Capital Region Families Navigating Substance Use, COAST Offers Support at Every Stage
Every family wants the same thing: to see the people they love healthy, supported, and equipped to handle whatever life throws at them. That’s exactly what prevention services within Capital Behavioral Health Network’s COAST program are designed to deliver. Prevention reaches families and young people early, building skills and resilience before a crisis develops, and offering support at every stage of the journey. Small investments made today have the power to change the trajectory of a life.
Jennifer Vitkus, Community Education Program Director at the Addictions Care Center of Albany, sees prevention as a tool for the whole community, not just those already in crisis. “Prevention definitely saves lives, and I think prevention really educates everybody about what addiction could look like,” she says. For families already touched by substance use, that education is equally vital: understanding the disease, recognizing the signs, and knowing where to turn can make the difference between isolation and getting the right help at the right time.
“People tend to not realize that prevention is also about building skills, building confidence, building self-awareness, community awareness, environmental awareness,” says Kai Hillmann, Director of the Youth Clubhouses at the Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties. “It reduces risk factors and builds the protective factors that lead to healthy choices.”
It’s a philosophy that extends well beyond young people. Adults managing pain medication, families navigating a loved one’s substance use, seniors facing new vulnerabilities – prevention, done right, meets all of them where they are. The Coordinated Opioid and Stimulant Treatment network connects people across eight counties in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley to a full continuum of care, all accessible through a single phone call at any hour of the day. It’s free, there are no eligibility requirements, and callers are matched with the specialist best suited to their needs and location.
What makes it work is the collaboration behind the scenes. Dorothy Cucinelli, CEO of Capital Behavioral Health Network, points to the way COAST has broken down the silos that have long characterized the healthcare landscape.
“It brings several different provider organizations together in ways that they have not been brought together in the past,” she says. “It’s really wonderful to see how well and how collaboratively everybody within the network comes together. It’s unique, and it’s been very successful.”
Kelly Lane, Director of Regional Projects for CBHN, has watched that collaboration translate into tangible gains: organizations sharing trainers for evidence-based practices, borrowing resources, and extending their reach across county lines. For prevention providers especially, that visibility matters. “In this model, prevention has a more prominent role in the discussion,” she says, “which I think is really important.”
The Addictions Care Center of Albany (ACCA) offers comprehensive prevention programs that complement their better-known treatment and recovery services. Prevention services for the whole family include: parenting education, family support groups, and community forums alongside its school-based programming. Vitkus has seen firsthand how much families didn’t know help existed. “A lot of the families come into us and they’ll say, ‘Where have you always been? We never knew this support service existed,’” she shares. “We help them understand that their wellness is important too, and keeping them safe and well is ultimately the goal.” COAST funding has allowed ACCA to expand that reach significantly, bringing services to communities that previously had little access.
For young people, the barriers to getting support are often invisible: stigma, distrust of adults, not knowing what’s available. The MHA Clubhouses in Hudson and Catskill were built specifically to dismantle those barriers. Matthew VanTassel, Program Manager and Certified Recovery Peer Advocate at the MHA Clubhouses, knows the difference that a consistent, caring adult presence can make. “I think about when I was a young guy; I didn’t really have anybody that I felt was like a secure adult in my life that I could have meaningful conversations with and value the feedback,” he reflects. “That is what I most enjoy about this place, that I am able to be that adult for these young people.”
That kind of presence requires real investment. COAST funding has transformed what the Clubhouses can offer Hillmann’s team, moving from part-time staff with limited hours to full-time, trained professionals delivering evidence-based programs. “It just expands our services so much more in depth,” Hillmann says. “We’ve really been able to expand in terms of the number of staff and types of services offered, which serves more people – it just snowballs in a good way.”
Lane sees the Clubhouses as a model for what’s possible, and a reminder of how much ground remains to be covered. “That kind of dedicated support for young folks doesn’t exist in every community,” she says. Within the COAST network, the goal is to change that, one young person at a time.
Whether your family is navigating a crisis or you simply want to get ahead of one, Cucinelli wants anyone on the fence to know the bar to reaching out couldn’t be lower. “It’s just a phone call; you’re not making a commitment,” she says. “There are no eligibility requirements, no barriers to participating in this. It’s really just here to be helpful to people. And it’s free.”
Hillmann describes what anyone reaching out can expect: “Low key, easy access, non-judgmental, trained staff and peers with their own expertise and lived experience to meet you where you’re at.”
For Vitkus, who has spent years watching families find their footing after years of feeling lost and alone, the message is simple: “It’s always worth a phone call. There’s always somebody here to help.”
The COAST line is available 24/7 at (866) 930-4999.