Armonk Residents Lambast Treatment Center in Tense Meeting

A full auditorium of Armonk residents demanded last Wednesday that the North Castle Town Board oppose a plan by a California-based residential treatment program to launch operations in an eight-bedroom house on Cole Drive.

During a marathon discussion that lasted past 1 a.m. and grew increasingly tense as the night wore on, residents implored the board to lodge an objection with the state Office of Mental Health (OMH) against Paradigm Treatment Centers’ proposed residence.

They repeatedly criticized Paradigm representatives at the Nov. 30 meeting for trying to pass off their company as a community residence for teens suffering from mental illness and emotionally fragile adolescents when their website and marketing materials have identified their service as a drug treatment facility for teens.

Joshua Grauer, an attorney representing some of the residents and an entity called the Davis Pond Conservancy, said his clients also feared that traffic, septic capacity, community safety and neighborhood character would be jeopardized if Paradigm is allowed to move in.

“We urge you to object emphatically on very reasonable grounds because it should be decided at a commissioner’s hearing at the commissioner’s level to see if there’s a need for this type of facility,” Grauer told the board.

Under state law, OMH has jurisdiction over the approval of community residences for the disabled. Municipalities can support the plan or object based mainly on an overconcentration of similar facilities in the area.

If the host community objects, the sponsoring agency’s request goes to a hearing before the state commissioner of mental health who decides on the proposal. However, in that scenario, the municipality can introduce issues such as traffic, water, septic and quality of life, Grauer said.

A municipality must make a decision whether to support or oppose a sponsoring agency’s plan within 40 days. Hours before last Wednesday’s meeting, Paradigm sent North Castle officials a revised notification with additional information, which reset the clock.

The town board announced that it would be holding a special meeting on the 40^th day, Monday, Jan. 9. An extension of that deadline may also be sought.

Paradigm’s representatives said it was a mistake that content about the entity’s program in Malibu, which specializes in teen drug and substance abuse, was posted on the website for the proposed New York program at 14-16 Cole Drive.

Jerri Anna Phenix, the director of education and outreach, said teens who would come to the Armonk location would primarily be suffering from depression, anxiety, grief and trauma. While a portion of that population may have a secondary co-occurring drug or alcohol abuse problem, Paradigm is not seeking state licensure as a drug or substance abuse facility.

Up to eight youngsters between the ages of 12 and 17 would be housed at one time. A typical stay is 30 to 45 days, but there would be strict guidelines for inclusion, such as no criminal record and that drug and substance abuse is not the primary reason for treatment.

“The New York program is going to be very different from what we have in California in terms of who we’re servicing,” Phenix said.

She said that many of the teenagers are high-achieving students who have had problems dealing with increasing pressure to perform in school.

There would be no more than 10 employees working any shift, but there would be three separate eight-hour shifts.

Dr. Karen Klementowksi, a clinical psychologist from near Buffalo whose daughter went to Paradigm’s Malibu program, said her daughter was a conscientious student. But when she was about 15, both Klementowski and her husband were diagnosed with cancer. Her daughter was unable to handle the difficult situation.

“You never know when you’re going to have a mental health problem,” she said.

However, several speakers, some of whom work in the medical field, said it didn’t make sense that a program that has experience as a drug treatment facility would make such a distinction.

One resident, Dr. Mitchell Roslin, a bariatric surgeon and the head of Northern Westchester Hospital’s Surgical Weight Loss Program, said it’s been his experience that various disorders co-occur with substance abuse issues.

“This whole thing is a charade for a drug treatment center,” said Roslin,

Others questioned whether the 1978 Padavan Law, which deinstitutionalized care for the mentally disabled and helped create the group home concept, would apply to a transient facility.

Resident Terrence McLaughlin, an attorney, urged Paradigm to withdraw its notice until they completed more research on the traffic and septic issues for the location.

Michele Masucci, one of two attorneys who attended the meeting on Paradigm’s behalf, said some of the information is not yet known because it’s early in the process.

“There is a process here that we’re following, that we have to adhere to,” Masucci said. “That is not something we don’t take seriously. We take this very seriously.”

One resident told Paradigm representatives to “look and listen to what is going on. You’re not welcome. There are other places not on a cul-de-sac with one way in and out.”

Davis Drive resident Hope Taitz vowed that she and her neighbors would fight to keep Paradigm out of their neighborhood.

“If it gets anywhere past here, this is going to be in litigation for years,” she said.

The town gave Paradigm until Monday, Dec. 12 to answer the town’s and residents’ questions regarding various aspects of the proposal.