The mayor and first lady have falsely declared stigma rather than lack of services as being the major barrier faced by the seriously mentally ill thereby justifying the diversion of funds to public relations campaigns rather than services, DJ Jaffe, executive director of Mental Illness Policy Organization, an advocacy group, wrote in an email. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Black Democrat DA tells the truth on crime, but progressives won't listen. NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife "Can't Account For" $850 MILLION of Chirlane McCray, the wife of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, can't account for hundreds of millions in federal taxpayer money. Jeffrey Epstein - De Blasio Wife Loses 850 Million - Right Edition STOLEN? NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Wife "Can't Account For" $850 MILLION 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 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. Of the 19 events, only three were advertised as being open to questions from reporters. It is not, in the end, just about money. The program, ThriveNYC, has fallen far behind its goals and appears to be a massive failure for the city. De Blasio insisted McCray is just as available to questions as he is, despite a majority of the first ladys events having no question and answer period. Run by the mayors wife and closest adviser, Chirlane McCray, ThriveNYC sought to tackle issues like substance use, depression and suicide. 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. . 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. Spencer Cox to sign bill banning abortion clinic operations. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $850 million for a mental health program she was spearheading, The Daily Mail reported. If we want to reach all these women, we need to start somewhere. I think its safe to say that Bill DeBlasios presidential prospects are dead in the water before they even started. Thrive is really corrective to the narrowness with which we approach this issue, which leaves a lot of people without care, a lot of people untouched, a lot of people not getting what they need, and its precisely the need to widen it that were trying to fix.. As the Worst Mayor In History Mayor Bill DeBlasio gets set to leave office, we thought it might be a good time to revisit an old question: I bet youre never seen this story reported on the nightly newsbut dont worry, well show it to you! POLITICO spoke to more than 16 people, including elected officials, advocates, representatives of community organizations, researchers and consultants who said that although it is crucial for the city to invest in mental health resources, they did not know whether Thrive was successful and said the city has an obligation to publicize its numbers and how it compares to the goals it set out to accomplish. 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. It is a hard thing to measure, because its never existed before, Ms. McCray said in an interview at Gracie Mansion last month. But problems with the citys initial proposals delayed the process, those involved said. 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 . Over the next four years, Ms. McCray would transform herself into a mental health evangelist. The biggest challenge for Mr. de Blasio and Ms. McCray has been to identify concrete results. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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. 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. The phones at NYC-WELL ring constantly, 180,000 times in 2018, according to city data. He receives regular visits from a psychiatrist and a peer counselor. But there is no corresponding data on how many were used or how effective the outreach was. 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. Powerful personality ChirlaneMcCrayisapoliticalfigureintheUnitedStates,aswellasawriter,communicationsexpert,editor,andactivist. This story has been shared 121,909 times. 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. Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlane McCray cannot explain where $850million given to the mental health program she champions has gone, according to reports. 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. Of the 78,000 newborn deliveries in the city annually, only 28,560 new mothers have been screened by the Thrive program. I dont know if we have them available yet, but we certainly are tracking what people are calling about, what theyre asking for, and as much demographic information as we can, McCray said. The MIDD progress report also explains how well each program was executed, what challenges were faced and the outcomes. Chirlane McCray can't explain where the $850m in funding has gone after it was given to the organizationshe runs, ThriveNYC. Besides the ramped-up spending, a big part of Thrive has been Ms. McCrays advocacy. McCray acknowledged in October 2018 that the city does not often discuss Thrives programming for violent individuals due to stigma. More than $15 million has been budgeted over the last three years for the effort; none has been spent. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Two locations have been selected, in East Harlem and the Bronx, but neither has opened yet. Folks, let me tell you something, if there truly is a scheme here and the money was intentionally misused or funnelled somewhere, that is criminal. Bill de Blasio's Wife Can't Account For $850 Million Collected Actually, first lady Chirlane McCray works hard for free, her husband Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, and he is not happy about it. Thank you! Last month, McCray and de Blasio announced the appointment of Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson together. Legal Statement. For all the talk, the initiative has been less sweeping than envisioned: A third of the budget has not been spent, according to an analysis of city data by The New York Times. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Roughly 10 percent of the Thrive budget, more than $30 million in the current fiscal year, goes to address serious mental illness, according to City Hall. 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 was honorable work, it didnt cost very much and it filled up the spouses free time. 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? According to the Daily Mail, 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. Thank you! She has traveled the city urging New Yorkers, particularly in black and Hispanic communities, to open up and to erase the stigma around mental health. De Blasio and 'co-mayor' wife have wasted $1.8B of taxpayer money 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 program's inception and nobody seems to have a clue on what. 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. The City Council discovered this shocking amount of potential waste during a meeting Wednesday. I'm not sure anybody does.'. Some requested anonymity for fear of retaliation while others were more vocal in their critiques. Trump threatens to send federal agents to New York City if Bill de Blasio can't stop the violence, Whitmer's $79B budget proposal chock full of protections for equity, inclusion and 'reproductive freedom', Sununu pushes back on DeSantis' crusade against 'woke' corporations: 'That's not what Republicans are about', These Biden administration agencies have admitted COVID lab leak is plausible, Utah Gov. That is, reversing Bloomberg administration plans to shut down 100 miserably malfunctioning schools, thus saving the jobs of barely competent teachers and administrators and shutting up small bands of noisy parents who loved the schools despite their failings. That visibility has led to questions this week by Errol Louis of NY1s Inside City Hall over her role. No, Dr. Gary Belkin, a top health official and the chief of policy and strategy for Thrive, said of using the hotline to connect people to care effectively. We need all agencies involved in this issue because all agencies touch it, Belkin said. But also mayoral spouse Chirlane McCray, who has just been revealed as a world-class boondoggler in her own right. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was given $850 million for a mental health program she was spearheading, The Daily Mail reported. Benedy Abreu, right, is in a program funded through Thrive to help those with serious mental illness and a criminal past. NO JOKE: Bill De Blasio's Wife Lost $850 Million Taxpayer Dollars In McCray is the proprietress of ThriveNYC, a mental-health-related something-or-other created four-plus years ago to give a little heft to the conceit that Bill and Chirlane were elected as co-mayors which is nonsense on stilts. Bill de Blasio's wife "misplaced" $850 million taxpayer money De Blasio bemoans nepotism laws keeping his wife from - POLITICO 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. Insight from Dr. Oscar Odom, former NYPD detective. 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. Withoutrecords, the schemeis unable to pinpoint where the missing funding has been allocated, if at all. 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. Sign up for our free email newsletter, and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop. The program has made more than 7,800 referrals to outpatient treatment for those individuals between August 2015 and November 2018, according to city numbers. 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. Hey, the family that preys together stays together, right? Im more than confused and more than surprised on this newfound interest on something that we have been talking about for four years, de Blasio said. De Blasio did not say hed pursue a change in the law and acknowledged there were good historical reasons for the rule. Officials are also collecting survey data. It is not, in the end, just about money. McCrayiswellknownforbeingthewifeofBilldeBlasio,themayorofNewYorkCity,aswellashisclosestadvisor. Fast-forward to Wednesday, when the City Council was startled to discover that McCray and Team Thrive are closing in on havingspent an eye-popping $900 millionsince the programs inception and nobody seems to have a clue on what.