LICADD Receives $150,000 Federal Grant to Support New Mentoring Program

The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD) today announced that it has been awarded a $150,000 competitive grant from the federal Administration for Children, Youth and Families to support a new mentoring program for children of women incarcerated in the Nassau County Correctional Center. The grant is renewable for two additional years and LICADD, along with its partners – the Long Island Council of Churches and the Mentoring Partnership of Long Island – expect to make 190 mentor/mentee matches over the course of the next three years.

“Virtually all of the women incarcerated in Nassau County at any given time have a history of substance abuse and their children are at increased risk for poverty, domestic violence and family instability, school behavior and performance problems, drug and alcohol abuse, and a multigenerational cycle of criminal justice system involvement,” said LICADD’s Executive Director Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds. “This program will help us break that cycle and provide at-risk kids in Nassau County the guidance, support and positive role models so critical to future success.”

One of Long Island’s oldest nonprofits, the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD) provides screening, brief intervention and direct referrals to ongoing treatment for adults and adolescents struggling with addiction. LICADD also facilitates planned family interventions, conducts parent forums and substance abuse prevention programs in several Long Island schools. LICADD operates the “Open Arms” Employee Assistance Program that serves 60,000 workers and their families in the tri-state area and has recently started an anger management program for both adults and adolescents.