Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center will permanently remain operating in West Seneca following extensive community input into a proposal to relocate the facility to renovated space at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center. As part of the plan to keep the Children's Psychiatric Center in West Seneca, the Governor also announced that the State has identified other resources to support services for up to 1,000 children outside a clinical setting that would have been funded through the cost savings resulting from the relocation plan.
"The Western New York community has consistently spoken with one voice and we are listening," Governor Cuomo said. "The new plan for the Children's Psychiatric Center will ensure the same level of care for Western New York families while addressing the concerns of the community. We have made great progress in ensuring access to vital mental health services for all New Yorkers, and this plan will uphold our commitment to the children and families of this state. I am grateful for the input and engagement from the community and will continue to work with them to ensure the highest quality of care for our children."
The Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center, which was built in 1970 to treat children with severe psychiatric problems, has provided high quality, comprehensive behavioral health care to children and adolescents for years.
The State is committed to completing renovations of what would have been the new location in Buffalo and will repurpose the space for future use.
Additionally, the previous relocation plan would have led to $3.2 million in savings associated with efficiencies that the State intended to reinvest in child and family mental health services in Western New York. The New York State Office of Mental Health has already pre-invested more than $1.68 million of the anticipated savings in child and family services operating in Western New York. Over 500 new children have been served to date through: