COMMUNITY NEWS

Kennedy alumnus named LICADD director

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A former Bellmore resident and Kennedy High School alumnus was recently named executive director of one of Long Island’s largest non-profit drug- and alcohol-treatment agencies.

Steve Chassman, a 44-year-old licensed clinical social worker and accredited alcoholism and substance abuse counselor who now lives in Northport, was named to the top position at the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. on Nov. 3. Chassman, who previously served as the organization’s clinical director, said he looks forward to his new role.

Chassman graduated from Kennedy in 1988 and earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from New York University in 1992. Attending college during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York and nationwide, Chassman said he realized he wanted to work in healthcare and do his part to help those struggling with substance abuse.

“I saw this as a human-rights issue,” he said. “And the people at LICADD believe it’s a basic human right that people deserve access to help. People are not problems –– their issues are.”

Chassman completed his master’s degree in social work at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. As a licensed clinical social worker, LICADD officials said, he is well-versed in the treatment of mental-health and substance-related disorders. Treatments include motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, wellness self-management, emotional self-regulation, rational emotive therapy, grief and loss counseling, critical incident stress debriefing, co-dependency counseling, empowerment and recovery readiness counseling, risk-reduction counseling, crisis-intervention counseling, and risk assessment for suicidal and homicidal ideation.

In 2008, Chassman joined LICADD as clinical director. He noted that he has loved working for the organization, as the staff focuses on helping one family or individual at a time –– regardless of ability to pay.

“We don’t let money be an obstacle for services here,” he said. “No one is ever turned away. There’s still an altruistic air to LICADD in that what’s paramount is that people get the services they need.”

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