SERVICES INCLUDE

Centers for Recovery and Wellness

The Pollack Center in Ronkonkoma and the Synergy Center in Riverhead operating under New York State Office of Mental Health PROS (Personalized Recovery Oriented Services) licenses are assisting some 400 adults affected by mental illness at any one time. The Centers help individuals overcome the impact of such illnesses, disabilities, and trauma to achieve goals of work, education, social connection, housing, community involvement, and overall health and wellness.

Countywide Health Home Care Management Services

MHAW provides coordination and support services, as well as outreach and engagement services, to thousands of individuals throughout Suffolk County with a range of behavioral and physical health challenges. This program has a concentration in eastern Suffolk which is a designated area for care management assignment through the County’s CAMERA (Case Management Evaluation Referral and Assessment) single point of access program.

Community Impact Services

Mental Health Helpline:

The Mental Health Helpline provides information and referrals to mental health services by telephone, online, or in-person.

Workforce Training:

MHAW offers continuing education seminars to ensure our behavioral health workforce offers our community the highest level of contemporary skills.

Community Education:

MHAW provides workshops and presentations, including Mental Health First Aid, to reduce the stigma and misunderstanding too often associated with mental health distress and mental illnesses.

Peer Support Services

A range of peer-run and mutual support services include self-help groups, a peer support line, and peer workforce support and training. Our Careers in Recovery and Wellness program aligns classroom training with the new state Office of Mental Health Peer Specialist credential available through an online exam administered by the Academy of Peer Services.

Housing Services

Approximately 80 beds of emergency, transitional, and permanent housing 60 allocated specifically for Veterans are provided through the Department of Social Services, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the state Office of Mental Health.

Services to Veterans

Through Suffolk County United Veterans, the agency offers a broad range of services delivered by trained Veterans and family members to assist at-risk Veterans and their families including outreach, crisis prevention and diversion, social and employment supports, and PTSD peer support. This includes the Pfc. Joseph P. Dwyer Veterans Peer Support Project and Supportive Services to Veteran Families (SSVF) initiatives.

Food Pantries

Three emergency food pantries in Yaphank, Ronkonkoma, and Riverhead are operated predominantly by peer volunteers and serve the needs of agency members and the local community, many who live below the federal poverty level. Since its inception in 2009, the food pantries have provided thousands of nutritious meals to families and individuals.

Special Projects

MHAW has initiated special projects as needs have arisen in the community including:

• Hurricane Sandy-inspired trauma consultation services to day care centers.
• Outreach, linkage, and health coaching services to uninsured and low- and non-utilizing Medicaid recipients under Stony Brook Medicine’s Suffolk Care Collaborative.

PLANS FOR 2016

MHAW expects to roll-out a number of new services including:
A Peer-Run Recovery Center to assist people with psychiatric disabilities and trauma-involved experiences to engage in wellness-directed supportive relationships with others who have lived experiences.

MHAW will become a provider of vocational and educational rehabilitation and coaching assistance as well as crisis prevention services under the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver package.

MHAW will become a Health Home Care Management provider to children with physical and emotional disabilities.

ONGOING COMMITMENT TO BEST PRACTICES

The agencies that comprise MHAW are long-standing and active members of both the New York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) and the Mental Health Association of New York State (MHANYS). Both organizations are statewide leaders in promoting consumer-driven principles.

MHAW is committed to the core practice values of empowerment, hope, opportunity, and cultural competence. All of the agency’s direct service workers are trained in the importance of addressing health from trauma-informed and whole person perspectives with enriched understanding of the social and economic conditions that contribute to physical and mental health and substance abuse.