Albany, NY - February 14, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today awarded more than $4 million to develop 10 24/7 Open Access Centers to deliver immediate engagement, assessment and referral service options to New Yorkers seeking treatment for substance abuse. The centers, to be located statewide, further advance the Governor's aggressive efforts to combat addiction in New York State and proactively address the public health problem of addiction to prescription opioids and heroin.
"Substance abuse knows no age, knows no income and knows no zip code in New York or across the nation," Governor Cuomo said. "With these around-the-clock Open Access Centers, we can provide critical services night and day to New Yorkers when they need it most."
The primary goal of Open Access Centers is to ensure that anyone in need of substance use disorder services has immediate access to addiction treatment services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Staff will be on-hand to help people, family members and law enforcement with addiction treatment services. Staff will also be available or on-call to provide an immediate assessment and referral to the appropriate level of care.
"These new centers will make a significant impact in communities around our state by ensuring that anyone who needs services or interventions will be able to receive help right away, no matter the time or day of the week," New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Arlene González-Sánchez said. "They also provide the necessary responsive, compassionate assistance and support needed to help New Yorkers successfully start their recovery journeys."
The new centers will be in nine of the state's 10 economic development regions, apart from Central New York, where Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare recently opened a center in October 2017 through a locally issued, state-funded procurement.
The following programs were selected to receive funding through a request for applications OASAS issued in 2017:
Capital Region
- Albany County Department of Mental Health, $248,700
- Counties to be Served: Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren and Washington
Finger Lakes
- Wayne County Department of Mental Health, $450,000
- Counties Served: Wayne, Ontario, Seneca, Yates, Livingston, Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans and Monroe
Mohawk Valley
- The Neighborhood Center Inc., $450,000
- Counties to be Served: Oneida, Herkimer, Otsego, Montgomery, Delaware, Chenango and Schoharie
North Country
- St. Joseph's Addiction and Recovery Center, $450,000
- Counties to be Served: Essex, St. Lawrence, Clinton and Franklin
Western New York
- Horizon Village, $450,000
- Counties to be Served: Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus
Long Island
- Family and Children's Association, $450,000
- Counties to be Served: Nassau and Suffolk
Mid-Hudson
- Lexington Center for Recovery, Inc., $450,000
- Counties to be Served: Putnam, Westchester and Rockland
New York City
- The Resource Training Center, $388,600
- Counties to be Served: Brooklyn and Queens
- VIP Community Services, $260,000
- Counties to be Served: Bronx
Southern Tier
- Alcohol and Drug Council of Tompkins County, $450,000
- Counties to be Served: Tompkins, Steuben, Chemung, Schuyler and Tioga
Senator George Amedore, Chair of the Senate Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Committee said, "Access to opioid addiction treatment and services can mean the difference between life or death. The funding that we have secured to open these new access centers will ensure that individuals struggling with addiction receive the appropriate care and treatment they need."
Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse said, "Communities across the state continue to struggle with opioid addiction, and overdose deaths now outpace deaths from breast cancer and vehicle collisions. We can help save lives if we provide treatment and recovery services that are accessible to people where they live. This desperately needed funding helps move us in the right direction, and people on ground need additional resources to help turn the tide in the fight against this disease. I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that the needed resources are directed to the communities that need them."
New Yorkers struggling with an addiction, or whose loved ones are struggling, can find help and hope by calling the state's toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).
Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, community residence, or outpatient care can be found using the NYS OASAS Treatment Availability Dashboard at FindAddictionTreatment.ny.gov or through the NYS OASAS website.
Visit CombatAddiction.ny.gov to learn more about the warning signs of addiction, review information on how to get help, and access resources on how to facilitate conversations with loved ones and communities about addiction. For tools to use in talking to a young person about preventing alcohol or drug use, visit the state's Talk2Prevent website.