The Office of Staten Island Borough President
05/18/2026 | Press release | Archived content
Tools To Assess, Prevent Substance Abuse & Suicide For Children, Young Adults
Borough President Vito Fossella, District Attorney Michael McMahon, the Staten Island Performing Provider System, and MISSION grant partners announced the results of the first series of training, which provided tools to assess and prevent substance abuse and suicide.
Two years ago, Borough President Fossella unveiled a federally funded, first-of-its kind Mental and Behavioral Health Blueprint for Children and Young Adults.
The Blueprint was designed to address an alarming increase in mental health conditions with the main goal of zero suicides and zero overdoses.
Borough President Fossella linked the effects of isolation during COVID-19 to an increase in substance abuse and suicide.
"We started to embark on a journey about two years ago to get to a point of identifying the correlation between substance abuse and mental illness and to truly get to a point of zero suicides and zero overdoses," said Borough President Fossella at a press conference in Borough Hall.
There were 320 participants from the mental health, education, and law enforcement communities who participated in the first six training sessions.
"To me, what made this series so meaningful was seeing so many different people across systems coming together and willing to learn," said Ileana Acosta, the director of Behavioral Health at the Staten Island Performing Provider System. "Sometimes, the difference is simply knowing what questions to ask, how to screen and assess, and where to connect someone for help, instead of feeling afraid or unsure of what to do. I think that is exactly what this series accomplished -- helping people become more prepared, more confident and willing to step into those conversations instead of avoiding them."
Two years ago, Borough President Fossella unveiled a federally funded, first-of-its kind Mental and Behavioral Health Blueprint for Children and Young Adults.
The Blueprint was designed to address an alarming increase in mental health conditions with the main goal of zero suicides and zero overdoses.
Borough President Fossella linked the effects of isolation during COVID-19 to an increase in substance abuse and suicide.
"We started to embark on a journey about two years ago to get to a point of identifying the correlation between substance abuse and mental illness and to truly get to a point of zero suicides and zero overdoses," said Borough President Fossella at a press conference in Borough Hall.
There were 320 participants from the mental health, education, and law enforcement communities who participated in the first six training sessions.
"To me, what made this series so meaningful was seeing so many different people across systems coming together and willing to learn," said Ileana Acosta, the director of Behavioral Health at the Staten Island Performing Provider System. "Sometimes, the difference is simply knowing what questions to ask, how to screen and assess, and where to connect someone for help, instead of feeling afraid or unsure of what to do. I think that is exactly what this series accomplished -- helping people become more prepared, more confident and willing to step into those conversations instead of avoiding them."
The Office of Staten Island Borough President published this content on May 18, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 02, 2026 at 15:17 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]