County seeks $250,000 to stand up street psychiatry pilot with Albany Police Department

Department of Mental Health staff told the Albany County Health Committee that the county is seeking to amend its 2025 budget to accept $250,000 in state funding routed through the Albany Police Department to support a street psychiatry pilot aimed at bringing treatment into community settings.

“We are doing...a street psychiatry initiative that we’re hoping will complement some of our other outreach programs,” Dr. Giordano said. He described the pilot as a mobile treatment team intended to reach people who cannot take advantage of office-based services, with the goal of engaging them, reducing homelessness and managing crises.

Committee members asked for timing and operational details. Dr. Giordano said the county is not yet operating the street psychiatry team and that approval of the budget amendment would allow hiring for the positions needed to stand the program up. “If you approve our request, that’ll be the first step. We would like to start filling these positions and that will be [to] stand this up,” he said. He added that the pilot does not require capital construction and that the county had combined two funding opportunities to create the program budget.

Because the meeting was unofficial and lacked a quorum, members did not take a formal vote; several members asked to be added as sponsors. The committee discussion referred to existing outreach efforts (mobile crisis, case-management outreach) and emphasized that the street psychiatry pilot would provide on-site treatment rather than only case management.