A Farmingdale nonprofit that sends mental health counselors into children's homes rather than asking families to come to a clinic has reached its 10th year, and by its own count more than 50,000 visits. Lodestar Children's Services, based on Airport Plaza Boulevard, marked the anniversary on Thursday, November 5, with a celebration at Appliance World in Huntington, with a menu prepared by Long Island native Harold Dieterle, the chef who won the first season of Bravo's Top Chef in 2006.

Care that comes to the house

Lodestar works with children and young people who have mental and behavioral health needs, and it meets them where they live. Its staff provide one-on-one care in clients' homes and out in their communities, an approach the organization builds around a single goal: helping kids stay safely at home rather than being placed outside it because of a mental health crisis.

The nonprofit provides two kinds of state-recognized service:

  • Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS): one-on-one support in the home and the neighborhood, aimed at keeping a young person engaged with school, work and community life.
  • Children and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS): a more in-depth track of treatment and recovery, delivered at home or in the community, that helps young people and their families build coping skills and a treatment plan they run themselves.

Families who are not sure where to start can begin with Lodestar's assessment and linkage team, which handles questions, clinical assessments to determine eligibility, and referrals to resources inside and outside the organization. The mission, as Lodestar states it, is to give children and families the tools to take charge of their own treatment and recovery.

Ten years, two counties and two boroughs

Lodestar began in 2016. It now serves children and families across Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as Queens and Brooklyn. Its count of home and community visits stood at 45,000 in March of this year, and the organization put the running total above 50,000 when it announced the anniversary event. Lodestar says it receives support from Medicare and other sources, and that private donations add to what it can do for families.

Its executive director, James Regan, is a clinical social worker, and the organization is hiring. Open roles, including in-home mental health support positions, are posted on its website.

The anniversary night

The November 5 celebration at Appliance World in Huntington was a ticketed evening in support of Lodestar's work. Dieterle, who cooked for the evening, grew up on Long Island, trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked in Long Island kitchens including Della Femina before cooking at the 1770 House and The Harrison and opening three restaurants of his own in New York. He published a cookbook, Kitchen Notebook, in 2014.

Getting in touch

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