Suffolk County residents experiencing a mental health crisis have new resources for help.
On Tuesday, county officials announced they will be opening a mental health support line within the next few weeks to help people experiencing crises and episodes.
“It's really about action and actions that we can take in making sure that every single individual who is in crisis and every family who is in need can find the right help at the right time,” said Suffolk Executive for Health and Human Services Sylvia Diaz. “Because awareness without action is meaningless.”
Residents will be able to call 311 to access the helpline during business hours directly, but the department plans to expand to around-the-clock operation over time. Under the program, regular 911 operators will also be able to transfer callers experiencing a mental health crisis to social workers if needed.
The initiative comes in collaboration with the social worker agency Family Service League, and two psychology graduate students from Stony Brook University have also been integrated into the program.
“This is also something that's going to benefit the people of Suffolk County, because that's oftentimes going to be jobs that the police department might not even have to respond to,” said Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina. “If the Family Service League counselor can take care of that situation there, then those police officers will be freed up to respond to violent crimes and ultimately be able to help other people.”
Ryan McDonald, 21, also spoke at Tuesday’s press conference, outlining his story of trauma and how he would’ve greatly benefited from the helpline.
McDonald said he was seven when he lost his mother to glioblastoma, and at 14, he came home to his father dead from a drug overdose. He then called 911, and the result of the incident brought on trauma that caused him to have panic attacks and hospital visits for years.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said McDonald’s story is the “perfect” example of the importance of the initiative.
“When [McDonald] called 911, they were trying to give him instructions on how to resuscitate his father, which was not possible,” he said. “That was traumatic for him at the time, and a police officer should have said, ‘this is a young man...that may need some follow-up and some help.”
Coinciding with the program, the county has also launched a behavioral health directory that can be accessed at suffolkcountyny.gov.
