Nonprofit mental health center opens on Long Island; Suffolk County sheriff says state needs to prioritize mental health for inmates
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- The COVID pandemic has taken a toll on people's mental health, highlighting a national problem.
CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff visited a new facility on Long Island that will help residents with the backlog created by the pandemic.
The new nonprofit mental health center opened in Riverhead to serve Long Island's East End.
"Other practitioners have waitlists of weeks and months to be seen," said Tracey Anderson, with Rise Life Services, Riverhead.
This new clinic is one answer to a concerning backlog in mental health services worsened by the pandemic.
"You're seeing a lot more anxiety, depression ... I'm a grandfather. I had to stay home for a year and not see my grandkids for a year," said Charles Evdos, executive director of Rise Life Services.
A gap in mental health care is also fueling crime. Sixty percent of New York's inmates have a diagnosed mental health issue.
"And those are the ones that are diagnosed," Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon said.
Toulon says New York needs to better prioritize mental health for suspects released without bail and after serving time. He says jails and society are still paying the price for the emptying of mental institutions decades ago.
"These individuals that have mental health issues are not being addressed, and they're winding up in our jails throughout the state and they're not getting the proper treatment," he said.
In his jails, a re-entry program called S.T.A.R.T. works with inmates before and after they are released, pairing them with mental health counseling.
"They're not even aware of the programs that are available to them upon discharge, so that's where we come in. We connect them with our community providers that address both the mental health and substance use disorder issues," said Vincenzo Barone, deputy warden of the Suffolk County sheriff's office.
They've lowered a nearly 70% recidivism rate to only 11% for those who take part in the program.
Toulon says prioritizing mental health is about more than helping individuals but is needed to make our communities safer.
Rise Life Services plans to also open a second nonprofit counseling location in western Suffolk County in Huntington.
