Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins has announced the creation of a new position within the Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) aimed at supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). The new role, called a “Boundary Spanner,” is designed to help individuals with complex or high needs who have lost contact with their care system reconnect with the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) or other local services.
Jenkins introduced Linda Martinez-Alcaraz as the first person to hold this position. He stated, “I am pleased to welcome Linda Martinez-Alcaraz to DCMH. A graduate of White Plains High School and Manhattanville University, Linda has worked at Los Ninos Services in Valhalla providing case management to young children with special needs. As a County, we are well aware of the gaps in the various treatment systems, where the systems are not doing everything they can for people. Adding a person who will be in the community, working with individuals, families and service providers, is a unique and creative way to help.”
The Boundary Spanner role is one of the first such positions in New York State. Martinez-Alcaraz will collaborate with DCMH programs, contract agencies, other county departments, hospitals, the county jail, and homeless shelters to identify those with ID/DD needs. She will assist individuals in becoming eligible for OPWDD services if needed and ensure they are connected or reconnected to suitable support.
DCMH Commissioner Michael Orth said: “I want to thank County Executive Jenkins for his continued support and encouragement to create new opportunities and find ways to help people in Westchester County. Very often individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities get lost in a system that shuffles them from program to program. Having Linda on board will enable us to identify these individuals and ensure that the help they need is the help that they will receive.”
Deputy Commissioner Joseph Glazer added: “This is yet another program we are developing here at DCMH to meet the needs of our communities. A program survey of our Department found that in the course of one year, more than 120 people with ID/D needs had slipped through the cracks of that system, and were languishing in inappropriate situations. To remedy that, we need a role, and a committed person filling it, who will work with the people in need and connect them with the correct services.”
