By GREGORY ZELLER //
The nation’s first Assertive Community Treatment program targeting mentally challenged children has risen on Long Island.
That’s the claim of Amityville-based not-for-profit Hope For Youth, which manages six residential facilities and 35 foster homes and is dedicated to promoting positivity among adolescents and their families.
That quest has led to the launch of Hope For Youth’s ACT team, focused exclusively on the needs of mentally challenged Suffolk County youth – marking “the first organization in the nation to establish an ACT team specifically for young people,” according to Hope For Youth.
Assertive Community Treatment programs combine treatment, rehabilitation and support services in a patient-centered, recovery-based approach to serious mental illness. Hope For Youth’s new ACT team will address the mental-health needs of children at risk of entering – or returning home from – hospitals, residential treatment centers and other high-intensity facilities, with resources enough to manage 36 active client relationships.
David Hegarty: Keeping the family whole.
“Transitioning from a residential treatment facility or hospital is often difficult,” noted Hope for Youth Chief Executive Officer David Hegarty. “By involving the family in a holistic approach, Suffolk Youth ACT gives its recipients a greater chance at recovery and independent living than traditional modes of care.
“We hope that it will serve as a model for other organizations and other states as they develop their own teams,” added Hegarty, who doubles as Hope For Youth’s executive director.
Suffolk Youth ACT will offer integrated care to patients ages 10 to 21 and their families, including in-home services. It will focus primarily on “children who have demonstrated serious emotional disturbance and whose needs are not being met in more traditional settings,” according to Hope For Youth, with the dual purpose of keeping children out of institutionalized settings and helping them transition successfully back into their community.
The Amityville agency is also the first statewide organization to implement a youth-focused ACT plan since Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last month that Albany would award $21 million to 15 agencies servicing young people with mental-health difficulties.
“When at-risk young people are suffering from hardships, it is imperative that families stay together,” Hochul said in a statement. “New York is leading the way in developing new and innovative ways to provide behavioral healthcare to vulnerable individuals.
“With the help of this new program, children across the state will have the opportunity to remain with their families and receive the services they need.”
