Cuomo Olmstead Commission may do more harm than good for mentally ill in New York

I have a sister in law with a serious mental illness and want to thank and congratulate Governor Cuomo for issuing Executive Order 84on Friday creating a cabinet level committee to help move persons with mental illness out of segregated institutional care and back into the community. (Olmstead v. LC.,)  But I fear the way the committee is currently constituted, it lacks the expertise to do the job correctly and may do more harm than good.

 Too many members have expertise in mental health and none have it in criminal justice.

NYS Office of Mental Health: The wrong response to Hurricane Sandy

Whenever a tragedy like Hurricane Sandy strikes, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) calls up mental health workers en masse and assigns them to do counseling for those affected by the tragedy. The problem is, they’re not needed, rarely do any good, are expensive, and take resources away from where they are truly needed: helping the most seriously mentally ill.