New health centers come to community

The Nassau County Family Support System of Care — a partnership between the Nassau County Department of Mental Health, Chemical Dependency and Developmental Disabilities Services; Nassau University Medical Center; and Families Together in NYS — recently opened two new NuHealth Family Resource Centers in Elmont and Westbury/New Cassel, within existing NUMC NuHealth Family Health Centers.

Alexis Gabriel, social marketing coordinator for Nassau County’s Family Support System of Care, said the Family Support System of Care is a countywide initiative, funded through a six-year, $8 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The system provides emotional wellness for children and youth, ages 6 to 21, who have or are at risk for developing serious emotional problems, as well as their families, Gabriel added.

In addition to the Family Resource Centers in Elmont and Westbury/New Cassel, which opened in March, the county’s Family Support System of Care has had a center at 135 Main St. in Hempstead since November 2009. At the centers, Gabriel said, families work with specially trained family resource coordinators to identify their strengths and needs. An individualized, strength-based, culturally appropriate service plan is then created to meet each family’s needs, she said. Gabriel said that all Family Resource Center services are family driven and youth-guided, and are offered free-of-charge to Nassau County families.

The Nassau County Family Support System of Care will be celebrating 2011’s Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week with open house events on Tuesday, May 3, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Elmont Family Resource Center, located at 161 Hempstead Tpke. in Elmont; Wednesday, May 4, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Hempstead Family Resource Center, located at 135 Main St. in Hempstead; and Thursday, May 5, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Westbury Family Resource Center, located at 682 Union Ave. in Westbury. “These events will bring together family members, children and youth, community members and professionals, in an effort to raise awareness of children’s mental health issues,” Gabriel said.