NORWICH – Chenango County legislators have authorized a contract deal with Catholic Charities of Chenango County intended to curb the local homelessness epidemic.

A resolution adopted unanimously by the county’s Board of Supervisors this month permits Chenango County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) to work with Catholic Charities in a joint venture specifically targeting the area’s homeless population. The contract establishes supervision provided by BHS personnel over Catholic Charities’ newly created Safe Options Support (SOS) program.

Catholic Charities has received grant funding from the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) to grow its SOS program, an initiative launched by Catholic Charities to help manage the homelessness issue in the community by providing case management and assistance to individuals in need of housing.

However, OMH grant stipulations require that Catholic Charities has a licensed agency to oversee the clinical social worker assigned to the SOS program. Enter Behavioral Health Services.

“In the social work world, supervision really isn’t about management of day to day activities and operations,” explained BHS Director Elizabeth Warneck who first pitched the contract deal to the county’s Health and Human Services Committee last month. “It’s really about providing support and education around how to diagnose an individual and how to select specific evidence based interventions for the individual.”

BHS has proposed that its deputy director, Vincent Nucero, be the one who supervises Catholic Charities’ SOS coordinator because he already handles other county-run programs which deal with individuals with mental health or substance abuse disorders.

“Catholic Charities is very grateful for any support that we can provide,” said Warneck. “This is the only social worker they have on staff and they need to make sure they’re doing their due diligence ethically to make sure that that social worker is being supervised appropriately by the right person with the right credentials.”

Warneck estimates Nucero will devote roughly three hours per week to Catholic Charities. In return, Catholic Charities has agreed to pay an annual fee – provided by NYS OMH grant funding – for BHS services that better connect homeless individuals with helpful local resources.

“I see it as a win-win,” Warneck said. “Catholic Charities is able to get the needed supervision. We’re able to have better coordination around these clients in terms of really understanding who’s receiving services and what they need, and we’re also able to receive some revenue for it.”