"After hearing some of the stories ... that tell you how much these programs matter ... do you believe small clubhouses have a role to play in our mental health system, yes or no? ... These are very simple questions, that are yes or no: (Do) you believe smaller clubhouses have a role to play in our mental health system?"
"When I do get upset, people are like, 'Oh shoot.' ... That got me pissed a lot - like, for sure. I was so angry. And I was like, 'What the hell?' Being a longtime social worker, it's not surprising that one of the few times she recalls outwardly displaying her anger was during a March 2024 budget hearing."
NYC Council Member Linda Lee, a longtime social worker, expressed rare outward anger during a March 2024 budget hearing regarding the city's mental health contracting policy. The policy favored mental health clubhouses serving over 100 people, disadvantaging smaller community-based programs. Lee, then-chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities and Addiction, pressed Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan with direct yes-or-no questions about whether small clubhouses have a role in the mental health system. Vasan resisted the format, providing longer answers. Lee maintained her questioning approach, demonstrating her frustration with the commissioner's evasiveness and the policy's impact on community mental health services.
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