© Michael Brochstein
New York City Police Academy Graduation Ceremony
NEW YORK (77WABC) — Mayor Eric Adams and City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan announced the opening of the Bronx Support and Connection Center — a short-term treatment and stabilization program that offers services for people experiencing mental health or substance use needs.
The facility — located at 3050 White Plains Rd. near the Bronx’s Gun Hill Houses — reportedly offers New Yorkers with an alternative to emergency room visits and NYPD intervention. The center will also serve patients referred by the city’s recently expanded Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division program.
Adams in a press release says the new facility will offer “robust clinical services” through the nonprofit Samaritan Daytop Village, including primary and psychiatric care, counseling, health screenings and withdrawal treatment. The site reportedly also has has on-site showers, laundry areas and access to food.
Adams went on to add that the new facility will offer “robust clinical services” through the nonprofit Samaritan Daytop Village, including primary and psychiatric care, counseling, health screenings and withdrawal treatment.
“New Yorkers struggling with mental health and substance use deserve compassion and support, not a revolving door of emergency room and criminal justice interventions,” Adams said. “We are tackling the mental health crisis in our city with innovation and urgency to reach people where they are and provide them the resources they need. In partnership with the newly expanded B-HEARD initiative and the NYPD, New Yorkers in crisis will find support and a path to a more stable life at the Bronx Support and Connection Center, yet another example of our investments in the upstream mental health, safety solutions that will allow all New Yorkers to thrive.”
The release also says the Bronx center will serve as a “sister site” to the East Harlem SCC at 179 E. 116th St., which opened in February 2020 and reopened in October 2020 after shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Support and Connection Center program model was developed by the city’s health department in consultation with partner agencies and with feedback from members of the community and experts. According to the Mayor’s office, the Bronx SCC can currently serve 17 community members once and will ramp up to serving 25 community members at a time once fully operational.
According to the Mayor’s office, will cost about $11 million annually.
