The city Health Department awarded a $17 million contract to the Bronx-based human services nonprofit Acacia Network to launch a street outreach team to connect New Yorkers with crisis mental health care, according to a notice published in the City Record on Monday.
The Acacia Network, headquartered in Mount Hope, will use the funds to launch its first Intensive Mobile Treatment team — a team of clinicians and social service providers that aim to connect homeless New Yorkers and people with severe mental illnesses to health care and stable housing. The teams aim to reach individuals who have historically been shut out of the mental health treatment system, including people who have been in and out of carceral settings.
A representative from the Acacia Network declined to comment on the specific details of its program.
IMT teams consist of social workers, peer specialists, a psychiatrist and a nurse who canvass the subways and streets to connect individuals with housing and substance use or mental health treatment.
The Acacia Network runs homeless shelters, affordable housing units and residences that offer health care and rental subsidies to people who have experienced homelessness, hospitalization or incarceration. It also provides medical and behavioral services, including outpatient mental health and substance use services and residential programs.
City funding for new IMT teams is part of an effort to boost access to mental health care and crisis services across the five boroughs. Last year Mayor Eric Adams committed to doubling the number of IMT teams to get more New Yorkers off the streets and into treatment.
The recent contract brings the number of teams in New York City to 35. The teams can treat more than 800 people.
The Acacia Network, founded in 1969, serves more than 150,000 individuals a year. The organization has more than 100 affiliated locations across New York, Maryland, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Connecticut and Puerto Rico.
Amanda D'Ambrosio , 2024-03-13 09:33:04
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