NYC Health + Hospitals Expands Behavioral Health Services to 41 Domestic Violence Shelters
Since its launch in 2023, the program has provided over 5,600 behavioral health appointments and served over 700 patients at the city’s domestic violence shelters; Counseling, therapy, and medication management are provided at no cost to the resident Patient Aisha Wilson shares her story about receiving mental health support at one of the city’s domestic violence shelters Over 400 staff members in domestic violence shelters and approximately 100 staff annually at the city’s Family Justice Centers run by the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) have been trained on topics related to mental health and trauma
Jul 24, 2025
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals today announced the expansion of its Domestic Violence Shelter Mental Health Initiative, which increases access to evidence-based mental health services for families residing in the city’s domestic violence shelters. Announced in May 2023, the initiative began at 9 domestic violence shelters building on the success of the NYC Health + Hospitals mental health program operating at the City’s five borough-based Family Justice Centers and is now available at 41 domestic violence shelters. NYC Health + Hospitals’ staff conducted over 5,600 behavioral health appointments and served over 700 patients through this initiative since launching in late 2022. Residents of participating domestic violence shelters are now able to see a mental health specialist within one week, compared to previously waiting six months to one year for an appointment.
Patient Aisha Wilson also shared her story about leaving her abusive relationship and moving with her two teenage children into one of the City’s domestic violence shelters, where she found free mental health support for herself and her son and the resources to build a new life for her family. Read her story here.
This $5.9 million initiative aims to support mental health services to the thousands of adults and children who receive services at the city’s domestic violence shelters. Family screenings, individual and group sessions, and medication management are provided directly on-site to adults and children in these domestic violence shelters, significantly decreasing wait times. Behavioral health services, including therapy and psychiatric medication management is provided at no cost to the resident. The Domestic Violence Shelter Mental Health Initiative is a multi-agency collaboration between NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration, the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, and the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health.
“Increasing access to mental health services for special populations like survivors of domestic and gender-based violence is one of our behavioral health strategic priorities systemwide,” said NYC Health + Hospitals System Chief of Behavioral Health Services Omar Fattal, MD, MPH.“This is why we are proud to expand this initiative to all of our community-based partners so that residents of the City’s domestic violence shelters can access critical mental health services directly on-site, addressing their trauma in a patient-centered way and helping them attain stability.”
“The trauma that causes survivors to enter the City’s domestic violence shelter system is deeply profound and painful, requiring immediate support and therapy,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Domestic Violence Mental Health Initiative Director Obianuju Berry, MD, MPH.“This is why embedding access to mental health services directly in these domestic violence shelters is fundamental to ensuring the survivors and their children receive the help they need to heal and build a fresh start. Today we are thrilled to announce significantly growing this initiative and providing life-changing mental health support to more domestic violence shelter residents.”
“Every survivor in our care has endured a series of deeply destabilizing and traumatic experiences that can, without proper treatment and care, result in lasting physical and mental health challenges,” said DSS Deputy Commissioner of Domestic Violence Services Rima Rivera. “Which is why expanding access to high-quality, trauma-informed mental health services within the DV shelter system is absolutely critical. These are life-changing interventions, and we are thrilled to work with NYC Health + Hospitals to bring mental health services directly to these facilities so survivors can quickly and conveniently access the care they deserve.”
“Our mental health program with NYC Health + Hospitals at the city’s five borough-based Family Justice Centers has already made a meaningful impact on the communities we serve, and we’re excited to continue strengthening this partnership and building on its success,” said Saloni Sethi, Commissioner of NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. “Expanding this critical care to 41 domestic violence shelters acknowledges the deep connection between mental health and domestic violence, and ensures survivors and their children receive mental health support in an environment where they feel safe and are already connected to the help they need.”
“Offering immediate mental health support within the safe haven of domestic violence shelters is a deeply important step in nurturing healing and fostering lasting stability for survivors,” shares Eva Wong, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health. “Survivors deserve more than safety—they deserve immediate access to specialized mental health care with compassion, often on the very day they reach out for help. By embedding these crucial services directly within shelter walls, we are removing obstacles and ensuring that the journey toward recovery can begin without delay, offering a vital lifeline of support from the very first day.”
“When I went to the shelter, I started therapy for the first time in my life,” said Aisha Wilson, a patient who received behavioral health care from NYC Health + Hospitals at one of the city’s domestic violence shelters. “I wanted to be happy again, so I knew that I had to utilize this service so that I could begin to feel whole again. Domestic violence feels very lonely and scary when you’re in it, but there is help available. There are people and resources on the other side of that fear. They’ll help you make it through.”
“The providers at the NYC Family Justice Centers and NYC Health + Hospitals helped me navigate my challenges and see things from a new perspective. They helped me understand that what I was going through wasn’t my fault,” said Michelle, a member of VOICES, ENDGBV’s survivor advisory committee. “I’m still in therapy, but I’ve come a long way from where I started. I would absolutely recommend their services to others in need and to their families. They’re compassionate, and they work with you at your own pace—because every story is unique.”
At all 41 participating domestic violence shelters, residents are informed of available mental health services upon arrival at the facility and may choose to undergo a screening for services. Residents who need and want services have access to on-site services – sometimes the same day they arrive to the shelter – greatly improving upon current wait times. To further support access, families are able to attend weekly individual therapy appointments in-person at their shelter, at an NYC Health + Hospitals facility, or using telehealth. Weekend and night coverage are provided through the health system’s Virtual ExpressCare service. Group workshops and medication management are also available.
In addition, as part of the Domestic Violence Shelter Mental Health Initiative, over 400 staff members in domestic violence shelters and approximately 100 staff annually at the city’s Family Justice Centers (FJCs), run by the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV), have been trained extensively on topics related to mental health and trauma. The trainings provide essential knowledge and tools to support staff engagement with families at their shelter to help reduce the stigma of mental health and enhance the connection to care for the adults and children in domestic violence shelters. Front-line staff at the Family Justice Centers and domestic violence shelters state that they feel more equipped and competent in providing culturally and trauma-informed services after receiving this training.
DSS-HRA’s Domestic Violence Services (DVS) oversees the nation’s largest, most comprehensive DVS transitional housing system. In partnership with a strong network of experienced not-for-profit providers, DSS-HRA provides emergency transitional housing services and robust wrapround supports for survivors of domestic violence across 54 dedicated DVS shelter programs. Committed case managers and staff work closely with each client to address their unique needs and connect them to vital resources and supports to help them stabilize their lives. These include on-site case management supports, individual and group counseling sessions, psycho-educational group work, housing assistance support, childcare, empowerment programs, employment and benefit assistance, after-care, and advocacy. The system serves more than 10,000 survivors of domestic violence and their children annually.
In this multi-agency collaboration, NYC Health + Hospitals provides robust and evidence-based mental health therapy and psychiatric services and oversight of the initiative; the NYC Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration supports the oversight of the initiative and manages the domestic violence shelters; the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence offers guidance on the needs of families impacted by domestic and gender-based violence; and the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health provides technical assistance and interagency coordination.
Today’s announcement builds on the two mental health clinics for survivors at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County and NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln. The clinics provide trauma-informed mental health services, including screenings, individual and group sessions, and medication management. Patients can be referred to the clinics by any one of the city’s domestic violence shelters or to the Family Justice Centers operated by the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV). Family Justice Centers are walk-in centers that provide critical social services to survivors and build on NYC Health + Hospitals’ work to provide clinical services, including assessment and treatment, onsite.
Recognizing the need for providing onsite mental health services for survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence, in 2018 the City invested funding to expand the Family Justice Centers’ holistic approach to mental health through providing trauma-informed psychotherapy and psychiatric services at all five of the City’s Family Justice Centers. The mental health teams provide onsite clinical psychiatric and psychological assessments for clients within the FJC collaborative framework. As of 2025, the City baselined annual funding for this program at $2.3 million. As the next iteration of this effort to increase access to evidence-based mental health services for families residing in the city’s domestic violence shelters, the City launched the Domestic Violence Shelter Mental Health Initiative in late 2022.
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest provider of behavioral health in New York City. The system provides almost 60% of behavioral health services citywide serving over 78,000 patients annually across emergency, inpatient, and outpatient care.
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