Social media ads promoting Thrive have reached millions of people, according to the metrics, but the data doesn’t show how many people actually used the program after learning about it. But there is no corresponding data on how many were used or how effective the outreach was. While it plans to be more deliberate in the future, Thrive staff did not provide internal goals or benchmarks by which to judge its progress to this point.įor instance, Thrive’s metrics show that between July 2016 and October 2018, 189,070 Naloxone kits were distributed throughout hospitals, syringe exchange programs and other sites where opioid overdose is common. The city has not begun tracking several programs, such as one for outreach to veterans with mental health challenges and another for trauma services for families with young children, according to the metrics. The data delineates each program within Thrive and tries to measure the initiative’s reach within a given timeline. The 14-page report, acquired by POLITICO this month, seeks to evaluate the program’s performance, but does not provide a clear picture on what it has accomplished thus far. In recent months the administration moved to change that, creating a centralized office for the program, appointing a senior adviser to oversee it and releasing budget details and data on 472 metrics against which it could weigh the program’s effectiveness.

But the budget discrepancies illustrate the difficulty in tracking Thrive.

Both City Hall and IBO suspect the Office of Management and Budget included fewer programs in the City Hall version, accounting for the difference. The City Hall budget shows $594 million in spending since ThriveNYC’s inception. Two budget breakdowns acquired by POLITICO - one from City Hall and one from the Independent Budget Office - show significant differences in spending. POLITICO filed a records request for the program’s line-item budget in October 2018, but the city has twice requested an extension. Thrive also is meant to focus on communities - African Americans, Latinos, military veterans - who are less likely to seek care for mental health problems. It is meant to target low-income individuals who are often priced out of mental health care because those services are typically not covered by insurance. Run by the mayor’s wife and closest adviser, Chirlane McCray, ThriveNYC sought to tackle issues like substance use, depression and suicide. Some requested anonymity for fear of retaliation while others were more vocal in their critiques. POLITICO spoke to more than 16 people, including elected officials, advocates, representatives of community organizations, researchers and consultants who said that although it is crucial for the city to invest in mental health resources, they did not know whether Thrive was successful and said the city has an obligation to publicize its numbers and how it compares to the goals it set out to accomplish.

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