Merger pending for MV Council on Alcoholism and Family Services of the MV

From the OD: Officials are hoping a merger will help two area nonprofit agencies do more with the same resources.

The agencies – Family Services of the Mohawk Valley and Mohawk Valley Council on Alcoholism/Addictions – are waiting for permission from the state secretary of state’s office to merge into a combined agency called the Center for Family Life & Recovery. The target date for the merger is Jan. 1.

“We’re not two agencies that have been forced to do this because we’re in trouble (financially),” council Executive Director Cassandra Sheets said. “We chose to do it because we really saw an opportunity to make something work and to marry two services.”

The combined agency would continue to work out of existing offices for both agencies until its housing needs are determined, officials said.

Sheets is expected to remain as executive director of the merged agencies. Family Services Executive Director Herb Freeman has been working part-time since his originally planned retirement date of June 30, and will retire officially Dec. 31.

No layoffs are planned as a result of the merger and services should continue without disruption, Sheets said.

Sheets said she hopes the new center will be able to offer more professional development training for area human-services workers and more support services for people who have completed some kind of recovery program, such as for addiction, alcoholism or mental health.

Alcohol and drugs often play a role in the problems addressed by Family Services and other human-service agencies, Sheets noted. Alcohol-and-drug education should be infused throughout the human-services system, she said.

The two agencies already do a lot of similar work, Freeman noted. Both serve what he called “mandated clients.” The council provides a program for convicted drunk drivers who want to get their licenses back, Freeman said. And Family Services provides court-ordered programs for men convicted of battering women or of sexually abusing children, and for parents who have lost or face losing custody of their children due to neglect or abuse, he said.

“In the area of mandated clients, that seemed like a very good fit,” Freeman said. “And we also know historically that alcohol and drug abuse is a major issue for families where there’s a neglect issue for children.”

Family Services counselors also have the necessary skill to help with the employee-assistance program offered to area employers by the council, he said.

Freeman also said that Family Services’ strategic plan has always called for more work in prevention, an area in which the council is already active.