The Manhattan Psychiatric Center, seen from the Harlem River. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons | Illustration: New York Focus
- New York has dozens of volunteer boards overseeing state-run psychiatric centers and regional disability offices — and all but two have fewer members than the legal minimum.
- The Senate confirmed only one person to a board this year, even though 30 of the governor’s nominees were waiting to be voted on.
- The shortages leave many boards unable to inspect facilities. “It’s leaving people not receiving their rights,” said one nominee waiting to be approved.
The board overseeing state-run programs for people with developmental disabilities in New York’s bucolic Hudson Valley is tasked with visiting and inspecting each of the roughly 130 facilities under its purview at least four times a year.
The only problem: The board has just a single member, and the law requires at least seven.
The board’s job is to inspect and evaluate supportive housing centers, group homes, and other programs, providing outside oversight. In the Hudson Valley, that all falls on Charles Scheinberg, a retired mental health clinic worker…