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Advocacy Efforts

The Coalition works closely with City, State, and Federal legislative and executive branches to ensure that the community mental health sector received adequate funding and operates in a supportive regulatory environment and to remove administrative barriers to care.

The Coalition represents member agencies on innumerable public and private task forces and work groups, including the Mental Health Action Network, the Children’s Mental Health Alliance, the New York City Coalition on the Continuum of Care (which determines priorities for some HUD-funded programs), the Trauma Resource Network formed after September 11th to respond to mental health issues in a changed New York City, the VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) Mental Health Committee, and the Parity Taskforce.

The Coalition often testifies on important legislative, regulatory, and fiscal matters in front of the Assembly and Senate Committees as well as the Executive Branch, bringing the unified voice of Greater New York City’s Provider Community to Albany. We act as a liaison between multiple State and City agencies — Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Health, Homeless Services, Children’s Services, Aging, Criminal Justice — with overlapping responsibilities for serving multiple special populations.

For more information contact The Coalition at [email protected].

©2004 The Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies, Inc. [email protected]