Hicksville, NY (March 22, 2019) – Aiming to help stem the tide of opioid deaths, addiction and mental health crises across Nassau and Suffolk Counties, CN Guidance & Counseling Services—a nonprofit which provides outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment – has been awarded NY State dollars to expand its capacity and infrastructure.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on February 5th that Long Island would be receiving more than $15 million to improve health care programs across the area.
The funding is part of $204 million that is being spent statewide to transform the state’s health care system. The money from the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program will improve patient care through the development of high-quality medical facilities and programs serving the inpatient, primary care, mental health, substance use disorder and long-term care needs of communities throughout New York.
CN Guidance & Counseling Services will specifically use this much-needed $1.2 million funding towards building out its main headquarters at 950 South Oyster Bay Road in Hicksville to accommodate co-located primary care and influx of more clients – through lobby renovations and increase in its parking lot capacity.
Jeffrey Friedman CEO of CN Guidance & Counseling Services “This funding enables us to meet growing demand during a time of great need,” said Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of CN Guidance & Counseling Services. “We are very much honored to be one of the few agencies on Long Island to receive these critical dollars.”
Jeffrey Friedman
CEO of CN Guidance & Counseling Services
The Long Island region suffers from disproportionately high rates of serious mental health conditions that result in emergency room usage and/or hospitalization. Among all regions across NY State, Long Island (L.I.) was shown, by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) to have the highest percentages of: (1) ER visits for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and chronic stress and anxiety diagnoses; (2) inpatient admissions for bipolar disorder; and Long Island has experienced over 1000 recorded opioid-related deaths since 2017, across all income levels. Many people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol also face untreated co-occurring mental health disorders, such as depression and/or anxiety. In addition, suicide rates in NY State have increased almost 30 percent over the last two decades. As a result, demand for services is increasing, as CN Guidance & Counseling Services has expanded from serving 2,000 consumers 5 years ago to serving almost 7,000 today. Such growth is unprecedented in over 47 years of service.
Established in 1972, the purpose of CN Guidance & Counseling Services, a nonprofit organization, and the only state Certified Community Behavioral Health Center on Long Island, is to improve the quality of life for individuals and families on Long Island affected by mental health and/or substance use disorders by recognizing and addressing the integration of behavioral health and physical health. The organization leverages a holistic perspective, driven by its belief in the ability of every individual to recover.
