Washington, DC – Yesterday, the Trump Administration, suddenly and without warning, notified several agencies across Long Island and throughout America of the immediate termination of grants. Several Long Island institutions quickly reported to Congressman Suozzi’s office that nearly $2 million in SAMHSA grants have been cut, and possibly more. Nationwide, 2000 organizations have been cut off from $2 billion in funding.
Congressman Suozzi reached out to the affected organizations. He joined more than 100 colleagues in the House of Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, on the attached letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy to express bipartisan outrage at these sudden cuts.
“We strongly urge you to rescind all of the terminations immediately. Too many people across the country are suffering without the necessary resources. We must ensure that SAMHSA programs serve their congressionally intended purpose of getting lifesaving resources to our communities,” the letter reads.
That evening, the cuts were reversed.
“This pattern and practice of cutting programs without warning that not-for-profits are counting on, in the middle of the fiscal year, is unfair, unproductive, and maddening. While I’m relieved these cuts were reversed, we can’t keep doing this,” said Suozzi.
“Without warning, grants were terminated. It’s a reckless and awful move that undermines efforts to deliver drug treatment, alcohol counseling, and mental health care,” said Suozzi. “These programs are how we save lives and help our neighbors and loved ones escape the grip of opioids and other addictive drugs. Cutting off already-awarded grants throws organizations into chaos and puts patients at risk. Addiction and mental health crises do not stop mid-year, and neither should the support systems people depend on.”
Nearly $2 million in funding cuts would have impacted organizations in the 3rd Congressional District. CN Guidance has reported $1,250,000 in cuts to programs to address child trauma, drug addiction, and mental health first aid training. The Family and Children’s Association has reported $125,000 in cuts to mental health first aid training. The YES Community Counseling Center has reported $544,970 in cuts to its Bridge Program to curb addiction in young adults.
Suozzi’s office is in contact with local organizations and will ensure their funding cuts are reversed.
The bipartisan letter to Health and Human Services is here.
New Legislation Will Help Protect Kids from Predators, Scammers and Harmful AI Chatbots on Online Platforms
New York Will Lead the Nation in Teen Mental Health First Aid Training
Expands Resources To Allow Every Tenth Grader to Be Trained in Teen Mental Health First Aid, Empowering Kids to Support Their Peers
Builds on Governor’s Nation-Leading Work To Ban Smartphones in Schools, Enact Social Media Warning Labels and Restrict Addictive Feeds, Create Safeguards Against Harmful AI Companions, and Open More than 1,300 School-Based Mental Health Clinics
Governor Kathy Hochul today unveiled her first State of the State proposals, which will continue to build on her progress to keep New York’s kids safe online and combat the youth mental health crisis statewide. The new legislation will help protect children from online predators, scammers and harmful AI chatbots integrated on online platforms. Additionally, the Governor is proposing a first-of-its-kind, statewide expansion of Teen Mental Health First Aid training, designed to give young people the tools to identify, understand, and effectively respond to signs of mental health and substance abuse challenges among their friends and peers. These proposals build on Governor Hochul’s nation-leading work to ban smartphones in schools, enact social media warning labels, restrict addictive feeds, and create safeguards against harmful AI companions. Governor Hochul’s focus on youth mental health also led to the creation of more school-based mental health clinics, community-based treatment options, and peer-based supports for youth and adults.
“As New York’s first mom Governor, the well-being and safety of our children has always been one of my top priorities, and today we are continuing to break new ground to give our kids the tools and safeguards they need to contend with the unprecedented mental health challenges and real world dangers that can sometimes be a byproduct of navigating today’s digital world,” Governor Hochul said.“These proposals will create a nation-leading standard that will ensure our kids’ safety in online and real world environments where they spend time.”
New Protections for Kids on Online Platforms
Numerous lawsuits and investigations have alleged that online platforms have not taken appropriate steps to protect the children using them. These online platforms allow children and adults to contact each other worldwide — which leaves children susceptible to grooming, child abuse, and exposure to violent and inappropriate content, including suicide.
The Governor’s proposed legislative package to keep kids safe from emerging threats on social media and online gaming platforms will include:
Expanding Age Verification: Expanding requirements for platforms to conduct age verification, including online game platforms.
Privacy by Default: Kids will be set to the highest privacy settings on covered platforms by default, meaning non-connections cannot message kids, view their profile, or tag them in content. Location settings will be turned off by default, and children under 13 must receive parental approval for new connections.
Disabling AI Chatbot Features: Disabling certain AI chatbot features on social media platforms for kids.
Parental Controls: Parents must be able to set limits on children’s financial transactions.
This package draws on existing legislation sponsored by State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said, “Online platforms like Roblox are enabling unsafe environments for children, including allowing predators to send explicit messages to children. We urgently need to pass crucial online safety protections to stop predators from exploiting children and create safer online environments for children to play. I am proud to continue working with Governor Hochul, Senator Gounardes, and Assemblymember Rozic to push for nation-leading legislation that will protect children and families online.”
Senator Andrew Gounardes said,“It’s a grim reality of the modern internet: the online platforms where our kids spend so much time are failing to protect them from predators. From toys to food to cars, we regulate all sorts of products to keep children safe. There’s no reason platforms like Roblox should be different. This proposal sends a clear message that New York will always prioritize our kids’ safety over Big Tech’s profits. I’m grateful to Governor Hochul for her partnership on this important proposal.”
“Protecting kids online means more than limiting harm. It means empowering them with knowledge, skills, and resources,” Assemblymember Nily Rozic said. “This legislation responds directly to the concerns parents like me have raised about harmful and addictive online design, and it gives us the tools to hold companies accountable. I’m grateful to Governor Hochul for listening to parents across our state and taking decisive action to protect our kids’ mental health and well-being.”
Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer said, “Common Sense Media applauds Governor Hochul’s inclusion of these important new children’s online safety protections in her State of the State proposal and we thank Senator Gounardes and Assemblymember Rozic for their leadership on this issue. The online games kids play and the social media platforms they use for hours and hours a day have become veritable hunting grounds for predators. Kids and teens need these new protections now more than ever.”
“These common-sense proposals by Governor Hochul will better safeguard New York’s youth from the harms of addictive and manipulative tech, and help put an end to the ongoing national emergency in child and adolescent mental health,” Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA) Founder and Executive Director Julie Scelfo said. :The parents of the MAMA movement are grateful for the Governor’s continued national leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with her and with the State Legislature to enact policies that protect our kids.”
Expanding Youth Mental Health Training For 180,000 Teens
Governor Hochul will propose to make Teen Mental Health First Aid training available to all 10th graders across New York State. New York would phase in a commitment to make training available to more than 180,000 students annually, ensuring that over time most high school students will have the basic skills to support themselves and each other.
When teens experience mental health and substance use challenges, often their first resort is to talk to their peers. Likewise, friends are often best positioned to identify and empathize with stressors that may be acting on fellow students. Research demonstrates that with training, young people have the capacity to both identify and effectively respond to mental health challenges in ways that can improve and even save lives.
This training is designed for young people between the ages 15 and 18 so they can identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in their friends and peers. It equips them with skills to recognize common signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges; the impact of bullying and school violence on mental health; how to have impactful conversations with classmates about mental health concerns or to seek help from an adult; formal and informal support, and self-care.
As part of this initiative, the State will also offer new Youth Mental Health First Aid training for adults who regularly interact with youth in schools and community programs. This nationally-recognized curriculum introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations.
New York State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, “In our discussions with young people about mental health issues, one consistent thread became clear — youth reach out to their peers when they are in distress. Teen Mental Health First Aid helps young New Yorkers talk with their classmates and friends about mental health issues and provides them with the know-how to get them help when it is needed. By expanding this program, Governor Hochul is continuing her steadfast commitment to improving youth mental health and providing our young people with the skills they can rely on to live and thrive among the challenges they face today.”
President and CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing Chuck Ingoglia and Vice President of Mental Health First Aid Tramaine EL-Amin said, “This announcement represents a historic and transformative investment in youth mental health. We are deeply grateful to Governor Hochul for her bold leadership and unwavering commitment to the mental wellbeing of New York’s students. By expanding teen Mental Health First Aid to reach all 10th graders statewide, New York is setting a powerful national standard — normalizing conversations about mental health, reducing stigma and equipping an entire generation with critical, potentially lifesaving skills. The National Council is proud to partner in this effort and remains fully committed to supporting schools, educators, parents and communities as this landmark initiative moves forward.”
This State of the State proposal builds on Governor Hochul’s ongoing efforts to address the youth mental health crisis statewide and help keep kids safe online. This work has established New York as a global leader in securing a safer online world for children. Initiatives include:
The SAFE for Kids Act, which restricts addictive features of social media for kids, and establishes important national precedent about age verification.
The Child Data Protection Act that prevents online operators from collecting and monetizing children’s data without informed consent.
AI Companion legislation which set first-in-the-nation safeguards, diverting user conversations about self-harm to mental health resources and interrupting unhealthy addictive behaviors. The Governor also outlawed AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material.
The Unplug and Play Agenda which helps encourage the healthy socialization and child development by funding social infrastructure, physical sites like playgrounds, community centers, and pools, and expanded youth programming.
New York’s Distraction Free Learning Policy which is already resulting in greater academic achievement, improved student wellbeing, and safer school environments for students.
The recently signed Warning Labels bill that will require social media companies post warnings about the platform’s potential impact on mental health.
Governor Hochul’s nation-leading $1 billion mental health initiative and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding in subsequent budgets is significantly expanding access to care for young people and their families –from increasing inpatient and residential treatment capacity to building community-based services designed to help youth remain at home and in their community.
Governor Hochul also expanded school-based mental health clinics, which help students get a licensed mental health care provider in a familiar stigma-free setting on their school campus. The state now supports 1,300 clinic satellites, up from 872 in 2020, covering 25 percent of all NYS public schools.
Governor Hochul’s focus on youth mental health also led to the creation of new Youth Assertive Community Treatment teams to support young people with serious emotional disturbances who are either at risk of entering, or are returning home from high intensity services, such as inpatient settings or residential services. New York funds 42 new Youth ACT teams — 23 now operational — in 31 counties, providing youth and family therapy, medication management, family and peer support, and skill-building.
There are also now 65 Home Based Crisis Intervention Teams – including 60 that are now accepting referrals – which serve youth between the ages of 5 and 20 and provide intensive individualized services to help families support young people recovering from mental illness in their own homes.
Governor Hochul also established the Youth Mental Health Advisory Board, a 30-member advisory board which includes youth between the ages of 11 and 17. The advisory board convenes quarterly and is designed to ensure that youth-informed best practices continue to be incorporated in developing behavioral health programs and policies.
Governor Hochul also expanded Youth Safe Spaces programs, which provide a place for young people between the ages of 12 and 24 to access behavioral health and wellness resources, foster positive relationships with their peers, and receive support in a comfortable setting. To support the initiative developed with input from the Governor’s Youth Mental Health Advisory Board, the Office of Mental Health awarded $7.5 million to establish four sites this fall and is soliciting proposals for additional locations to be awarded early next year.
It is notable that the dictator wannabe Trump cites the images he saw on TV to decry starvation in Gaza – he has a whole intelligence apparatus and presumably a daily briefing (with pictures!) to give him a true assessment, unvarnished by his conspiracy-propagating media and social media allies (Fox, X). It is also notable that instead of going after the true perpetrators and source of terror and violence – the mass murderers, political extremists with easy, ready access to weapons of war – the MAGAs decry those who advocate for justice and fairness in law enforcement. And instead of improving public safety by increasing funding for intelligence and law enforcement, Trump and his Department of Homeland Security are withholding funding to urban centers (read, “Democrat-leaning”) centers.It is yet another instance of Trump and his vile administration using money – that is, OUR tax dollars – as a weapon to further his personal and political objectives, without a care for the fallout for public safety, health, security – Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com
Governor Kathy Hochul issued a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding the release of funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) through the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) following Monday evening’s mass shooting in Midtown Manhattan.
UASI funding is critical to building intelligence analysis capacity within the NYPD, enabling surge capacity when new threats are identified, and allowing the NYPD to provide federal law enforcement partners with intelligence collection and analysis capacity during large National Special Security events. UASI also supports a wide array of security initiatives conducted by law enforcement and public safety agencies throughout Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties
Eliminating this funding — which totaled more than $156.1 million for New York in 2024 — would make New Yorkers less safe at a time when New York City remains a high-level target for acts of targeted violence. New York City, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, City of Yonkers, and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties all received awards through this funding.
The full text of the letter:
Dear Secretary Noem:
As Governor, my top priority is keeping New Yorkers safe. For decades, New York has partnered with the federal government, your agency specifically, to resource homeland security and counter terrorism efforts in New York City and across New York State.
On Monday, it was once again apparent that New York City remains a high-level target for acts of targeted violence. Four New Yorkers lost their lives, including an NYPD officer, in Midtown Manhattan. The assailant responsible traveled from Nevada all the way to our nation’s largest metropolis to commit this heinous act.
Your Department has long recognized that densely populated urban areas constitute a specific and unique target for acts of terrorism and targeted violence, and that there are unique needs and challenges to securing them safely. However, under your watch the Department of Homeland Security has failed to release the funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI).
We know from public reporting that Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson sent a memo to the White House that you approved recommending the elimination of UASI. In that memo, the Acting Administrator admitted that eliminating this funding would result in “a less secure nation, especially at the border and in some of the nation’s most targeted cities, including Miami, Washington DC, and Dallas…”. New York City is this nation’s most targeted city when it comes to terrorism threats.
Eliminating this funding — which totaled more than $553 million in 2024, $156.1 million of which went to New York — would make New Yorkers less safe, hamstring the NYPD’s efforts to confront terrorist threats, and reduce intelligence information sharing across local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. This funding has been critical to building intelligence analysis capacity within the NYPD, enabling surge capacity when new threats are identified, and allowing the NYPD to provide federal law enforcement partners with intelligence collection and analysis capacity during large National Special Security events — all goals that until recently we were confident our federal partners shared with us.
On Monday, the same day as the latest targeted attack, your agency released several homeland security preparedness grants that we had expected to receive in May. However, you failed to also release UASI — the grant specifically designed to protect the nation’s highest urban terrorist targets.
Further delays in the release of UASI will degrade our nation’s ability to protect our urban centers including our ability to keep New Yorkers safe. I urge you to fulfill your duty to protect all Americans and to release UASI funding immediately.
