$450,000 Grant For Rockland Big Brothers, Big Sisters

NEW CITY, NY – Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Rockland County has been awarded $450,000 in federal funding to provide mentoring services for youth impacted by opioids. BBBS will use this funding in collaboration with Wellcore, their service-providing partner, and other community allies, to target roughly 5,000 Rockland County residents aged 17 and younger who are not only using or at high risk for using opioids but also those who are seriously affected by parents or family members with opioid addictions.

“The funding announced today will go a long way toward keeping Rockland County youth safe and healthy, strengthening mentoring services for those impacted by opioids and helping protect a new generation from opioid addiction,” said Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester), announcing the grant. “I will continue to secure these vital federal resources to keep our communities safe.”

The funding was awarded through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Mentoring Opportunities for Youth Initiative, Category 4 (Project Sites and Mentoring Strategies for Youth Impacted by Opioids), which supports youth mentoring organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a public or private substance abuse treatment agency. OJJDP is an office within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs.

Securing robust funding to respond to the opioid crisis has been a priority, Lowey said. In 2017, she announced $25,260,676 in federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services to New York State to combat opioid addiction through the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grants program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The funding was the first of two rounds provided for in the 21st Century Cures Act, which Lowey voted for and helped pass the U.S. House.