Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia, D-Bronx, speaks at a news conference recently in the state Capitol.

A Bronx lawmaker is proposing to bring a method of mental health treatment common in New York City to the rest of the state.

Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia, D-Bronx, recently introduced legislation (A.4878) to amend the state Public Health Law to establish mental health clubhouses to provide community-based psychosocial rehabilitation services for individuals living with mental illness. The goal is to create a structured support system offering workforce training, housing assistance, crisis intervention, and reintegration services for justice-involved individuals and veterans.

“New York faces a mental health crisis, with thousands of individuals struggling to access employment, stable housing, and essential mental health services,” Tapia wrote in her legislative justification. “Clubhouses provide an evidence-based, community-driven solution, reducing reliance on emergency rooms, shelters, and jails. By integrating peer support, workforce development, and housing assistance, these facilities empower individuals to achieve long-term stability and recovery.”

According to Clubhouse International, a mental health clubhouse is a community-based mental health service that empowers people with mental illness to take control of their recovery through access to opportunities for employment, socialization, education, skill development, housing and improved wellness. Membership is open only to people living with a mental illness, typically any local adult resident who has a history of mental illness. It is not a treatment program or mental health service, but rather a place where members develop friendships and opportunities to work together.

Tapia wants the state to create a new section of the state Public Health Law outlining the establishment, operation, and oversight of mental health clubhouses. Clubhouses would be prioritized in counties with the highest rates of homelessness, unemployment and psychiatric hospitalizations. The clubhouses must be accessible by public transportation, and in rural areas, mobile clubhouse services would be implemented. The state Health Department and the state Office of Mental Health would be tasked with developing a statewide implementation plan within one year of Tapia’s proposal becoming law.

All club would be required to be voluntary, free of cost, and open to any individual with a history of mental illness.

Required services would include employment assistance and workforce development that includes on-site job opportunities, job placement services, and professional skills training; housing assistance and homelessness prevention, which would include direct housing application support, coordination with homeless placement agencies, and emergency shelter services; crisis intervention and suicide prevention, which would include staff trained in suicide intervention (ASIST), naloxone administration for overdose prevention and emergency response coordination. Clubhouses would also be required to provide veterans services that include veteran peer specialists, PTSD support groups, and VA benefits navigation assistance.

Tapia also proposes a a public-private partnership model, allowing corporations to invest in workforce training programs within clubhouses in on-site job training programs and employment pipelines for clubhouse members. Clubhouses would also be required to partner with re-entry programs and probation offices to provide immediate services to individuals transitioning from incarceration that includes job training, housing assistance, substance abuse prevention services, and collaboration with parole officers to ensure successful reintegration.

Funding sources would include state funding, Medicaid waivers, federal grants and private sector investment, with funding based on county population, mental health prevalence and performance metrics.

“This model has been successful nationwide, demonstrating improved employment rates, decreased psychiatric hospitalizations, and lower rates of homelessness among members. Establishing a statewide network will enhance New York’s mental health care infrastructure and provide vital services to underserved communities,” Tapia said.