Harris Project founder urges Greenburgh schools, county to expand services for youth with co‑occurring disorders

Stephanie Marchesano, founder of The Harris Project, told the Greenburgh Town Board on May 28 that co‑occurring mental‑health and substance‑use disorders affect a large portion of young people and require integrated, school‑based responses.

“The combination of mental‑health challenges and substance use is not well understood,” Marchesano said during a presentation to the board and residents. She described a county pilot that pairs in‑school treatment with a wraparound coordinator who helps young people and families access care, and cited local partnerships with WMC Health, Putnam‑Northern Westchester BOCES and other providers.

Marchesano described the model’s reach: clinicians trained in the Encompass approach, a one‑stop wraparound coordinator for 12–29 year‑olds and a prevention curriculum funded through opioid‑settlement and federal grants. She said the program began with a pilot at Woodlands High School and is expanding through BOCES, with the county awarded a multi‑year grant to support the work. “If you know a young person who seems like they have co‑occurring disorders, Lorena does the assessment, the planning, and the connection to care,” she told the board, naming the county’s wraparound coordinator as the intake contact for local referrals.

Marchesano criticized punitive home‑centered responses and urged evidence‑based, family‑supportive interventions: “You create a police state in your home when really you should be celebrating small victories and using motivational interviewing,” she said.

She also described public‑facing materials her nonprofit has used to reduce stigma — a short public‑service film and a magazine collaboration — and credited local government and school partners for creating momentum after a June 2022 New York Times story spotlighted the issue. Marchesano said those materials reached a large online audience; she stated the film’s online version received “2,000,000,000 impressions” but did not provide verification for that figure.

Why it matters: Board members praised the local work and said school‑based access to integrated treatment could expand early intervention for youth. The Town Supervisor and councilmembers said they would publicize the county coordinator’s contact information and consider ways to support school‑based referrals and prevention programming.

Next steps: Marchesano offered to share contact and program information with the town for public posting and encouraged board members to refer families and schools to the county wraparound coordinator.