Mental health care advocates and family members are urging Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers to commit more money to housing for people with severe mental illnesses.

Family members of those with mental illnesses worry the state's efforts to provide housing to the most vulnerable have fallen short. Matthew Shapiro's mother is one of the tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have used special housing for people with mental illnesses. 

Shapiro tells us finding the right place is a challenge for families who need extra care for a loved one.  

"Families struggle so hard to even locate housing services for their loved ones. In most cases, family members would love to have a loved one living in the home with us," Shapiro said. 

New York state spends a significant portion of its budget, about $4 billion on mental health services, but advocates and family members contend the money hasn't kept pace with inflation. Shapiro says a major challenge for housing has been the churn of direct care workers, making the lives of mentally ill people all the more difficult. 

As family members, we know how hard it is to build up trust in a relationship that's so important in driving recovery and you can't build those types of relationships when you have a constant turnover in staff. 

But advocates this year are banding together, forming a coalition of groups to push the issue of housing forward. Toni Lasicki of the Association for Community Living says state officials need to pay attention. 

"It's much more difficult to serve the people we're seeing today," Lasicki said. "Our staff turnover is through the roof — 50, 60, 70 percent depending on what agency you are in. So the challenges are great." 

Advocates had hoped Governor Andrew Cuomo would approve a bill forming a commission to study the housing issue. Cuomo vetoed it, so they released a report on their own. 

"I think it would have backed up what we were saying and I think it would have raised the profile of the issue," Lasicki said. 

In a statement, the governor's budget office pointed salary increases approved for direct care workers that will help bolster recruitment. 

“New York state has made substantial investments in our direct care workforce, funding $355 million to support more than nine percent in salary increases since 2015 — including a two percent increase slated for January and another two percent in April," said spokesman Freeman Klopott.

Klopott continued, "These workers are the backbone of a strong service delivery system, and these investments are not only increasing salaries, but improving services by bolstering recruitment.”