Family Service to Expand
An alliance between East Hampton Town and the Family Service League, a nonprofit group that offers counseling and other social services to town residents, promises to result in expanded programs for families, youths, and the elderly.
Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione, who brokered the arrangement, and Karen Boorshtein, the president and chief executive officer of the Family Service League, reported on Tuesday that, in addition to this year’s $50,000 town grant, the league will benefit from moving its East Hampton offices from private quarters on Newtown Lane to the Podell House on Accabonac Road, which is owned by the town. The house had been used for an adult day-care program, which now takes place at the town senior citizens center on Springs-Fireplace Road.
A lease has not been finalized, but the anticipated annual rent of approximately $37,500 will result in significant savings over the league’s present costs, Mr. Stanzione said.
Recent town budget cuts had resulted in a reduction by more than half over the last two years in the annual town grant to the league, while at the same time the town’s Human Services Department had become smaller.
The agreement, Mr. Stanzione said at a town board work session on Tuesday, is “an opportunity to work this out” in a way that will benefit both entities and their clients.
The league will now provide mental health services for senior citizens, crisis intervention services, and services for children, families, and adults with severe mental illness. Licensed professionals from the league will work with the Human Services Department and its director, Diane Patrizio, on staff training and case management, and partner on geriatric programs, including mental health counseling, bereavement services, and computer training.
The affiliation is “just the kind of thinking that is necessary if a private not-for-profit is going to survive,” Ms. Boorshtein said Tuesday. Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson called it “another example of two-plus-two equals six.” J.P.