Next to the need for safe and supportive housing, people experiencing homelessness are also in desperate need of mental and behavioral healthcare.
To bridge the gap, Albany County in New York is implementing a new program designed to meet unhoused people where they are at.
The county has employed a team of six people: A nurse, a mental health clinician, a case manager, a mental health care advocate, a certified alcohol and substance abuse counselor, and a supervising mental health clinician.
Together, they are a street psychiatry team, working in public spaces to support people in need of care.
Liz Frye, M.D., M.P.H., carries out field work as a street psychiatrist in Pittsburgh. Photo courtesy of Richmond, et. al
“Basically, we’re going to give them their prescription right there, right on the street to go get filled, so they can really get the help that they need,” Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said at a news conference for the program.
“We cannot address the homeless crisis without addressing the mental health crisis.”
While new to Albany, these programs are gaining traction across the country.
As of 2023, there were more than a dozen multidisciplinary teams like these, designed to provide psychiatric care to unsheltered homeless people, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
This approach also eases public safety concerns — one appreciated by all parties.
“Folks that are living on our streets … we need to meet them where they’re at. If we don’t get that clinic to them, we’re just going to continue to see disorder,” the county’s police chief, Brendan Cox, said.
“We can have this whole spectrum of responses that don’t always have to involve the police and start getting people the services they need and increase public health, increase public safety.”
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A version of this article was originally published in The 2026 Mental Health Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash
