New York State Office of Mental Health Bureau of Planning Coordination Statewide Mental Health Plan Development Schedules

Reverse chronological by year of plan.

The series consists primarily of originals and drafts of planning documents and research materials used to produce the five-year comprehensive plans for mental health services apparently prepared by the Office of Mental Health's Bureau of Planning Coordination in response to section 5.07 of the Mental Hygiene Law. The planning documents were formulated from local services plans following the framework of goals and objectives developed by the Council for Mental Hygiene Planning for resource allocation and evaluation processes pertaining to state and local services to the mentally ill, retarded, developmentally disabled, and to alcohol and substance abusers. Scheduled public hearings allowed comment by interested persons to member agencies on the planned objectives, directions, and activities.

The series also includes memorandums and notes in response to an amendment of section 5.07 adopted by the Laws of 1978 (Chapter 491), which called for changes in plan submission dates, preparation of an interim (annual) report, and additional meetings of the Council for Mental Hygiene Planning to assess progress of offices in achieving goals and objectives and to issue a report assessing the 5 year plan.

The 5.07 plans generally include an executive summary of significant events, goals, and setbacks; a statement of goals, strategies, and objectives; and sections on administration and finance, operating costs, capital plans, research, and the service system framework for prevention and serving target groups, and appendices typically providing estimates of demand and supply of services.

Background and resource materials for preparation of the plan include: charts and tables (usually showing the estimated number of individuals needing mental health services, county receiving agencies, or breakdowns of locally operated mental health programs); plan outline and materials received from staff offices relating to chapters in the plan narratives; regional summaries and review of local government plans incorporated into the plan; tables showing allocation of planning related responsibilities among state and local government departments/units; and mailing lists and reproduction costs.

Of special note are draft material and interdepartmental memoranda of a working group made up of the Health Planning Council (HPC), the Office of Mental Health (OMH), and the Health Systems Agencies (HSA). This HSA/OMH/HPC Workgroup on Mental Health was formed to develop a priority package of mental health service standards and statistical indicators for use in gauging the progress of the mental health system's service and planning areas. The approach measured six systems characteristics (cost, availability, accessibility, continuity, acceptability, and quality) of mental health services.

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