Well, he didnt actually say rathole, and the price tag has doubtless been lowballed but he also had no credible explanation for the debacle, nor did he apologize for it. We invite you to become a WeLoveTrump insider. You should choose to work on something that you would do without pay, she said. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes. How many other big-bucks initiatives are in similar straits is unknowable mostly because bureaucrats never blow the whistle on themselves and also because Gothams formal watchdog, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, is among the most incurious individuals ever to hold the office. The New York Post ran a story on speculation that McCray was being groomed for political office. The new focus for the program is the second time the city has attempted to retrain Thrives focus. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? Were US Rail Workers Instructed to Bypass Railcar Safety Inspections? That it should happen in a single week is worse its an embarrassment. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. Similar programs like the Mental Illness and Drug Dependence program in King County, Washington, produce reports that illustrate the target number of people it hopes to reach and the actual number served data that Thrive lacks. But the police are still often the only ones available to respond quickly to calls, even to the mental health line. McCray is the proprietress of ThriveNYC, a mental-health-related something-or-other created four-plus years ago to give a little heft to the conceit that Bill and Chirlane were elected as co-mayors which is nonsense on stilts. However, according to current and former employees in the Mayors office -- and public records --McCrays staff makes closer to $2 million. For instance, Thrive calculates how many mayors attended a national conference on mental health just seven when New York City hosted it in 2017. Few of those who dial the number agree to a follow-up call, making it hard to gauge its effectiveness. For all the talk, the initiative has been less sweeping than envisioned: A third of the budget has not been spent, according to an analysis of city data by The New York Times. One frequent critic of the program said McCrays reticence in discussing violence related to mental health was a cop-out. Market data provided by Factset. The city has not begun tracking several programs, such as one for outreach to veterans with mental health challenges and another for trauma services for families with young children, according to the metrics. DE BLASIO EXTENDS STATE OF EMERGENCY IN NEW YORK FOR ANOTHER 30 DAYS, "That article [referring to The City story]didn't take into account the work that's being done," de Blasio said. Chirlane McCray is the face of ThriveNYC an $850 million dollar administration initiative she helped design to improve the citys mental health and substance abuse services. Please check your email inbox to confirm your message and send it to our editorial team. This principally is on the co-mayors, of course, but it is also on Stringer who wants to be mayor, but who shrinks from demonstrating that he deserves the job. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. Council Member Chaim Deutsch, chair of the veterans committee, along with two other Council members, said the veterans program had failed to materialize in their districts. For example, 29 hospitals had agreed to screen almost 78,000 new mothers for post-natal depression each year as part of the scheme. This story has been shared 121,909 times. Thrives two-year report, released in February 2018, offers cumulative data, like the number of medical professionals trained to prescribe treatment for opioid use. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! "I like the fact that money is going toward mental health, but when they say we're seeing a benefit in all areas, I take exception to that, because I don't see it everywhere," Queens Councilman Robert Holden told The Post. TheNY Postreports that among multiple failed programs and bad accounting, the figure is actually not $850 millionbut rather $1.8 BILLION! But also mayoral spouse Chirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. It's gone. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. https://t.co/fqUIyfFc8Z, John Cardillo (@johncardillo) March 1, 2019, De Blasio's wife can't account for $850m given to mental health scheme https://t.co/gTEJcrCeob via @MailOnline, Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 1, 2019, . The aim of the scheme was to improve 100 of New York's worst schools, but after three years of trying, just 25 of them improved enough to make it off the list. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The data also showed almost 190,000 Narcan kits were handed out to hospital where opioid use is common, but there is no evidence of how many were used. McCray is the proprietress of ThriveNYC, a mental-health-related something-or-other created four-plus years ago to give a little heft to the conceit that Bill and Chirlane were elected as co-mayors which is nonsense on stilts. Thrive is really corrective to the narrowness with which we approach this issue, which leaves a lot of people without care, a lot of people untouched, a lot of people not getting what they need, and its precisely the need to widen it that were trying to fix.. "This work is about the needs of the people of this city. People are allowed to call anonymously, and the calls are confidential. (Hes kind of busy, she said. Some requested anonymity for fear of retaliation while others were more vocal in their critiques. The City Hall budget shows $594 million in spending since ThriveNYCs inception. But she cant get paid, so she is doing it as a volunteer.. Its a big city, there must be thousands of OB-GYN providers in communities, in isolated offices. On his now-frequent tours of early presidential primary states, Mayor Bill de Blasio has taken to invoking a less-familiar aspect of his tenure: a nearly $1 billion plan to address mental illness in New York City. There is a program NYC Safe that is embedded into the criminal justice and homeless services agencies to connect high-risk individuals to outpatient treatment, according to a 2015 city announcement. The data comes from aPoliticoreport that shows those running the scheme have largely failed to measure its impact or keep track of spending. Think Stockholm syndrome, rolled into a big ball with the United Federation of Teachers. During the hearing, Ms. McCray distanced herself from the operations of the program, and left it to Ms. Herman and a budget official to answer many of the more specific questions. The site said it had tried and failed to acquire a line-item budget from Thrive, and the two budget breakdowns it had seen showed wildly different numbers. That is, no one appears to have kept receipts; the subways and street corners are still crawling with lunatics, and no one in control knows what will happen next. Updated: 02/27/2019 05:14 PM EST Since its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC the city's sprawling $850 million initiative to address a variety of mental health issues has operated without much. Spencer Cox to sign bill banning abortion clinic operations. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $850 million for a mental health program she was spearheading, The Daily Mail reported. The wife of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio "can't account for" $850 million in missing taxpayer money that was granted to her mental health project, according to reports. The money was going to NYC's Thrive program for people with mental health problems that is overseen by McCray. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. We cant turn on a switch one day and then screen 120,000 women a year, Gary Belkin, policy and strategy chief of Thrive, said in an interview, referring to how many women he estimated give birth each year. Fast-forward to Wednesday, when the City Council was startled to discover that McCray and Team Thrive are closing in on having spent an eye-popping $900 million since the programs inception and nobody seems to have a clue on what. (VIDEO) Donald Trump Pitches Agenda 47: Create Freedom Cities. In the three years it has been running, organizers at ThriveNYC have largely failed to keep records of the initiative's achievements - and data that has been collected shows it lagging . In fact, the mayor said Wednesday, McCray should get paid, but for widely accepted nepotism rules forbidding such an arrangement. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $900 million to start a mental health initiative focusing on helping the homeless in the city. Press Esc to cancel. But this is 2019, and the general feeling at least in the deBlasio administration is that if theres not a lot of dough attached to the spousal sinecure, it doesnt really matter enough. In the three years it has been running, organizers at ThriveNYC have largely failed to keep records of the initiative's achievements - and data that has been collected shows it lagging well behind targets. But there are other mysteries out there, too. At least one stat the program tracks showed underperformance in an area of particular importance to McCray. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. But alsomayoral spouseChirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. The biggest challenge for Mr. de Blasio and Ms.. Thrive NYC is really best understood as a tale of two cities initiative, said Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and an expert on homelessness and urban policy. I first saw the story online under the title: "Bill DeBlasio's Wife Reportedly Loses $850 Million of Taxpayer Funds! But lets be clear: If your boondogglery sets the New York City Council back on its heels, you truly are soaring with the eagles. McCray acknowledged in October 2018 that the city does not often discuss Thrives programming for violent individuals due to stigma. That Stringer could sleep through it all is the real scandal; why does the city even have a comptroller, if thats the standard of performance? Were US Rail Workers Instructed to Bypass Railcar Safety Inspections? That first year, she began talking with Dr. Belkin. (Hes kind of busy, she said.). One, fromfrom City Hall, showed $594million in spending, but a second, from the Independent Budget Office, showed $816milion. Chirlane McCray, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife, was entrusted in 2015 with running a new initiative in the city called ThriveNYC, a program that attempted to address issues of homelessness, substance use, depression and suicide, all centered around mental health and with a price tag of $250 million per year in tax payer dollars. I first saw the story online under the title: Bill DeBlasios Wife Reportedly Loses $850 Million of Taxpayer Funds!, Sometimes you look at a headline like this and think: that cant possibly be true.. Trump threatens to send federal agents to New York City if Bill de Blasio can't stop the violence, Whitmer's $79B budget proposal chock full of protections for equity, inclusion and 'reproductive freedom', Sununu pushes back on DeSantis' crusade against 'woke' corporations: 'That's not what Republicans are about', These Biden administration agencies have admitted COVID lab leak is plausible, Utah Gov. The plan, which includes dozens of discrete programs across 15 city agencies, has undergone two leadership changes in the last year; the most recent saw a top official from the Police Department, Susan Herman, taking charge last month. It is crazy and ridiculous when someone gets funded $850 million and I dont get a response right away, he said, adding later, If you have a service, you have to respond to that service otherwise, close up.. The father asked for a psychiatrist and a social worker to be sent to the home. But over the course of two years between 2016 and 2018 the hospital screened a little over 28,000 patients and just 570 were offered help, a fraction of the 12,000 to 15,000 who were estimated to need care. Things happen. Chirlane McCray, the wife of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, can't account for hundreds of millions in federal taxpayer money. Bob McManusharshly assessed the programs effectiveness for the New York Post: So, ipso presto, co-Mayor Bill coughed up enough cash to break a pack mules back and sent it off to co-Mayor Chirlane who then went forth to cure Gothams mental-illness problems. The programs at issue ostensibly are meant to assist particularly challenged people the helpless, often homeless, mentally ill and small children whose futures are forfeited because they landed in shamefully nonfunctional schools, an experience from which they will never recover. McCray formally serves as chair of the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City and is the face of ThriveNYC an $850 million dollar administration initiative she helped design to improve the citys mental health and substance abuse services. Fox News host Laura Ingraham called it a "mental health scheme." The fact is that a health program championed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife cannot account for $850 million taxpayer dollars. And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. She took a mental health first aid course in October 2014. Susan Herman does the day-to-day management and makes the decisions, Ms. McCray said when asked about her role, adding that her role was to amplify ThriveNYCs message to the public., Pressed on how much of the programs budget went to the seriously mentally ill, Ms. McCray responded by questioning how that category is defined. Over the next four years, Ms. McCray would transform herself into a mental health evangelist. Bill de Blasio's Wife Can't Account For $850 Million Collected But the co-mayor made performance promises when he initiated the Renewal program, few of which even remotely were met, and presently gravity prevailed: The program caved in on itself. The 14-page report, acquired by POLITICO this month, seeks to evaluate the programs performance, but does not provide a clear picture on what it has accomplished thus far. Thats a misconception that people often have, she said. https://t.co/fqUIyfFc8Z. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Black Democrat DA tells the truth on crime, but progressives won't listen. Bob McManus harshly assessed the program's effectivenessfor the New York Post: The NY Post reports that among multiple failed programs and "bad accounting", the figure is actually not $850 million but rather $1.8 BILLION! For instance, Thrives metrics show that between July 2016 and October 2018, 189,070 Naloxone kits were distributed throughout hospitals, syringe exchange programs and other sites where opioid overdose is common. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion! Arizona Hospital Temporarily Suspends Admission of Cardiac Arrest Patients Due Democrats Hiding That John Fetterman is Brain Dead to Prevent Special Election? Repeatedly presented by City Hall as a four-year $850 million plan, city officials now say $560 million will have been spent in that time. Aides to McCray said, despite the limited format, she typically makes herself available for pull aside interviews at the event. Deutsch said it also took Thrive weeks to get back to him about training his constituents in Mental Health First Aid a free, eight-hour course that helps individuals identify and respond to mental illness. The City Council was shocked when they learned that McCray and Team Thrive have spent about $900 million since the programs inception, and no one appears to know why. Its not easy to track, because Thrive is a multi-agency program that has functions in all sorts of different agencies in the city, so you need someone very detailed with aggregated budget data to sum up the total spending, Champeny said. This news comes as the mayor is consideringlaying off up to 22,000 municipal workers in the falldue to budget constraints related to COVID-19. So, what are the right measures?. You wish Kathy! Fast-forward to Wednesday, when the City Council was startled to discover that McCray and Team Thrive are closing in on havingspent an eye-popping $900 millionsince the programs inception and nobody seems to have a clue on what. But there are other mysteries out there, too. I think that would be the difference: not simply how many people youre screening or youre training, but what impact that actually has on their life.. So, ipso presto, co-Mayor Bill coughed up enough cash to break a pack mules back and sent it off to co-Mayor Chirlane who then went forth to cure Gothams mental-illness problems. But weve built the structure that can get us there.. But the co-mayor made performance promises when he initiated the Renewal program, few of which even remotely were met, and presently gravity prevailed: The program caved in on itself. More than $15 million has been budgeted over the last three years for the effort; none has been spent. 19:12 GMT 01 Mar 2019. Folks, let me tell you something, if there truly is a "scheme" here and the money was intentionally "misused" or funnelled somewhere, that is criminal. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. The service also includes text and web chat. . Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? Think Stockholm syndrome, rolled into a big ball with the United Federation of Teachers. Since its inception in 2015, ThriveNYC the citys sprawling $850 million initiative to address a variety of mental health issues has operated without much scrutiny or accountability. Thank you for contacting us. What are some fun facts about Wayne Shorter? https://twitter.com/davej08/status/1101441406667771904, https://twitter.com/WNYGeek81/status/1101500859299627008, harshly assessed the program's effectiveness. Repeatedly presented by City Hall as a four-year $850 million plan, city officials now say $560 million will have been spent in that time. Im not sure anybody does.. Besides the ramped-up spending, a big part of Thrive has been Ms. McCrays advocacy. Meanwhile, de Blasio announced earlier this week that he is mothballing his failed Renewal school program after spending $773million. Tap below and Follow @DailyNoahNewsthats me! Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. The city would not make McCray available for a recent interview. This story has been shared 175,437 times. All rights reserved. Mayor Bill de Blasio's Wife Loses $850 Million Dollars. And its only (your) money even if it is quite a lot of it. All rights reserved. Tap below and Follow @DailyNoahNewsthats me! I felt like I was not able to function., But City Hall is still struggling to quantify the payoff from her efforts. McCrays office provided The CIty with names of eight full-time employees whose salaries added up to about $1.1 million. And because Thrive encompasses a variety of initiatives some new, some already in existence across more than a dozen agencies, it is difficult to establish a central, line-item budget delineating how the city is spending taxpayer dollars on the program. Now, a year later, the city is rejiggering the program once again to include a centralized office and further engrain the initiatives into city agencies to ensure that Thrive outlasts the de Blasio administration. Anyone can read what you share. Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to theNew York Post. Laura Ingraham has even called it a scheme. The man, Benedy Abreu, 31, served five years in prison and is now in a program funded through Thrive to help those with serious mental illness and a criminal past. Does anybody know how well more likely, how poorly the co-mayors hugely expensive pre-K program is working, especially that portion consigned to the citys notoriously problematic not-for-profit sector? While it plans to be more deliberate in the future, Thrive staff did not provide internal goals or benchmarks by which to judge its progress to this point. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. But the vast majority of city spending on the program goes to more than 40 other endeavors, such as a crime victim advocate program; social and emotional learning in public schools; and a corps of young behavioral health clinicians paid by the city to work at nonprofits for three years. That is, reversing Bloomberg administration plans to shut down 100 miserably malfunctioning schools, thus saving the jobs of barely competent teachers and administrators and shutting up small bands of noisy parents who loved the schools despite their failings. (VIDEO) Donald Trump Pitches Agenda 47: Create Freedom Cities. Hey, its Noah and I want to make sure were connected on Twitter. The government could decide not to have a nepotism restriction but it would come with costs like undermining the public trust, Clark said. No, Dr. Gary Belkin, a top health official and the chief of policy and strategy for Thrive, said of using the hotline to connect people to care effectively. It was not as obvious what I, as first lady, would take on; I wanted to take on something big, Ms. McCray said in the interview. Read our full Disclosure. Stop the censors, sign up to get today's top stories delivered right to your inbox. Only 28,560 new mothers were screened between September 2016 and October 2018, according to Thrives data. Chirlane McCray has made her advocacy on behalf of mental health a big part of Thrive, as she seeks to erase the stigma around seeking services. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. (Some are repeat callers, with a few who call as many as 200 times a day.). Later, she wondered aloud whether her work with men like Mr. Abreu would be enough. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. That the co-mayors could fly under the radar to burn through $1.6 billion to no obvious good effect is an embarrassment but understandable in the abstract. The City Council discovered this shocking amount of potential waste during a meeting Wednesday. De Blasio bemoans nepotism laws keeping his wife from collecting a City salary Chirlane McCray is the face of ThriveNYC an $850 million dollar administration initiative she helped design. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. Breaking, Federal Appeals Court Rules Ohio Can Enforce Ban on Aborting Babies With Down Syndrome, Biden, Dems Have Found a Creative New Way To Mess With The Election, They're Calling For Virtual Voting, Are You Working For CNN? Trump Goes Off On Fox News Reporter For Parroting Democrat Talking Points, Democrat Frontrunner Joe Biden Says His Running Mate Could Be Michigan Governor Whitmer, In One Of The Worst Moments In The History of TV News CNN Decided To Not Air Trump's Start To The Daily Briefing. But even in spite of that the city has decided to increase the budget of the program which is expected to spend $5 billion in the next five years. POLITICO spoke to more than 16 people, including elected officials, advocates, representatives of community organizations, researchers and consultants who said that although it is crucial for the city to invest in mental health resources, they did not know whether Thrive was successful and said the city has an obligation to publicize its numbers and how it compares to the goals it set out to accomplish. Bill de Blasio's wife can't account for staggering amount of taxpayer money that the NY Mayor gave her for mental health project Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? At the same time, some initiatives failed to get started, while others placed unrealistic demands on already strained mental health services. That escalated the situation, he said. According to the Daily Mail, Thrive said it has developed a list of 417 metrics to measure how effective the program is moving forward, but asked to assess its impact so far, Politico said the data was piecemeal and showed a largely failing picture. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. He receives regular visits from Stacey Hamilton, left, a peer counselor, and Jeremy Klopman, a psychiatrist, center. Are we there yet? But also mayoral spouse Chirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. One, fromCity Hall, showed $594million in spending, but a second, from the Independent Budget Office, showed $816milion. But lets be clear: If your boondogglery sets the New York City Council back on its heels, you truly are soaring with the eagles. I think it's safe to say that Bill DeBlasio's presidential prospects are dead in the water before they even started. That is, nobody appears to have kept receipts; the subways and street corners are still overrun with crazy people, and nobody in charge knows whats to happen next. Things happen. The mayor and first lady have falsely declared stigma rather than lack of services as being the major barrier faced by the seriously mentally ill thereby justifying the diversion of funds to public relations campaigns rather than services, DJ Jaffe, executive director of Mental Illness Policy Organization, an advocacy group, wrote in an email. Twenty-nine hospitals responsible for more than 78,000 newborn deliveries each year representing nearly seven in 10 births in the city committed to screen all new mothers for maternal depression. I dont understand it because if someone is working full time and is a professional with a whole lot of background and applying themselves, I dont understand why they cant get paid, the mayor said during an unrelated press conference.