By Howard Goldstein
She gazes into the black night, a perfect mirror image of the cold darkness she thinks encompasses her world. There is no hope, she decides. Only loneliness and pain.
Then, grim hope makes its final stand. She grabs the phone and calls the Long Island Crisis Center's suicide hotline in Bellmore, hoping to hear a voice at the other end, wondering whether she's truly alone.
She calls the center's number.
She gets only an answering machine.
Such will be the scenario for hundreds of young people if the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week suicide hotline maintained by the crisis center is shut down, according to Paula Grenot, LICC's assistant director, and Linda Leonard, the agency's executive director.
In recent years, the center has faced the possibility of closing for good after county funding cuts in 2000. Now, the center is staring down still more cutbacks.
"We've never recovered from the Gulotta cuts of 2000. We cannot sustain another cut on top of the 28-percent reduction we got almost three years ago," said Leonard. That year, former Nassau Executive Thomas Gulotta (R-North Merrick) slashed more than $100,000 in discretionary contracts for the crisis center to help fill a hole in the county budget.
"Back when we first got wind of this before the 2000 Budget meeting, the county told us not to worry, that they'd 'take care of it.' Then they informed us that our funding was cut by 50 percent...on Christmas Eve! We were able to get it 'down' to 18 percent with a fight," said Leonard.
In the end, after monies were restored, the first cut totaled $46,953. The new cut amounts $21,998, which puts the Crisis Center down $68,751 annually.
David Chauvin, spokesman for county Executive Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), said the most-recent cut is needed because of the county's continuing financial woes.
"No one wants to cut youth services," he said, "but Nassau's financial situation is desperate. We would like more uniform cuts across the board, but it is almost impossible to cut state-mandated programs. Most youth services are not state-mandated, but discretionary, and the county can only cut discretionary funds."
Grenot called the cuts small for the county, but a crippling blow to an already-hobbled program.
"They might as well just say, 'No youth services,'" she said.
The Long Island Crisis Center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, offering anonymous counseling to any person, any time. The organization runs a 24-hour suicide hotline, Runaway Homeless Youth and Pride for Youth programs, as well as programs for troubled or at-risk young people.
"We know the county is in dire financial straits," said Leonard, "but the county is exacting disproportionate compensation from the most-disenfranchised part of the populace."
The cuts are also bad fiscal policy, according to Grenot.
"The youth-service system in Nassau County currently spends $112 per child, per year. It costs $70,000 per person, per year to maintain someone in the criminal-justice system. If 100 kids end up in the criminal-justice system because there were no youth programs, that will cost the county $7 million per year. Does this make financial sense?" said Grenot.
"We already operate at bare minimum. We rely on volunteers, and those of us who get paid are making just enough to survive on. Most costs do not go down...We cannot ask Verizon, LIPA or the landlord to lower our bills to keep pace with our funding cuts."
Grenot added that "we must pay volunteers a stipend to work the graveyard shift. Without it, we cannot get enough people to take overnight. This leaves Nassau County without a 24-hour suicide line. We also have a hotline for Runaway Homeless Youth. And there are homeless youth in Nassau County...The cut threatens them with no lifeline to help and no emergency shelter."
Bruce Nyman, public-policy director for Nassau County, said, "We understand their anxiety, but we need to make the point that 10-percent cuts will only affect contracts over $75,000. Half of the fifty youth programs will not get the cut.
"We are instituting new policies, including centralization of the programs, and we will help administratively.
"Also, this is only a 10-percent cut. All of the $6 million for youth agencies come from taxpayers. In fact, we are protecting them from the body blows...We've had to cut 1,400 jobs and cut the work force by 15 percent. Most services are mandated. Only youth services are discretionary, so that's all we can touch.
Nyman continued, "Some people on the Budget Committee wanted deeper cuts, or to do away with youth services entirely. County Executive Suozzi wouldn't hear of it. We plan to help them with the paperwork and with centralized outreach. We think the Crisis Center will survive."
But Crisis Center officials strongly doubt the agency's ability to go on in face of further cuts.
"This is 10% percent on top of a 18-percent cut that we've barely survived. This is like saying, 'OK, I need to cut my household expenses, so I just won't eat'!" said Harvey, a Crisis Center counselor.
"If we lose any more money, we cannot pay employees, and we cannot pay the bills. It is really very simple. Kids can't vote, which is why they can dare to cut this. But their families can vote, and should," said Grenot.
Leonard said, "A 10-percent cut might be livable, if it were the first cut, but on top of the previous cut, it would make the 24-hour suicide hotline impossible.
Nassau County Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) opposes cuts to the Crisis Center and has said so publicly.
"It's hard to imagine where we'd be without the Crisis Center," he said, "especially after Sept. 11. The Crisis Center is a commitment to the county to help those in need, and it is important to remember where the budget cuts come from. Some things must never be cut."
"I have already secured a $10,000 grant for the center," Denenberg said, "by working with the [Nassau County] mental-health commissioner, and I am currently seeking more grants for them."
New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) said, "I support the Crisis Center absolutely. It is the refuge of people with nowhere to turn. We need a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week suicide hotline, and I am committed to helping them."
The Crisis Center receives more than 20,000 calls per year (including a 500-percent increase in the months after Sept.11 2001), from all over Long Island as well as other parts of the country that do not have 24-hour hotlines.
"We've absolutely saved lives, prevented suicides, abuse and homelessness," said Grenot.
Volunteer Roberta agreed, saying, "This center provides an invaluable and wonderful service for anybody in need. Many people have nowhere else to turn."
"Unfortunately," said Grenot, "we have no client base to speak for us precisely because the helplines are anonymous. We only know what they want to tell us."
"We urge everyone to call county Executive Thomas Suozzi at 571-3131, or fax him at 571-4000, and tell him not to touch youth services. People should also call Dave Denenberg, who has been a great source of support," said Grenot.
