city agencies involved with mental health and housing need to have a voice at the table.

Some experts are glad the conversation about this issue is being brought to the forefront of the city's consciousness.

Michael Capiello is former president of the National Association of Social Workers' New York chapter. He said there should be some different ways of starting a plan, and wants to see an assessment done of people this plan will involve.

"I do not think we have a clear assessment of the population who are, what is referred to as treatment refractory," said Capiello, "who are not the types of people who engage in traditional mental-health services."

He said he thinks the city should also consider the difficulty of engaging this sector of the population.

The assessment should examine how people got to this point. He questions if these are people who have long-standing disabilities, or would have been identified by New York State's offices of Disabilities or Mental Health.

In the end, Capiello said he wants to understand where the disconnect began.

The hope for this plan is to quell the recent rash of violent attacks plaguing New York City's mass transit system.

Kendall Atterbury is a social worker and an adjunct professor at NYU's Silver School of Social Work who said she feels the Adams administration is not asking the right questions to help severely mentally ill people.

She adds there are solutions to solve the problem of homelessness, but not exactly an ideal one.

"There is no ideal solution," said Atterbury. "We have a little bit of a Gordian knot here and there is no Alexander's sword; none of us has that. So, I think that's important to just sit with. There are a lot of things I would do differently. The first step is address homelessness through housing stock. If you want to end homelessness, you figure out a way for people to have homes."

She noted that housing isn't just a solution to homelessness but is a priority to begin the work of helping someone with their mental illness.

Atterbury said she thinks this could be a city policy, in spite of the costs.

Since the moral obligation has been up front with this plan, she said she wonders where it rests, at the beginning of the process, the end, or when it's convenient.

Indiana families are preparing kids for back-to-school season, and mental-health experts say emotional readiness is just as important as school supplies.

Beth Trammell, a psychologist and professor at Indiana University East, said kids often carry anxiety into the new school year. She encouraged parents to help children identify those fears.

"We as parents or caregivers think, 'Don't worry, or don't stress.' Instead, we might want to say, 'OK, well, let's talk about what it is you're worried about. What is the worst thing you think could happen?' If we draw it out of them," she said, "it may give them space to kind of let that out."

Helping kids feel heard can reduce stress. But experts also urge balance, keeping mornings calm, easing into routines, and not overloading schedules the first few weeks.

Nicole Brady, chief medical officer at UnitedHealthcare, said mental-health support should remain a priority throughout the year.

"Though we want our kids to be involved in activities and be social," she said, "we have to watch their academic performance, their mood, those sleep patterns, and making sure that those are staying healthy."

Brady added that parents should talk regularly with kids, model healthy coping and seek help early if warning signs appear.


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After a legislative session which opened doors to expand mental health care services across Montana, a state commission said it is considering the Billings area to build the state's second forensic facility.

For people involved in Montana's justice system whom a judge has deemed not mentally fit for their own defense, there are 53 beds in the state's only forensic facility in Galen. The daily waitlist hovers at about 100 people.

Matt Kuntz, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Montana, said it is not meeting the immense need.

"It's just a really bad situation for the people that are in the jails, for the people that are caring for them, for the taxpayers," Kuntz outlined. "It just doesn't work for anybody."

At a recent commission meeting, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Charlie Brereton said the state is identifying a location for a new facility. The department received nearly $27 million from the state in April to fund project planning.

Kuntz noted the Montana Legislature passed many bills this session centered on mental health care.

"We really were able to get big wins in access to outpatient care, access to crisis care and for people in need of forensic hospital," Kuntz explained. "Overall, it was really an amazing legislative session for Montanans with mental health conditions."

Other mental health legislation will boost school-based services, youth in residential care, the state's 988 crisis line and certified community behavioral health clinics.


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The California Parent and Youth Helpline is in serious jeopardy after Gov. Gavin Newsom cut it from the new state budget, saying the money was needed to support medical services.

Advocates said they are puzzled because the governor has championed the helpline for years, and lawmakers approved $3 million from a separate fund dedicated to mental health, which does not affect the deficit.

Lisa Pion-Berlin, president and CEO of the nonprofit Parents Anonymous, which runs the helpline, said it is still operating 24/7, for now.

"We're holding on for the next month or so," Pion-Berlin pointed out. "But we need the state to step up, or one of these well-off philanthropists who cares about having that immediate help for emotional support, which is so vital."

Advocates are hoping funding can be restored via a budget trailer bill in the next few weeks. People can call or text and reach the helpline's trained counselors at 877-427-2736. The free helpline has connected with more than 120,000 people since its inception five years ago, and the website CAParentYouthHelpline.org has reached a million more.

Pion-Berlin noted a study in the Journal of Technology in Human Services found a call to the helpline can quickly ease parents' suffering and feelings of isolation.

"The research said that 85% of the callers in less than 30 minutes feel more positive, more hopeful and able to address their issues," Pion-Berlin reported. "There is no other service or pill I know that can do that in 30 minutes or less."

Parents Anonymous also offers free weekly support groups to steer parents and kids through emotional crises of all kinds.