Mayor Adams Opens Innovative Behavioral Health Facility for New Yorkers Experiencing Mental Illness

Bronx Support and Connection Center Will Provide Alternative to Avoidable Emergency Room Visits or Criminal Justice Interventions for People With Mental Health or Substance Use Needs

City’s B-HEARD Program to Refer Patients to Center tor Mental Health Services

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan today announced the opening of the Bronx Support and Connection Center (SCC) — a short-term treatment and stabilization program that offers services for people experiencing mental health or substance use needs. The facility offers New Yorkers with an alternative to avoidable emergency room visits and criminal justice interventions. The SCC will also serve patients referred by the city’s recently expanded Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) program.

Referrals to the Bronx SCC can come from NYPD’s 47th Precinct and the B-HEARD teams that operate in the South Bronx. B-HEARD teams up EMTs/paramedics from FDNY’s Emergency Medical Services and mental health professionals from NYC Health + Hospitals to respond to certain emergency mental health calls as the city’s health-centered approach to 911 mental health calls. Mayor Adams previously announced B-HEARD’s expansion to six new precincts in North Manhattan and the South Bronx, more than doubling the precincts covered to 11.

The Bronx SCC will offer robust clinical services provided by Samaritan Daytop Village, a nonprofit health and human services provider with programs throughout the five boroughs. SCC services will include screening and assessments, counseling services, short-term case management, links to ongoing health and social care, medically supervised substance withdrawal services, access to naloxone, psychiatric services, peer support, and primary care. Additionally, referred individuals can access other services, such as food, showers, laundry, and limited overnight stays. Stays at the center can range from hours to days, depending on the needs of the community member.

The Bronx SCC will serve as a sister site to the East Harlem SCC, which opened in February 2020 and reopened in October 2020 after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From reopening in October 2020 to March 2022, community members have been brough to the East Harlem SCC 318 times. Many of these referrals have come from B-HEARD teams. From July 2021 to March 2022, community members have returned on their own for services after their first stay 166 times.

The Support and Connection Center program model was developed by DOHMH in consultation with partner agencies and with feedback from members of the community and experts. The Bronx SCC can currently serve 17 community members at any given time and will ramp up to serving 25 community members at a time once fully operational. The program is voluntary.

The Bronx Support and Connection Center began serving New Yorkers on Monday, July 11. Together with the East Harlem SCC, the two centers will cost about $11 million annually.

Drop-off diversion centers with similar models have proven to be successful in Los Angeles; San Antonio; Phoenix; Kansas City; Missouri, and Dutchess County, New York.

Support and Connection Center

3050 White Plains Road

The Bronx

July 13, 2022