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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Daphne Thammasila, Associate Director of Programs at Asian American Federation
4:41:11
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128 sec
Daphne Thammasila from the Asian American Federation testified about the mental health challenges faced by Asian New Yorkers and requested funding for initiatives to address these issues. She emphasized the need for culturally competent mental health services and support for community-based organizations serving the Asian American community.
- Highlighted the impact of anti-immigrant policies and anti-Asian hate on mental health needs
- Requested funding for hate crime prevention, immigrant mental health initiatives, and culturally relevant mental health services
- Stressed the importance of long-term investment in mental health services tailored to Asian Americans' specific cultural and linguistic needs
Daphne Thammasila
4:41:11
Thank you chair Brennan and the committee on finance and chair Schulman and the committee on health for holding this hearing and giving us the opportunity to testify.
4:41:19
I'm Daphne Tamasula, the associate director of programs at the Asian American Federation, where we represent over 70 member non profit organizations serving 1,500,000 Asian New Yorkers.
4:41:29
We're here today testifying as part of our Asian American Mental Health Roundtable, a coalition of 15 Asian led Asian serving organizations who work together to address mental health challenges, create solutions, and share resources to increase access to culturally competent mental health care.
4:41:43
Since January, Asian Americans continue to face rising challenges and live in fear due to the chilling effect of anti immigrant policies from the federal administration and the ongoing wave of anti Asian hate.
4:41:54
These stressors have intensified mental health needs and increased pressure on our community based organizations to provide services at a time of huge funding cuts.
4:42:02
Without culturally competent CBOs, Asian New Yorkers would face even greater vulnerability and isolation in this time of deep crisis.
4:42:09
We're disappointed to see a lack of funding dedicated to preventative solutions for addressing mental health issues in the mayor's budget, especially measures targeted toward the pan Asian community.
4:42:18
We respectfully request that the city council fund the following initiatives to help us sustain our mental health work to prevent and address crises before they arise and also ensure that this funding is allocated to Asian serving organizations like the organizations in our roundtable.
4:42:32
Initiatives are 200,000 for the hate crime prevention through through community based solutions, a hundred thousand for the immigrant mental health initiative to reduce stigma, and 150,000 for culturally and linguistically relevant mental health services for vulnerable Asian populations.
4:42:48
As we stated in our roundtables twenty twenty four policy brief, it's critical to invest in CBOs that can provide culturally and linguistically competent services to the Asian American community in New York City and to increase funding for mental health initiatives tailored to the specific cultural and linguistic needs of Asian Americans.
4:43:03
The challenges faced by Asian New Yorkers demand long term investment in mental health and an organization to provide this culturally and linguistically competent care.
4:43:11
We're committed to increasing access to culturally competent mental health care and advocating for our community with our roundtable.
4:43:18
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.