Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday during her State of the State address plans to invest more than $1 billion in mental health care, a move one professor says is a huge step in ensuring support for services.

Hochul's plan includes adding 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds statewide along with housing to support people once they have been released from a facility. She says more than 3,500 residential units will be built to help with prevention and recovery.

MORE: NY governor plans $1B investment in mental health care

Hofstra professor Genevieve Weber says access to mental health services has shifted since the pandemic started, because many services moved to telehealth and that's not accessible to as many people as might need support or services.

"There's so much work, almost all of our graduates are getting jobs and that's good for the job market for mental health counselors, but what it means is we're an unwell society right now and so it's exciting to hear that clinicians are very busy," says Weber. "But what's happening is that in a lot of private practices, it's a business and often times fees are not accessible to everybody."

The governor also says she plans to put forth legislation prohibiting insurance companies from denying people access to critical mental health services.