City Should Release $4.5M Allocated to STEPS in FY26 Budget to reach more New Yorkers and Relieve Pressure on the Broader System
Click here to read the full Year Two Evaluation Report
(New York, NY) – Today, the Institute for Community Living (ICL) released its Year Two Evaluation Report on the Step-down Treatment Ensures Personal Success (STEPS) innovative pilot program. The analysis found the program had continued success serving New Yorkers with serious mental health challenges and long histories of homelessness, repeated hospitalizations, and justice involvement. ICL is asking the City to release funding allocated in the FY26 budget and to expand the program to more people.
“STEPS began as a pilot to close a critical gap in our mental health system. Our independent evaluation confirms that it is working,” said Jody Rudin, President and CEO of the Institute for Community Living. “We are successfully helping people move toward greater independence and become less reliant on costly, intensive interventions. This is helping us address the mental health crisis that has played out on our streets. With a prior commitment from the City, now is the time to scale this model and better serve our neighbors.”
As a structured step-down model from high-intensity services, STEPS gradually reduces the level of care individuals receive while maintaining clinical oversight and housing stability, which allows individuals to sustain hard-won progress and avoid returning to crisis. The program also reduces waitlists for the City and State’s most intensive treatment programs.
STEPS was launched in October 2023 with support from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The grant funding runs out this summer, potentially leaving 100 STEPS participants without the care they need.
Our analysis of the STEPS program found that of the participants:
● 97 percent were housed
● 89 percent avoided hospitalization
● 86 percent avoided emergency room visits
● 100 percent were not arrested or incarcerated
● 81 percent maintained medication adherence
STEPS was created to fill a critical void in the behavioral health system. Previously, there was no structured way for individuals who had stabilized in highly intensive mobile treatment programs—such as the City’s multidisciplinary, community-based Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) or the State’s similar team-based Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)—to smoothly transition, or “step down,” to a lower level of care.
Today, roughly 1300 people are on IMT and ACT waitlists. Without a step-down option, high-intensity slots remain filled longer than clinically necessary, limiting access for those still in acute crisis. In year two of the STEPS program, 66 individuals successfully transitioned out of ACT and IMT programs into STEPS, contributing to an estimated 5 percent reduction in ACT and IMT waitlists.
The evaluation also highlights STEPS’ fiscal impact and cost savings. The annual cost per client in STEPS is approximately $7,497, compared to $42,487 for IMT and $24,391 for ACT.
In addition to calling for the City to release funding allocated to STEPS in FY26, ICL also is calling on the City to release the $11 million allocated for IMT services in the FY26 budget and fully scale the STEPS program in FY27 with a $31 million allocation.
“As New York City continues to confront a visible mental health crisis, STEPS offers a proven, scalable solution that expands capacity, reduces costs, and protects some of the city’s residents with most acute needs,” said Jody Rudin.
