Right up there with co-Mayor Bill, who started the week on his own sour note announcing that his signature Renewal school program was closing up shop after pounding $773 million down a rathole. 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? 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. But the police are still often the only ones available to respond quickly to calls, even to the mental health line. In an interview with POLITICO in August, she acknowledged Thrive had not yet released data on its performance related to its mental health hotline, NYC Well. The mayor, for his part, has brushed off questions about his wifes activities in his administration, making no apologies for her high-level role in city business. "This work is about the needs of the people of this city. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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 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. 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. Full Media Blackout: Bill de Blasio's Wife Can't Account For $850 [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]. Heres How (and When) To Watch President Trump At CPAC. 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. McCrays office provided The CIty with names of eight full-time employees whose salaries added up to about $1.1 million. . NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife "Can't Account For" $850 MILLION of We cant have a universality in this from day one, he added. For example, 29 hospitals had agreed to screen almost 78,000 new mothers for post-natal depression each year as part of the scheme. But now, that money cannot be accounted for, and . 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 comments below have not been moderated, By 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. What do they always tell you when youre in high school or in college? Bill de Blasio's wife "misplaced" $850 million taxpayer money (dollars If you love what we do, please consider a $1/month donation to keep us live! STOLEN? NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife "Can't Account For" $850 MILLION 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. From Daily Mail: Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental . Speaking to the Post,Queens Councilman Robert Holden told theNew York Post: "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. SICK: Here Is That Perverted Sex Ed Video Teaching First Graders To Masturbate, Pfizer Makes Stunning Admission On COVID-19 Jab Clinical Trials, China & Cambodia Report Human Cases of Avian Flu, Next Pandemic?, EPA Forces Norfolk Southern to Test For Dioxins in East Palestine After Heated Town Hall. Things happen. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. 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? 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. Not all of the programs in her plan were new. Head of content and Editor-at-large at Ghanafuo.com Dickson Ofori Siaw is a blunt writer who loves to make his readers see "the other perspectives of a news story". LOST? NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife "Can't Account For" $850 MILLION 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. 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. 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. That visibility has led to questions this week by Errol Louis of NY1s Inside City Hall over her role. The father asked for a psychiatrist and a social worker to be sent to the home. Market data provided by Factset. 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, . What are some fun facts about Wayne Shorter? Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. Bill de Blasio attempts to defend his wife's $1.1M salary for staff Questions have mounted in recent days over McCrays expansive role in high-level City Hall decisions, despite having no official title other than wife of the mayor. NO JOKE: Bill De Blasio's Wife Lost $850 Million Taxpayer Dollars In SheisalsothechairmanoftheMayorsFundtoAdvanceNewYorkCityandtheexecutivedirectorofThriveNYC. She is routinely visible around de Blasio at times when he is making high profile announcements and administration appointments. 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. 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. De Blasio's wife can't account for $850m given to mental health scheme https://t.co/gTEJcrCeob via @MailOnline, NYC Mayor De Blasio's wife spent $900 million in taxpayer moneywith no record of how it was used https://t.co/UGe8liu6L0, De Blasio and co-mayor wife have wasted $1.8B of taxpayer moneyFrankly Im surprised its not much more considering these two incompetent lazy stoners are at the helm. Zelensky Exposed (Literally): This Is The Guy We Are Sending Billions To? But problems with the citys initial proposals delayed the process, those involved said. Two locations have been selected, in East Harlem and the Bronx, but neither has opened yet. But that kind of programming wont address institutional problems like homelessness and serious mental illness, which are financial and safety burdens to the city, he said. Anyone can read what you share. It was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. Oh, brother. The city comptroller is also investigating. For example, 29 hospitals had agreed to screen almost 78,000 new mothers for post-natal depression each year as part of the scheme. Thats because there never was any doubt what the program was about. 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. Please share your thoughts about this article below. David Woodlock, president of the Institute for Community Living and a former top state health official, praised Ms. McCray for her courage in taking on mental health issues. 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. NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife Has Reportedly "Lost" $850 MILLION of Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. 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. Good thing it wasn't an even $1 billion, huh? Where did Russell Senior go to college and high school? If we want to reach all these women, we need to start somewhere. Right up there with co-Mayor Bill, who started the week on his own sour note announcing that his signature Renewal school program was closing up shop after pounding $773 million down a rathole. 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. That it should happen in a single week is worse its an embarrassment. REPORTS: Bill DeBlasio's Wife Has "Lost" $850 MILLION of Taxpayer Money! But if she were getting paid, people would likely question whether he appointed her to a paid position to enrich his family if shes not getting paid, then everyone knows hes not doing it to enrich his family.. Things happen. 2023 Ghanafuo.com & DM Network. 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. In fact, the mayor said Wednesday, McCray should get paid, but for widely accepted nepotism rules forbidding such an arrangement. 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 biggest challenge for Mr. de Blasio and Ms.. Besides the ramped-up spending, a big part of Thrive has been Ms. McCrays advocacy. A spreadsheet of nearly 500 data points tracked by City Hall included almost none related to patient outcomes. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Insight from Dr. Oscar Odom, former NYPD detective. More than $15 million has been budgeted over the last three years for the effort; none has been spent. TheNY Postreports that among multiple failed programs and bad accounting, the figure is actually not $850 millionbut rather $1.8 billion. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to defend first lady Chirlane McCray against backlash on Wednesday after it was discovered she had private staff that's getting paid millions in taxpayer money. Everyone in life goes through something, said Stacey Hamilton, 52, a peer specialist and social worker, reassuring Mr. Abreu during a recent visit that he, too, could become a peer counselor and recalling her own history of mental illness and incarceration. That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. 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. What happened to $850 million given to Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane 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. The New York Post ran a story on speculation that McCray was being groomed for political office. Some have closed their doors; others have chosen to stop providing mental health services. 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 . It is meant to target low-income individuals who are often priced out of mental health care because those services are typically not covered by insurance. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? If you love what we do, please consider a $1/month donation to keep us live! Mr. de Blasios wife, Chirlane McCray, has done the same, presenting the effort as a national model to audiences from Atlanta to Seattle. | Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office. Laura Ingraham has even called it a "scheme". 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. Chirlane McCray can't explain where the $850m in funding has gone after it was given to the organization she runs, ThriveNYC. Now we have to shift into another phase.. We invite you to become a WeLoveTrump insider. If this is the highest level of care, she asked, how many success stories are there really?, Chirlane McCray, de Blasios Wife, Is Questioned Over His Revolutionary $1 Billion Mental Health Plan, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/nyregion/thrivenyc-mental-health-.html. Facebook is heavily censoring information from independent sources. The officers eventually brought him to Elmhurst Hospital, nearby. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? Legal Statement. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. 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. The service also includes text and web chat. 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. One, fromCity Hall, showed $594million in spending, but a second, from the Independent Budget Office, showed $816milion. Read our full Disclosure. Bill de Blasio's Wife Can't Account For $850 Million Collected 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. Tap here to add The Western Journal to your home screen. Please check your email inbox to confirm your message and send it to our editorial team. 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. 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. 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. Despite the worrying misuse of taxpayermoney highlighted by the revelations, the government has granted a huge increasein the project's budget going forward. So far, almost all of the information on follow-up care comes from the limited cases in which a social worker and psychiatrist have been sent to visit the person. 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. Some requested anonymity for fear of retaliation while others were more vocal in their critiques. Of those 7,811 referrals for people with serious mental illness meaning they can be a risk to themselves or others Thrive does not track whether those individuals received care or continued with it. Legal Statement. We've received your submission. Meanwhile, the same number either closed or were merged with other schools while under the initiative. At least one stat the program tracks showed underperformance in an area of particular importance to McCray. Stop the censors, sign up to get today's top stories delivered right to your inbox. But the interaction is not therapy, cautioned Dr. Anitha Iyer, who helps oversee the call center. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she . Of the 78,000 newborn deliveries in the city annually, only 28,560 new mothers have been screened by the Thrive program. Heres How (and When) To Watch President Trump At CPAC. Actually, first lady Chirlane McCray works hard for free, her husband Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, and he is not happy about it. Seven mayors attended a 2017 national mental health conference in New York City. Budget watchdogs have lamented Thrives opacity. During a recent visit, a screen played YouTube videos of adorable animals, to help soothe staff members who work in sound-dampened cubicles. The mental health initiative, known as ThriveNYC, is crucial to Ms. McCrays potential as a future political candidate, and has become increasingly important to Mr. de Blasio as he toys with a possible 2020 presidential bid. 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. We did not say everything would be perfect, burbled the co-mayor as if anybody outside his immediate orbit expected an outcome even close to competent. The government could decide not to have a nepotism restriction but it would come with costs like undermining the public trust, Clark said. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Only 570 of the estimated 12-15,000 mothers who experience postpartum depression have been reached by the program, Politico reported, a number NYC disputes. "I'm not sure anybody does.". And while it sounds good to spend heavily on a mental health initiative, it appears that nobody has noticed any real benefits from that investment. 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. But he bemoaned the inadequacy of state funding, and called the citys contracting process broken. Only 28,560 new mothers were screened between September 2016 and October 2018, according to Thrives data. Bill De Blasio's Wife Just Lost $850 Million Taxpayer Dollars In Mental With over 22,000 layoffs of city workers looming, the mayor cant seriously expect to keep funding full-time, highly paid speechwriters and professional videographers for his wifes political ambitions. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? You're logged in to Facebook. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. With opaque budget and elusive metrics, $850M ThriveNYC program It seems that Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife (Chirlane McCray) headed a taxpayer-funded project called ThriveNYC and now she can not, or will not, account for $850 million in taxpayer money. McCray acknowledged in October 2018 that the city does not often discuss Thrives programming for violent individuals due to stigma. Read our full Disclosure. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $850 million for a mental health program she was spearheading, The Daily Mail reported. The City Council discovered this shocking amount of potential waste . Bill de Blasio's wife can't account for staggering amount of taxpayer money that the NY Mayor gave her for mental health project . The MIDD progress report also explains how well each program was executed, what challenges were faced and the outcomes. 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 are no longer accepting comments on this article. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $850 million for a mental health program she was spearheading, The Daily Mail reported. Fellow contender for the Brooklyn borough presidency,City Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), slammed the spending, according to The New York Post. Bill de Blasio's Wife Can't Account For $850 Million Collected Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Four years later, no one seems to know what that money was actually used for, according to the New York Post. 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? That is, once upon a time, first spouses were content to pretend to be in charge of prettifying highways and things. The program, ThriveNYC, has fallen far behind its goals and appears to be a massive failure for the city. 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.. 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. Bill de Blasio wife: Meet Chirlane McCray. From The Daily Mail (published in early March): 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. Press Esc to cancel. And guess what I finally found it. (She receives no pay for her city work.). Of the 78,000 newborn deliveries in the city annually, only 28,560 new mothers have been screened by the Thrive program. As of 2022, the amount has not been accounted for. 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. Something happened that triggered the need for me to go, she said without elaborating. Weve actually built the first rational approach to the real scope and breadth of the need. How about the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort six years, uncountable delays and billions of dollars later? I think its safe to say that Bill DeBlasios presidential prospects are dead in the water before they even started. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion! 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. One frequent critic of the program said McCrays reticence in discussing violence related to mental health was a cop-out. (VIDEO) Donald Trump Pitches Agenda 47: Create Freedom Cities. Its revolutionary, Mr. de Blasio told CNNs Symone Sanders during a recent forum at Harvard University. .hustle-ui.hustle_module_id_1[data-id="1"] .hustle-layout .hustle-button-cta {width:100%!important;font-size:18px!important;}.hustle-ui.module_id_1 .hustle-popup-content {max-width: 400px!important;}.hustle-group-content p {font-size:18px!important;margin: 24px 0 0!important;}.hustle-content-wrap{padding-bottom:0!important;}, We may receive compensation from affiliate partners for some links on this site. Wife of Corrupt NY Mayor Bill de Blasio Makes $850 Million of Taxpayer Speaking to the Post,Queens Councilman Robert Holden told the New York Post: '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. 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. 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. I'm not sure anybody does.'. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Alex Murdaugh unanimously found GUILTY of murder of wife and son, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race. Meanwhile, de Blasio announced earlier this week that he is mothballing his failed Renewal school program after spending $773million. 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. 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. At least one available barometer hinted at the challenges that the city still faces in dealing with mental illness: More New Yorkers dialed 911 to report a person in the midst of a mental health crisis last year 179,000 calls than at any point in more than a decade. Arizona Hospital Temporarily Suspends Admission of Cardiac Arrest Patients Due Democrats Hiding That John Fetterman is Brain Dead to Prevent Special Election? 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.