Merger Creates Safe Center LI; New Model of Services for Abuse Victims Establishes Long Island as National Leader
Bethpage, NY (PRWEB) March 18, 2014 -- Contact: Gina Pirozzi 212/228-1249 [email protected]
For Immediate Release
MERGER CREATES SAFE CENTER LI
New Model of Services for Abuse Victims Establishes Long Island as National Leader
BETHPAGE, NEW YORK, March 18, 2014 -- Two local non-profit agencies have come together to form The Safe Center LI; a unique organization housed at the former Grumman site that is expected to give Long Island one of the nation’s premier facilities serving the victims of abuse.
“For more than 35 years the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect have worked to help victims of domestic and family violence,” said Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. “Their ability to even more effectively respond to preventing domestic and family violence has now been strengthened by formally merging their programs into The Safe Center LI, which has become a national model for multiple health and human service agencies to collaboratively combat family and domestic violence.”
Created through the merger of the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CADV) and the Coalition Against Child Abuse & Neglect (CCAN), The Safe Center LI creates a single location where, for the first time in our area, an abuse victim can get all the services needed under one roof and through a single agency. Located in a Bethpage building that dates back to Grumman’s heyday, The Safe Center LI also houses a Nassau County Multidisciplinary Team comprised of the Police Department’s Special Victims Squad, Social Services’ Child Protective Services Units, Nassau University Medical Center’s Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Unit, and District Attorney’s Office.
According to Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County D.A., “Everybody knows that government alone can’t solve every problem and that’s why the progressive, groundbreaking collaboration we have here is so important. Thanks to The Safe Center, victims have a place where they can get much of the help they need under one roof and where they can get help in a way no single agency can offer on its own.”
Among the programs developed in cooperation with the District Attorney are Nassau’s Trafficking Court and its Multi-Disciplinary Child Abuse Teams.
“The Safe Center LI is among the first facilities of its kind anywhere,” says former CADV Executive Director Sandy Oliva. “Our unique model and the cooperation of the government agencies will make a tangible difference in the lives of Long Island abuse victims for decades to come.”
Core programs include the operation of the Child Advocacy Center of Nassau County, a 24/7 multilingual Hotline, legal counseling, mental health, rape and sexual assault services, emergency and transitional housing, group work services, and education outreach. The facility is designed to meet the specific needs of women, children, men and elderly victims of abuse.
“This is a truly significant announcement that takes our dream in to reality,” said Cynthia G. Scott who formerly served as Executive Director of CCAN. “We believe Long Islanders will come to regard The Safe Center LI as a national leader in the same way we once viewed Grumman, itself.”
The official opening of The Safe Center LI completes a three year period where the founding agencies shared their location and took the innovative merger through the practical realities of fiscal, strategic and programmatic planning.
Ms. Oliva, who, with Ms. Scott, will serve as The Safe Center LI’s co-Executive Director, noted, “The model of providing all the recovery services necessary for abuse victims under one roof has continued to prove itself every day since 2010. We’ve watched countless victims as they’ve become empowered to reclaim their lives.”
ABOUT THE SAFE CENTER LI
The Safe Center LI was established in 2014 to protect, assist, and empower child and adult victims of family violence and sexual assault while challenging and changing social systems that tolerate and perpetuate abuse. Located in an historic Grumman-era building at 15 Grumman Road W., Bethpage, The Safe Center LI is a specially designed space which houses a Nassau County multi-disciplinary team dedicated to restoring hope for victims of abuse. The 24-hour, multilingual domestic abuse hotline can be accessed at 516-542-0404. For more information visit http://www.thesafecenterli.org or http://www.facebook.com/thesafecenterli.
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Gina Pirozzi, G. Pirozzi Consulting, +1 212-228-1249, [email protected]
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