VNSNY Unveils First "FRIENDS" Children's Mental Health Clinic in South Bronx.

VNSNY and NYS Office of Mental Health Will Partner to Provide Comprehensive System of Care, Building on its Successful FRIENDS Program

NEW YORK -- In another ground-breaking initiative to provide the highest level of care to New Yorkers of all ages who are traditionally underserved by

the health care system, Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), in partnership with the New York State Office of Mental Health, announced today the addition of the VNSNY FRIENDS Mental Health Clinic for children as part of its established crisis intervention and stabilization programs in the South Bronx.

Only recently opened, the facility will be serving patients referred through the VNSNY system but then expanding its services to the broader South Bronx facility in the Fall.

The VNSNY FRIENDS Clinic works with families to provide individual, family and group therapy to children and adolescents who demonstrate behavioral and emotional problems. Often this therapy enables children to stay at home, complete their education and improve family and peer relationships. Programs like these have been shown to result in reduced stress in the home and classroom, increased school attendance and graduation rates and a reduction in the likelihood of incarceration or hospitalization.

"There is a need for accessible mental health services for children in the South Bronx," said Linda Embry, VNSNY FRIENDS Clinic director. "Families come to the FRIENDS Clinic when they are facing difficult situations, either due to a crisis, or a behavioral or mental health issue with their child. Our mission is simple: to work closely with families on interventions that have proven to make a difference in helping children grow and thrive at home, in school and in the community."

Currently one of the barriers facing families in need is the limited number of clinics providing mental health services to children. Families often wait up to four months to be assigned to a therapist that may even entail long-distance travel to gain access to appropriate services. A recent evaluation done by The Citizen's Committee for Children of New York found that children in the four community districts served by the VNSNY FRIENDS Clinic are at the highest risk for experiencing poverty, poor school attendance and performance, juvenile delinquency, child abuse and violent crime, with more than 50 percent of these families living below the poverty line.