NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare

Director of Policy & Advocacy The NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a statewide membership association that represents 155 community-based mental health & substance use disorder agencies serving children, youth, families, and adults across NY. The Council has an extensive history of major ‘wins’ resulting in significant policy reforms that increase access to care and enhance provider viability.? Our new Center for Insurance and Payment Reform will increase our capacity to secure these reforms.? The Director will lead the Center, reporting to the Executive Director. ? RESPONSIBILITIES - Implement our ambitious 2025 NYS Council state policy agenda. ?-Organize and implement local and statewide campaigns to achieve our budget / policy goals; lead coalitions composed of diverse stakeholders that share our mission. - Facilitate meetings with NYS Council members to increase local advocacy with lawmakers and other key decision makers. -Prepare testimony, policy memoranda, memos of support, and reports as requested.??Prepare written materials to support advocacy campaigns. -Present to media outlets, professional conferences, and other venues on behalf of our members. ? QUALIFICATIONS -5+ years experience advocating for the needs of healthcare providers to include organizing and implementing successful advocacy campaigns.?Preference for those with experience advocating for mental health and substance use disorder programs and services. -Analyze and report on state budget proposals, legislation and other fiscal and policy documents/reports.? -Deep understanding of NYS Medicaid Program to include Medicaid managed care and commercial insurance. -Experience researching and writing policy memos and delivering testimony, and ease with public speaking. -Ability to travel throughout NYS with significant time in Albany.?Strong preference for applicants who live in or near Capital Region. ?SALARY AND BENEFITS -$120,000-140,000 depending on experience. -Full time (35 hours/week) Monday-Friday however the Director can expect some work on weekends/after business hours during legislative session and other busy times.?Ability to travel throughout the state and (infrequently) to stay overnight is required. -3 weeks paid vacation, paid individual health insurance, holidays, personal days, and sick time, as accrued.??3% employer contribution to SEP IRA after probationary period. The New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare does not discriminate against any applicant for employment, or any employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, or veteran status. Learn more about the NYS Council here: www.nyscouncil.org Send resume and a list of 3 references by September 30 to: Lauri Cole, Executive Director NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare 911 Central Avenue, P.O. Box #152 Albany, NY??12206

Yesterday, New York Nonprofit News First Read featured the work of the NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare and specifically, our relentless pursuit of an insurance mandate that will fundamentally change the lives of New Yorkers with private insurance who are struggling to find services through New York's public mental hygiene system. The new commercial rate mandate will require commercial insurers to pay OASAS and OMH outpatient services at a rate that (at a minimum) equals the mandated reimbursement rate the state pays for services to Medicaid beneficiaries. Great thanks are due to Governor Hochul and all state leaders for taking action to address the critical need for increased access to addiction and mental health care for ALL New Yorkers (regardless of the insurance card in their pocket). I am endlessly grateful for the privilege of leading an association composed of exceptional providers who are all deeply committed to increasing access to care. While not always headline grabbing, this ongoing work has changed countless lives across New York. We are a mighty army! #NYSCouncilAdvocacyWorks! https://lnkd.in/eKRXjaKa

Recently the NYS Council spoke to Mental Health Weekly about a new landmark budget provision that will undoubtedly improve access to care through New York's community-based mental health and substance use disorder agencies for those with commercial insurance. The provision was hard fought - our association pressed for over a decade to compel state leaders to make this historic change. Many thanks to Governor Hochul, members of the NYS Legislature and all of the many state agency staff and state regulators that made this change a reality! Here's the story in the May 13, 2024 Mental Health Weekly published by Wiley: https://lnkd.in/eiH-ZbF4

So proud to work beside this extraordinary leader and exceptional human being.

Today's Albany Times Union includes an article (linked below) describing the emergency actions being taken by the Hochul Administration to attract new state workers to fill job vacancies in the public sector. This is an important effort. But with job vacancy rates hovering in the 20% range across the (mostly not for profit) community-based mental health and substance use disorder systems of care where agencies have been struggling for years to ensure continued access to care for New Yorkers seeking services through New York's mental hygiene system, why are we not included in this effort? Community-based organizations are the safety net for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and yet we are too often left to fend for ourselves as we struggle to recruit and attract the staff we need. How is it different from the struggle the state faces? Waiving the state exam that is required before new workers can join the state workforce is a smart strategy but with starting salaries already significantly higher than those we can pay for comparable work, this effort will inevitably drain our workforce as staff seek better pay and benefits. And who can blame them? This should not be a competition but it will be. We need workforce solutions that go beyond a COLA and loan forgiveness. We need laser-focused leadership from the Administration that addresses the core barriers we face. And we need a commitment from all state leaders to prioritize our needs, to acknowledge and reward our outcomes and the efficient and effective manner in which we perform our work each day. Let's make the work less stressful and care for the mental health of those who work for us. Let's engage in a time-limited exercise to deliver meaningful regulatory relief so our staff can focus on the person in front of them rather than the paper or a computer. Let's address rigid scope of practice limits that do not consider the devastating workforce shortages we continue to face. And finally let's make a commitment to deliver more for our valued workers who are currently faced with impossible choices between doing the work they love and putting food on the table or having to work 3 jobs to make ends meet. We need to do better for ALL of our workforce - not just those employed directly by New York State. -- https://lnkd.in/emp_gQuY