WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 7

TIME: 12:30 p.m.

WHERE: Outside the SUNY System Administration Building, 353 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207, at the intersection with State Street.

WHO: Dr. Ann Sullivan, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health; William DeVita, Executive Director of Rehabilitation Support Services (RSS); mental health leadership from Albany, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties.

WHAT: Dr. Sullivan will discuss the expansion of Safe Options Support or ‘SOS’ teams in upstate New York, and the role SOS teams play in assisting individuals experiencing homelessness. DeVita will discuss how the RSS team is serving the three-county area in the Capital Region and introduce a service recipient who has secured permanent housing. Following brief remarks, the RSS team will lead the group along an outreach route they take through downtown Albany. This event is rain or shine.

BACKGROUND: Many individuals experiencing chronic homelessness also live with mental illness and often harbor distrust toward traditional institutions where they could receive care. The ‘SOS’ program was designed to provide immediate assistance to these individuals, while also developing positive relationships with them to help them build life skills and strengthen their support network. First deployed in New York City, these multidisciplinary outreach and referral-based teams have now expanded to serve communities in upstate New York. Teams establish a relationship with an individual and enroll them for services, they continue to help them connect with supports designed to help them maintain stable permanent housing. New York City-based SOS teams have already helped more than 500 individuals into stable housing.