New York State has agreed to overhaul its Medicaid mental health services for children following a landmark settlement in the federal class action lawsuit C.K. v. McDonald. The case, filed in 2022, alleged that the state Departments of Health and Mental Health failed to provide legally required, community-based mental health care for children, resulting in some entering harmful situations or receiving no support at all.
A study by the Healthy Minds Healthy Kids campaign found that only one in four children covered by Medicaid in New York are receiving the mental health care they need. One plaintiff, Christina Hauptman, described her family’s experience on a waitlist: “While on waitlist, he had his first suicide attempt. We were representing the hundreds of thousands of children that were not getting their mental health services to stay home in the community.” Under the settlement, New York agreed to improve mental health services for children and youth in its Medicaid program, though the deal includes an 18-month planning period followed by additional implementation time.
Advocates and families are concerned about the timeline’s length. The Healthy Minds Healthy Kids campaign is proposing a $200 million investment in the state budget to increase access to outpatient services and reform Medicaid reimbursement rates. The group also reports that New York’s youth mental health workforce needs nearly 6,300 additional workers to meet current demand. Governor Kathy Hochul did not include the $200 million investment in her executive budget proposal, prompting advocates to rally at the state Capitol on Monday and lobby state senators and Assemblymembers directly to include the funding in their budget proposals.
Families shared their experiences at the rally. Emmi Murdi, a 10-year-old advocate, stated she “was pushed out of school because of behavioral health challenges in kindergarten.” Bethany Morgan, a mother and advocate, said her daughter “was not able to go to prom or graduate from high school” due to inadequate support. Brad Hansen, an advocate with the campaign, called on the state to “take action sooner than that.” The state Office of Mental Health stated that the settlement “will provide us a solid framework to ensure intensive home and community-based mental health services are available to serve the needs of all children and youth under Medicaid.”
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: http://www.spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2026/02/10/new-york-to-overhaul-medicaid-mental-health-care-for-children-under-landmark-settlement