Doing Right By Rockland County

Rockland County’s success is directly linked to our continued commitment to doing the right thing, day in and day out, since I was elected as your County Executive more than eight years ago and I’m proud to highlight some of those efforts this week.

The Department of Social Services did an outstanding job helping tenants impacted by the pandemic apply for Emergency Rental Assistance. In fact, our county has led the state with the percentage of allocated funds distributed. Over 2,000 applications have been submitted and over $16 million has been committed or dispersed. The department also processed over $2.2 million in utility assistance for Rockland residents effected by COVID.

Thanks to our DSS team, we expanded families receiving childcare subsidies by over $1 million utilizing additional grant funding and COVID waivers.

Our Probation Department is continuing to coordinate with agencies to streamline the Raise the Age program for 17-year-olds and successfully diverted 86% of youth from entering the Family Court system last year.

This year, we aim to raise that diversion rate even higher, reduce the recidivism rate among juveniles, and maximizing the services we offer them.

Last year we surveyed residents and asked how the pandemic is impacting households. The overwhelming responses we received from families was an admission that mental health was being strained from isolation and anxiety due to COVID.

For this reason, as we transition to using “9-8-8” for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, “3-1-1” will soon become Rockland’s lifeline for all behavioral health needs. This is part of our commitment to provide the people of this county with the help they need.

There’s no doubt the pandemic has been especially difficult for children and young adults. The all-new set of circumstances they’ve been forced to adapt to have contributed to anxiety and depression rates doubling among our youth.

Help is available through the Children’s Community Assistance, Response, and Engagement Team otherwise known as our CARE Team. This mobile unit helps individuals 21 and under, along with their family, work through behavioral or emotional challenges for up to eight weeks. Their goal is to stabilize the situation and provide referrals for additional help.

Best of all this service is FREE for families as it is grant funded at NO COST to local taxpayers.

I’m proud to let everyone know our Healthy Neighborhoods Program continues to have great success. The program, created by our Department of Health, helps families identify health and safety risks in their homes. Best of all, it’s free for low to moderate income families and seniors.

During home visits program staff review a wide variety of potential hazards including carbon monoxide safety, smoke detectors, radon testing, and even asthma concerns. Last year, the program visited 437 homes last year, installing 699 Smoke Alarms and 127 Carbon Monoxide Alarms.

There’s no bounds or limits to how far our county departments go in name of our families. Information on these programs and so much more can be found online at Rocklandgov.com.