The Lazar Consulting Group Inc.

SAMHSA AWARDS 1.2 MILLION DOLLAR GRANT TO NACHAS HEALTH AND FAMILY NETWORK FOR SERVICES TO HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS The Lazar Consulting Group (www.lazarcg.com), announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), has awarded a three-year $1.2 Million grant to Nachas Health and Family Network. Nachas has a long history of assisting Holocaust survivors accessing mental health services. Mark Lazar, said that The Lazar Consulting Group, had been working with Assemblyman Dov Hikind to identify an organization in the community who could accomplish the mission of reaching out to Holocaust survivors. “A very important component of this grant is the recognition, by SAMHSA, that the trauma of the Holocaust has been passed on to the next generation”, said Solomon Lazar, “and that it is necessary to address this often forgotten need”. Assemblyman Hikind has for many years been a committed advocate for Holocaust survivors and their families, himself being the son of holocaust survivors. The Lazar Consulting Group coordinated the selection of the provider organization, with the submission of the grant application to SAMHSA. This award is one of only eleven, nationally. The program will address the needs of Holocaust survivors and their older adult children. It will increase outreach and engagement to Holocaust survivors and their aging children for mental health services. This will result in improved mental health and wrap around supportive services to this aging population. One of the unique elements of this grant is that it also addresses the needs of the second generation, who themselves are older Americans who were subjected to the results of the trauma suffered by their parents. A recently completed study, at the Abarbanel Mental Health Center (affiliated with Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine), Geha Mental Health Center in Petach Tikvah, and the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, and published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, documented that aging, but still traumatized, Holocaust survivors are 3.5 times more likely to attempt suicide, than those elderly who did not suffer through the Holocaust. It is believed that this study was the first on the rate of suicide attempts among elderly Holocaust survivors. The findings refute previously held beliefs, which suggested that Holocaust survivors naturally had more endurance than the general population. A common fact about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is that it is not immediately apparent. “Research has shown that suicide prevention and early intervention efforts are successful at saving lives. Treatment is effective and lives can be saved,” said Sharon E. Carpinello, R.N., Ph.D., Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH). OMH produced and coordinates SPEAK, a public education and awareness campaign designed to help New Yorkers become more familiar with the risks and warning signs of suicide, and to give them the information and resources they need in order to help themselves, their friends, loved ones, neighbors, and others. Lloyd I. Sederer, MD, Executive Deputy Commissioner for Mental Hygiene for the City of New York, said, "The effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are not always immediately apparent, and too many older New Yorkers don't recognize their need for or ability to access quality care. This grant is an important step in improving the identification and treatment of mental illness in older New Yorkers." "Nachas has been in the trenches, working hands-on with Holocaust survivors, who are trying to navigate complex bureaucratic and reparations issues”, said Assemblyman Dov Hikind. “Their incredible team has become family to elderly Holocaust survivors who frequently have no one else to turn to, and they consistently provide compassionate services and complex case management for survivors. They continue to fulfill their mission in an exemplary manner."