Addressing New York's Most Vulnerable Summit

1:00 PM	Welcome and Introduction By Emcee Zach Williams, Reporter, City & State NY
1:05 PM	Keynote Speaker Melanie Hartzog, New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services
1:15 PM	Special Presentation: Racism and Inequality in Healthcare Dr. Ramon Tallaj, SOMOS Community Care Henry Muñoz, Co-founder, SOMOS Community Care
1:25 PM	Tackling Mental Health in New York Among many other things, the coronavirus has placed substantial mental health burdens on New Yorkers, delays in life-saving treatments, many desperately needed children's services came to a halt, and as we know, the elderly populations were hit especially hard. A $2 trillion stimulus package passed in March including $425 million for mental health and substance-use disorder programs, which proves we are on our way to dealing with some issues. But we have also seen that economic status, physical environment, education level and more can impact people's health. We are also seeing a growth in drug abuse, homelessness, crime on the subways and in the streets. Advances are still needed in New York to handle mental health challenges of children of the homeless, foster care, LGBT, aging, etc. Maya Kaufman, Reporter, Health Care, Crains New York (moderator) Rebecca Linn-Walton, Senior Assistant Vice President, Office of Behavioral Health, NYC Health + Hospitals New York City Council Member Farah N. Louis, Chair, Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addictions Susan Herman, Director, Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health Abbi Robinson-Hobson, Chief Administrative and Finance Officer, Getting Out and Staying Out Dr. Carla Smith, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Urban Resource Institute
2:20 PM	How is New York Making Disability Rights a Priority There are approximately one million New Yorkers who identify as having a disability. New York's disabled community is incredibly diverse and vibrant with so much to contribute to this city. What can be done to improve access to safe, quality accessible affordable housing; make our transit system more accessible; increase opportunities to higher education and jobs; encourage government that is responsive to the needs of the disability community; and more. Additionally, special education is approximately 25% of the New York City Department of Education's budget. How can New York expand programs that are successful or remodel programs to make them more effective? Kristin Malek, Director Business Diversity, CDW (moderator) Victor Calise, Commissioner, New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities Christina Foti, Deputy Chief Academic Officer for Special Education, New York City Department of Education Gregory Mellon, New York City School Psychologist & Board Chapter Representative, The New York Association of School Psychologists (NYASP) Jose Hernandez, NYC Advocacy Coordinator, United Spinal Association John W. Mannion, New York State Senator, 50th District
3:15 PM	Community Engagement with Aging and Vulnerable Populations Community engagement can help empower communities in promoting COVID-19 prevention and containment as well as improve quality of life in all areas among the vulnerable and New York's growing older adult populations. These partnerships have the organizational and technical experience to reach older and more vulnerable community members and address unmet needs. How can New York work with community leaders to address the needs of community members who were high users of the police, emergency, criminal justice and healthcare systems? How can we work with our vulnerable populations including children to give them a better start early on? Kay Dervishi, Reporter, City & State NY (moderator) Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Commissioner, New York City Department for the Aging Patrick Kwan, Senior Adviser, Community Affairs Unit, New York City Mayor's Office Christopher W. Smith, Acting Associate Commissioner, Adult Community Care Group, Division of Adult Services, New York State Office of Mental Health
4:10 PM	Session Concludes