CN Guidance’s Community Crisis Center Exterior – All images provided by CN Guidance
A Growing Crisis
The need has never been greater. Long Island faces mounting challenges from the opioid crisis, rising youth mental health concerns, and economic stressors that increase the risk of behavioral health emergencies. At the same time, anticipated cuts to healthcare funding threaten to worsen these issues and create even more barriers to care.
We could go on and on about statistics and studies that paint grim pictures on countless fronts. Honestly, it’s depressing and anxiety provoking just thinking about it. Fortunately, at the same time, committed individuals have worked tirelessly to build extraordinary networks of folks who care; who are dedicated to serving our most vulnerable and to helping people, in general, overcome so much.
One foundational organization on Long Island is CN Guidance & Counseling Services, located at 950 South Oyster Bay Rd in Hicksville. We hope you will be inspired by their endeavors, find yourself a little better equipped when in need of such services, and will join us in encouraging folks to support these important networks of organizations that give so much to serve us all.
“Launching the Community Crisis Center is bringing a new kind of innovative urgent care to Long Island,” said Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of CN Guidance. “Through this landmark facility, individuals in crisis will have a dedicated place to go, any time of day or night, where they can receive immediate care and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. This center stands as a place where people are met with kindness and compassion and given the tools to find hope, healing and stability.”
CN Guidance & Counseling Services
For over 50 years, CN Guidance & Counseling Services has provided innovative, integrated services to individuals and families struggling with mental health and substance use concerns. They now impact over 30,000 people per year. Over 90% — many of whom are dealing with chronic, intractable issues – say they are now better able to cope.
This is important and desperately needed. More than 1 in 5 people live with mental health issues, and nearly 1 in 6 ages 12+ deal with substance use issues. Diverse, serious concerns are rising among children and adolescents. It’s good to know CN Guidance is out there.
Their values are grounded in a very strong ethos that no-one is left behind. Whatever insurance or ability to pay, they will see you. They will help you get insurance. They will somehow help you figure it out.
These folks are extraordinarily excited about a brand new Community Crisis Center opening December 6th alongside their clinic. This is a place where folks in crisis can go to receive immediate, meaningful assistance coordinated with expertise from throughout the region 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
CN Guidance staff
Hope Starts Here
Truthfully, this is just one thing. A major thing, but just one thing. They do a lot. It’s incredibly complicated. At core, though, they will tell you it’s pretty straight forward: They deal in hope.
That’s literally their slogan: “Hope Starts Here.”
We will share a little bit of what that means in practical terms and encourage you to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and other social media. Their posts are uplifting and informative. For more information, you may also reference their beautiful website and other materials that illustrate their profound impact.
In addition to being able to boast that over 94% of their clients felt that CN Guidance was there and ready to see them when they needed it, they’ve also been voted one of Long Island’s “Top Workplaces” for 7 years running.
It's About People Caring for People
Mary Silberstein, LCSW, Senior Director of External Affairs will tell you that what their statistics really mean is that they are blessed with excellent human beings, both as staff and program partners, including many folks whom they’ve served in the past. Together, they operate as a rich network developed over decades of relationship building.
Mary is extraordinarily pleased with what they’ve been able to accomplish, and the community they have built in the process, “I’ve been in the field since 1990, and at CN Guidance for over 12 years. Never, have I been in a more exceptional agency. I love it; the continual learning, the excellent leadership, our 400+ employees who make this place what it is.”
She starts to go through each one and the talent and commitment each bring to the table, starting with CEO, Jeffrey Friedman at the top, and reaching down to all of the staff who mean so much. She talks about how CN Guidance has blossomed from its roots as a very small behavioral health agency, and about the extraordinary programs they have developed in recent decades.
Mary is extraordinarily pleased with what they’ve been able to accomplish, and the community they have built in the process, “I’ve been in the field since 1990, and at CN Guidance for 12 years. Never, have I been in a more exceptional agency. I love it; the continual learning, the excellent leadership, our 400+ employees who make this place what it is.”
Love Grounded in Integrity and Ongoing Human Development
She remembers COO Nancy M. Manigat going to the National Council on Mental Wellbeing Conference one time and coming back with a concept that she believes describes what they needed to move to, and which underlies much of their current strength: “Love Leadership.”
Love Leadership is basically the idea that Leaders lead best when they do so with love for those they serve and for those who serve alongside them. It is a style grounded in integrity that features ongoing nurturing, development, and care. This, Mary will tell you, is their super power. While needs have surged and concerns are great, this philosophy has fueled their capacity to provide care, which has grown exponentially.
CN Guidance Staff Awards
Immediate Care That is Needed: The Crisis Center
CN Guidance now offers more than 60 Programs. The new Crisis Center is a game changer: A place someone can walk in 24-hours per day, and stay 23 hours and 59 minutes; long enough to provide proper urgent crisis care, and referrals grounded in human connection with places and people who can help.
“Launching the Community Crisis Center is bringing a new kind of innovative urgent care to Long Island,” said Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of CN Guidance. “Through this landmark facility, individuals in crisis will have a dedicated place to go, any time of day or night, where they can receive immediate care and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. This center stands as a place where people are met with kindness and compassion and given the tools to find hope, healing and stability.”
This regional center will serve anyone 5 years old and up. They have to be willing. The police can’t force anyone to go, but they can help you walk in. There are separate areas for families of both younger children and adolescents, so that folks may stay together.
One of the Family Rooms at the New Community Crisis Center
There are nurses, physicians, social workers and peers with lived recovery experience, as well as substance use counselors and mental health professionals. A partnership with Northwell Health enables psychiatric services. Other agencies are coordinated as well.
Thoughtful Design
The design is extremely thoughtful, inspired by a submitted RFP (request for proposals) to craft a formal “Intensive Stabilization Crisis Center” that came out four years ago from the NYS Office of Mental Health Services (OMH) and the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS).
“We had to explain exactly what we would do. Staff Patterns, shifts, workflows,” Mary explains. It was very important that it be user friendly. Not sterile. Welcoming.
They went throughout the US looking at models. LinkedIn was a great resource, as was the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. After years of thoughtful planning, they had a winning proposal. Once the grant was awarded, they went to Nassau County, which provided both additional funding and guidance. This support from the NYS OMH, OASAS and Nassau County allowed CN Guidance to create, build, staff and open the new Community Crisis Center.
It’s really important that no one is turned away. “Nobody gets abandoned,” says Mary. “It’s all about building community connections. Partnerships. Informed Staff. Interconnection.”
Truthfully, while it’s a needed and fairly revolutionary center for Long Island, it’s really a natural extension of other programs.
Group counseling session at the GN Guidance Clinic
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic
The CCBHC is a prime example. This Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic began in 2017 as one of fourteen 2-year pilot programs authorized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and overseen by the New York State Office of Mental Health. It has since become a model for providing comprehensive healthcare services to Long Islanders dealing with Mental Health and Substance Use challenges.
This clinic revolutionized access to care. Not only were people given open access and seen right away by a professional qualified to assist with their issues, the chances of them actually receiving care post-crisis increased dramatically.
“Before,” says Mary, “If someone came to the hospital, they got an appointment to see a professional in 10 days. They left with no human connection, and a high likelihood that they would not follow up. Now, we connect peers to patients in hospitals to proactively make that human connection, and there is no waiting time for an appointment.”
Mental Health and Substance issues often go hand in hand. Prior, such care was siloed. Here it is integrated. Diverse clinicians manage caseloads in coordination with each other, as well as with financial and vocational counselors, all working in concert with those providing psychiatric support and whatever else is required.
It’s really important that no one is turned away. “Nobody gets abandoned,” says Mary. “It’s all about building community connections. Partnerships. Informed Staff. Interconnection.”
…
“Before,” says Mary, “If someone came to the hospital, they got an appointment to see a professional in 10 days. They left with no human connection, and a high likelihood that they would not follow up. Now, we connect peers to patients in hospitals to proactively make that human connection, and there is no waiting time for an appointment.”
It’s efficient, holistic and open to individuals and families, regardless of income. They provide immediate screening, diagnosis, and initiation of treatment. They will work with folks suffering severe mental illness, and long-term addiction. Specialized care is provided for those who have been or are currently involved in the armed services, as well as their families.
Personal Recovery Oriented Services (PROS)
The PROS program is a major staple of what CN Guidance does to assist folks in managing behavioral health and in developing skills necessary to improve overall functioning. It’s a 5-day per week recovery-oriented program for individuals 18+ years of age. Various treatment modes include therapeutic and skill-building groups, individual support, and clinical services that may be in-person or virtual, with each plan specifically designed to best serve the individual client.
PROS skills-building session
Mobile Recovery
Check out this beautiful video from CN Guidance about their Mobile Recovery Units
Launched in partnership with the NYS Office of Addiction and Services and Supports (OASAS), the Mobile Recovery unit (MRU) has been in operation since 2019, serving as a way to reach people where they are in the community.
These “Hope Rides Here” RVs and Box Trucks serve as roving clinics, staffed with an RN, a peer and up to four clinicians. They are equipped to provide most basic treatment services. It’s easy, anonymous and affordable; a wonderful way to reach folks who may balk at the site of a clinical building, or who require that services come to them.
Mobile recovery vehicles
Starry Night Café
Check out this beautiful video from CN Guidance about the Starry Night Cafe
While all of the above is about carefully tailored treatment plans, this is all about good clean fun, and sharing creative talent. Open to folks of all abilities and a range of mental healthcare needs, The Starry Night Cafe is kind of like a night club. Folks come to find friends, purchase light meals and designer coffees, play games, relax with friends, and/or perform Karaoke. There are live performances of music, poetry and comedy by and for the clientele.
It’s a very, very special place. Other programs, such as their partnership with Spirit of Huntington for the ArtAbility exhibition further nurture folks’ capacities to participate meaningfully in life.
Starry Night Cafe
Simply Saving Lives, and Training Others to Do the Same
In addition to continually developing innovative approaches to providing integrated care that enables families to cope with a broad range of complicated issues, CN Guidance has long done some very basic work to help keep people alive. Over the years, they’ve trained 1000’s to not only deliver life saving opioid overdose reversal medications, but to train others to do the same.
Opioid overdose reversal and prevention trainings across Long Island
That very basic treatment is the difference between life and death, and a fundamental opportunity to turn things around. Thanks to CN Guidance, many have. They further provide a youth and family peer advocate workforce program, and mental health first aid training.
Like most things, as it turns out, when we endeavor to do good for others, it often saves the person seeking to help at least as much as the people they are endeavoring to serve. The folks of CN Guidance witness this phenomenon all the time. They are honored to facilitate it.
It Means a Lot
To help support CN Guidance’s life-saving work in the community, you can start by liking, following, and sharing their social media. s They greatly appreciate all who attend or support their fundraising events, and who otherwise make a donation.
Please visit cnguidance.org for more information. You may also call Sharayah Sanon at 516-310-8643, or email ssanon@centralnassau.org with any inquiries. Thanks!
Like most things, as it turns out, when we endeavor to do good for others, it often saves the person seeking to help at least as much as the people they are endeavoring to serve. The folks of CN Guidance witness this phenomenon all the time. They are honored to facilitate it.
