Announcements
Connect With Necessary Services & Support
Green Chimneys Community Based Services (CBS) are inherently preventive in nature and designed to keep children in their community and with their families. Our experienced staff work closely with youth and families to provide individualized services, skill-building tools, and resources to support positive individual and familial development, self-reliance, and healthy communication.
Some services are contracted through the Putnam County Department of Social Services but can also be accessed via referral from school professionals and children’s health providers. All services are free and confidential and accessible 24 hours a day. Bilingual staff is available.
Call 845.279.2378 to refer a child or family in need of services.
Reaching Out Through Schools
The teen years can be challenging. Parents struggle to communicate with their children, often ending up in conflict. School personnel are baffled as to how to help as students’ needs often go beyond what school staff can handle in a normal day. Growing pains, peer pressure, and stress at home or in school can cause youth to feel isolated or make poor choices. Knowing where to find guidance and support is sometimes half the battle so Green Chimneys makes a special effort to reach teens and families at the most likely center of their lives: school. Interactive presentations to teachers, guidance counselors, and parents offer information about Green Chimneys services available to teens and their parents, as well as ways school staff can make referrals or help youth to access these services themselves.
To arrange for a presentation at your local school, call 845.279.2378.
Substance Abuse Prevention
As a Putnam County youth services provider for over 20 years, Green Chimneys Community-Based Services has become an important resource for schools and families in efforts to educate and support youth around substance abuse, and the mental health issues that often coincide.
“Our team has first-hand knowledge of the growing mental health and substance abuse crisis among youth over the past few years,” says CBS Director Clare Rigano. “Education and early intervention is critical to the health and safety of our youth. Over the past three years, 100% percent of youth admitted to our temporary shelter reported issues with mental health, which is a major risk factor for alcohol and/or drug use.”
CBS recently integrated a Substance Misuse Prevention Program for youth ages 10-21 into the mental health services and support groups provided at the Community Outreach Center in the Village of Brewster. The group meets weekly to teach the facts about substance use, its potential to lead to use disorders, and how this can affect a developing mind and long-term mental health. Led by clinical staff, discussions focus on ways for youth to explore their thoughts, beliefs and attitudes, and the behaviors that result, and develop personal coping strategies to help in solving problems.
