Summary
State-sponsored treatment and prevention programs targeted to working New Yorkers (those not eligible for Medicaid or covered by insurance) have been significantly reduced. The availability of behavioral health treatment and prevention is essential to maintaining family stability and protecting children.
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Summary
There is a growing demand for well-trained mental health and chemical dependency treatment professionals. The economic and emotional stress many residents of New York State are experiencing requires the availability of competent professionals, appropriately trained to respond to the magnitude of the problem.
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Summary
There are a large number of military veterans living in New York State. Our state has the fourth largest concentration of veterans in the nation, and the number returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is growing. The current availability of mental health and chemical dependency services is insufficient to meet the anticipated need. Catholic Charities programs may be in a unique position to help address this problem.
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Summary
The State Office for the Aging, utilizing data from the U.S. Census, has estimated that there were 3,204,331 New Yorkers, age 60 years or older in 2000; including 2,448,352 persons age 65 or older, 1,172,306 persons age 75 or older and 311,488 persons age 85 or older. They project that in 2015 the age 60 plus population in New York will be 3.7 million and in 2025 that segment of the population will reach 4.4 million. Society must prepare to meet increased demands for economic, social service and health care services by “the baby boomers”.
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Summary
There is a need for a package of reforms in the financing and delivery of services for the frail elderly to maximize scarce health care and housing resources and to minimize institutional care, similar to the model for service delivery for the special needs of the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled.
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Summary
New York State leads the nation in AIDS cases, with more than 157,000 reported cases at the end of 2002, approximately 62,000 of those persons were still living. In the first years of the AIDS epidemic, a diagnosis of AIDS was considered a “death sentence” but in recent years, HIV has become a highly treatable disease. As of the end of 2002, a total of 80,088 New Yorkers had died of AIDS. The rate of HIV infection has slowed in recent years due to prevention activities, increased testing of persons at risk of HIV and AIDS, and the development of pharmacological treatments. There continues to be no known cure for the disease.
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Summary
Many adults with developmental disabilities are awaiting out-of-home placement. The need for community placement for persons with developmental disabilities continues to increase markedly as families are unable to sustain their children at home.
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Summary
Many health insurance plans and health maintenance organizations limit access to mental health services by restricting the number of visits and/or requiring higher co-payments than are required for access to general health services. This practice discriminates against persons who require treatment for mental illness or substance abuse.
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Summary
Families caring for aging parents with chronic illnesses frequently need respite services to preserve their own health and sustain emotional relationships with their loved ones. Current funding for respite services in New York State is tenuous. A secure funding stream is needed to provide respite for the primary caretakers for aging and chronically ill family members.
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Summary
Federal welfare reform severely curtailed immigrants’ access to health and social services. In addition, legislation has been proposed in New York to prohibit undocumented persons from enrolling in public universities and public schools; accessing any non-emergency health care service; or, receiving any form of public assistance.
Conference Position
The Catholic Conference opposes the enactment of laws that deny essential health, social service and education services to immigrants and place workers in the position of enforcing the laws. More
