Robert and Roselin Vegh Preventive Care Program
Trained counselors and case managers help families in crisis to cope and alleviate stress and crisis.
Milton and Molly Schulman Foster Care Program
In New York City, if a child is removed from his or her home and requires a Jewish foster placement, the City's Administration for Children Services contacts OHEL. We have a network of families ready to take in foster children. OHEL's foster care program is the only foster care program in America entirely devoted to Jewish children. The program provides the security of a loving Jewish family for children whose parents are unable to care for them. In 2006, Ohel was ranked as the #1 foster care agency in New York.
Adolescent Residential Programs
Provide a safe and home-like atmosphere to adolescents suffering from neglect and abuse.
Domestic Violence Counseling and Housing Program
Counseling and support groups for women and children as well as temporary safe housing for victims of domestic violence. OHEL educates the community about this issue and the importance of providing options for women who are in abusive relationships. OHEL's volunteers assist battered women in creating a new life after leaving home by accompanying her to court, helping her open a bank account, obtain entitlements, and other challenging tasks.
Substance Abuse/Addictions
Addiction specialists provide counseling to teenagers and their families on drug, alcohol, gambling, eating disorders and other addictions.
The RESPECT Program on Sexual Abuse
Sexual Abuse Newsletter
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Specialists provide counseling for victims survivors of abuse, ranging in age from young children to adults. Also provides education, treatment and consultation services to victims, survivors, parents, educators, schools and community leaders. The program engaged in outreach to yeshivas and day schools in the greater New York metropolitan area, providing child safety education and training to students, parents, and teachers in a sensitive manner. OHEL also provides consultation and seminars on the issues to communities across the country.
School-Based Mental Health Services
Adult Mental Health Services
OHEL, which is the Hebrew word for shelter, is the pioneer social service agency providing rehabilitation housing and supported employment to severely and persistently mentally ill individuals in the Jewish communities of New York.
Through various programs, OHEL seeks to prevent or reduce hospitalization of men and women with psychiatric disabilities, to educate our residents about mental illness, its treatment and management, and to help participants live as independently as possible, integrated into the Jewish community.
OHEL is recognized by both the New York State Office of Mental Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for its reputation of providing outstanding mental health services in a warm, enabling environment which is sensitive to the needs of Jewish people with mental illness. While OHEL's programs are uniquely sensitive to the needs of the Orthodox Jewish community, our programs welcome applications from any mentally ill person regardless of affiliation or no-affiliation.
Supervised Community Residences
Our separate residences for men and women are for individuals requiring 24-hour a day supervision. Residents participate in psychiatric treatment and psychiatric rehabilitation in a therapeutic milieu that teaches essential life skills to reintegrate into the community from the hospital or from the family home. The goal is for residents to graduate to a less restrictive, more independent setting.
Residents are provided with:
- Supervision and training in medication administration, symptom management, daily living skills, money management, nutrition, and socialization.
- Referrals to day treatment programs, education or employment training programs.
- Individualized rehabilitation plans specifying goals, objectives, methods and timeframes.
- Full case management services including advocacy for all benefits and entitlements.
- Weekly community meetings; residence council; cultural and recreational activities; outings; overnight camping trips.
- Assistance in observance of Jewish rituals and celebration of holy days and festivals.
- Family involvement in rehabilitation goals and monthly family support group meetings.
Supportive Apartments
In our scattered site apartments, three men or women share an apartment which they are responsible for maintaining. They participate in day treatment programs or work, at least part-time. Residents of this program attend their therapy or medical appointments alone and are able to manage their medications on their own.
Residents are provided with:
- Daily visits to apartment by case manager.
- Monitoring of self-care, medication compliance, attendance at treatment or rehabilitation programs and general health status.
- Individualized rehabilitation plans.
- Monthly community meetings/dinners to foster a sense of group cohesion.
- Weekly stipend for grocery expenses and recreation.
- Full case management service with assistance in community integration.
- Staff available by beeper around the clock for emergencies.
Supported Housing
OHEL also operates a scattered site apartment program that provides permanent housing for adults capable of managing most aspects of their lives with minimal assistance. Residents live independently in rent subsidized apartments - either on their own, or if desired, with a roommate. Residents identify what neighborhood they want to live in and help to find their apartment. OHEL signs the lease for the apartment and provides the furnishings.
Residents are provided with:
- Case manager assists to maintain daily living skills and provides counseling with at least weekly contacts, either by phone or face to face.
- Medication monitoring.
- Monitoring of health status and general well-being.
- Residence council and monthly community dinners.
- Crisis management, including 24-hour a day availability by beeper for emergencies.
- Landlord/tenant mediation
- Tenants pay 30% of income(entitlements) towards the rent.
- No length of stay restrictions for those who maintain good standing in the program.
Kadimah Day Program
Some Jewish young adults with mental illness are reluctant to utilize existing community resources for socializing and for leisure and cultural activities. They aspire to be integrated into the mainstream community, but lack self-confidence, assertiveness skills, and social skills. Because of the stigma related to mental illness, the process of community integration is easier when these individuals have opportunities to associate with other young Jewish people with mental illness. A familiar environment and activities can lessen feelings of isolation while peers with similar backgrounds and problems are there to offer support. These are the reasons that OHEL has developed the Kadimah Day Program for Jewish young adults with severe and persistent mental illness.
Kadimah offers:
- A supportive and caring environment
- Peer organized activities for socializing and leisure
- A drop-in center for making and meeting friends
- Breakfast and lunch available daily
- Planned recreational and cultural activities
- A "Bais Medrash" (study hall) and computer training room
- Evening and weekend hours
Level of program participation is flexible and is individualized to program members' needs.
Psychiatric Mobile Outreach Team
There are many young adults with mental illness who reside in the family home, often with elderly parents. Others with mental illness struggle to live independently in their own apartments. Who will respond to a mental health crisis when someone is having a "nervous breakdown" and there isn't a relative or friend nearby capable of helping the individual to get the assistance they need?
An adolescent in the midst of a family crisis may explode and become unmanageable. Drugs or alcohol may be involved. The family doesn't know where to turn.
Neighbors may observe a mentally ill person behaving in a strange manner on the street.
OHEL's team of professionals can respond to these mental health crises which occur in the Jewish community
- Team comprised of psychiatrist, social worker, and mental health worker.
- Team responds to people's homes or other locations in the community.
- Stabilization of current crisis including assistance with hospitalization if necessary.
- Minimal waiting time for response.
- Referral for outpatient treatment and other necessary services
- Short-term case management until outpatient treatment is underway.
Psychiatric and Crisis Intervention for Holocaust Survivors
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc. provides funding to OHEL to ensure that survivors of the Holocaust are able to secure needed psychiatric and mental health services from OHEL professionals. OHEL's mental health division also provides specialized counseling to survivors whose children live in our residences who are facing unique challenges in dealing with their adult children who have mental illness. All of these vital services continue with the Conference's assistance.
The Simcha Program @ OHEL
"helping Jewish individuals with disabilities build relationships"
The Simcha Program provides single men and women with psychiatric and/or developmental disabilities the same opportunity as anyone else to engage in social and dating activities that can lead to marriage. Various events for simcha program singles take place in restaurants, reception halls, sporting facilities, parks and other places where single people typically go to meet and socialize. Date mentors work with individuals in the program to prepare them for socialization and dating. The mentors also work with couples in the dating process to help them explore issues responsibly and build strong, stable relationships.
Supported Employment Program
The staff of this program provide pre-employment counseling, job placement, and job coaching to individuals with mental illness who are ready to enter the world of work. This program is located in the Kadimah day program and is easily accessible to participants as they begin to explore interests in more challenging undertakings.
Participants are provided with:
- Exploration of vocational and educational interests and plans
- Assistance in setting realistic vocational or career goals
- Help in preparing resumes and developing interview skills
- Assistance in job-hunting, job application and negotiating compensation
- Placement in jobs
- Job coaching to facilitate transition to new jobs
Tikvah at Ohel
Tikvah at Ohel serves members of the Jewish community who have emotional, family, or educational problems. Our professional staff has training and expertise to assist individuals experiencing depression or anxiety; families suffering from marital strife; and children who may have behavior problems or difficulty adjusting in school. Our experiences professionals are sensitive to various cultural needs of the Jewish community. Rabbinical consultation is sought when deemed necessary
The ways in which Tikvah at Ohel can help include:
- Individual, Family, and Marital Therapy
- Child Therapy
- Parent Counseling
- Psychological Testing
- Psychiatric Evaluation and Medication Management
- Trauma and Grief Counseling
- In-Home Services for the Homebound and Frail Elderly
- Community Education
- Counseling for Holocaust Survivors
- Counseling for Sexual Addictions
- Counseling for Children Experiencing Divorce
Tikvah at Ohel also has a Mobile Mental Health Team for those who are homebound due to physical or emotional disabilities. Our patients include homebound senior citizens as well as younger disabled individuals with varied diagnoses which prevent them from seeking help in a clinical setting.
All members of the Tikvah at Ohel staff share a commitment to protect the individual's privacy. Confidentiality is strictly maintained.
Therapists fluent in English, Russian, Yiddish, or Hebrew are available.
