Broome County’s Children’s Home of Wyoming Conference will receive $14.5 million from a $90 million state grant to boost youth mental health services.

Announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul, the grant will support New York’s new Critical Time Transition program — managed by the state’s Office of Mental Health — which will offer one-on-one support for youth aged 11 to 17. The program works to stabilize both the child and their family while preventing prolonged stays in emergency departments or psychiatric facilities.

Justin Mason, Office of Health’s director of communications, addressed the challenges facing families with children who have complex mental health issues, highlighting the grant’s role in helping them secure the care they need.

“Families with youth who have complex needs may need additional support that is not immediately available,” Mason wrote in an email. “These families often find themselves relying on extended stays at hospitals — particularly at emergency rooms — while they are waiting for community-based services if they believe they can’t safely care for their children at home. These youth have mental health challenges and may also have issues like an intellectual or developmental disability.”

The Children’s Home of Wyoming is one of six youth service providers set to be awarded $14.5 million each over five years. Other providers include Northeast Parent and Child in Schenectady County, ACCESS CNY in Onondaga County, Hillside in Monroe County, Rehabilitation Support Services in Orange County and Essex County ARC in Essex County. The funding allocated to Children’s Home is comprised of $100,000 in start-up funding, $2.54 million annually to establish eight transitional residence units and an additional $367,000 awarded each year for operational costs. The investment will back a team of two case managers trained in critical time intervention, a family peer advocate and a youth peer advocate.

The six service providers will implement critical time intervention, an evidence-based practice model designed to foster support during transitional periods. This includes mental health and behavioral care, career and educational guidance, enhanced family or caregiver instruction and skills development. Each transitional residential setting will house up to eight youths for up to 120 days, providing a home-like environment as they adapt to their support systems and prepare to reintegrate into their communities.

“By investing in these programs, we can help more children with complex mental health issues get the services they need,” Hochul said in a press release. “New York State is taking a new approach to this issue by providing one-on-one support options locally across the state and in some instances, in a home-like setting where they can receive the level of care they need as they recover.”

Mason said that alongside Gov. Hochul’s mental health grant, plans are underway to expand the Critical Time Transition program to parts of the state that have yet to receive funding. He added that the Office of Mental Health is allocating funds for various youth programs, including suicide prevention initiatives, the expansion of mental health clinics in schools and increased funding for residential treatment facilities.

The program was established in collaboration with key stakeholders, including the state’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Office of Children and Family Services, Department of Education and Council on Children and Families, whose continued involvement is crucial to the program’s success.

State Sen. Samra Brouk, who represents New York’s 55th Senate District, said the grant will provide important resources for New York, enabling improvement and success.

“Our young people with unmet complex needs must receive care that seeks to minimize family trauma and prevents extended hospital stays,“ Brouk said in a press release. “With Governor Hochul’s $90 million in support of critical youth mental health services, we are moving in the right direction — young people with unmet complex needs will finally receive one on one attention, critical time intervention, and competent care, but we also know that there is much more that needs to be done.”