For too long, systems developed for behavioral health have been hard to navigate and arduous to access. Nationwide, wait times average 48 days between a person’s first contact and first mental health appointment, according to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. On Long Island, Mount Sinai South Nassau found that 36% of residents polled faced challenges finding a provider.
When seeking care, people have come to assume that accessing mental health or substance use services may be easier at an emergency room. In reality, that could mean visits longer than 10 hours, Newsday’s news division reported. With limited space in the ER, people experiencing mental health issues can wait for hours there — Long Islanders arriving at ERs in psychiatric crisis typically wait 46% longer than patients nationwide — delaying evaluation and treatment. At nearly 6 hours, Long Island psychiatric patients’ average time in emergency departments was around two hours longer than national averages. Once discharged, patients often leave without a viable plan for ongoing treatment or long-term care.
My nonprofit, CN Guidance and Counseling Services, recently opened a dedicated Community Crisis Center (CCC), one of a dozen such intensive crisis stabilization centers launching across New York State to address such access-to-care issues and to implement strategies to divert people from unnecessary emergency room visits. Our Hicksville center offers an effective alternative to hospital emergency departments for people facing mental health and substance use crises.
Open 24/7/365, services include screening, assessment and short-term stabilization, psychiatric evaluation with medication management, immediate therapeutic remedies, medication management for people overcoming substance use, on-site detox, and planning and coordination for care after leaving the CCC. Services help people in crisis age 5 and older.
Our center exists to: offer on-demand treatment the moment an individual is ready for help; prevent unnecessary ER visits; provide a more person-centered healing setting; and connect patients to ongoing community-based support. We envision the CCC’s increased visibility normalizing conversations about mental health and substance use.
Opening and operating a crisis center is a resource-intensive and expensive initiative, part of why the state has not had them until now. A center like this requires highly trained clinicians, round-the-clock staffing and specialized facilities designed for safety and comfort, far beyond traditional outpatient offerings.
Our Community Crisis Center is serving residents only because New York State and Nassau County invested significant funds, providing $3.5 million combined to build this community resource. In the current divisive climate, our public officials came together to develop a solution for people struggling and at their lowest points.
This is how things can and should work for community betterment:
Beyond those construction costs, New York State prioritized some state resources to eliminate barriers to care for struggling individuals and to ensure that people in crisis have a place to go, providing $1.5 million in operating funds annually.Nassau County saw its opioid settlement award as an opportunity to invest long-term in our community and directed substantial resources to a facility offering treatment on demand to our most vulnerable residents, allocating $3 million per year for four years.
These commitments reflect recognition that behavioral health care is as essential as physical health care, and that investing in immediate access can save lives, reduce ER overcrowding and costs, and strengthen our community.
This collaboration sets a precedent for how government and community organizations can partner to create sustainable, lifesaving solutions. The CCC’s launch reframed mental health and substance use care as a community priority rather than a hidden issue. And we did it together.
This guest essay reflects the views of Jeffrey Friedman, who has led CN Guidance and Counseling Services as its CEO since 2013.