A park in each council district will feature a fun Halloween event for the whole family 
 
Borough President James Oddo and Borough Parks Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone will join forces to sponsor three Halloween events for Staten Islanders in separate parks across the borough for kids and their families to enjoy a variety of spooky-themed activities including crafts, games, haunted trails, ghost stories, movies, and more.
 
“Fall on Staten Island is one of the best times of the year and we are thrilled to be partnering with our friends at NYC Parks to bring Staten Islanders the joy of Halloween at three of our extraordinary parks,” said Borough President James Oddo. “We hope all families enjoy what Staten Island has to offer, and that everyone has a safe and fun Halloween.” 
 
"There's nothing to fear unless you're scared of some family fun! We're excited to offer our families fun frights in our parks throughout the fall,” said NYC Parks Staten Island Borough Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone. "From the Greenbelt Haunted Trail to the Haunted House in Walk Park or sharing ghost stories at Conference House Park, there's something for everyone to enjoy. "
 
Greenbelt’s Haunted Trail
Wednesday, October 27 from 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Greenbelt Recreation Center, 501 Brielle Ave., Staten Island, N.Y., 10314
Bring the whole family out for some Halloween fun. Take a walk along the Haunted Trail, if you dare; you never know what is lurking in the trees. Do not fear, you can also take a walk through the pumpkin patch or join in on some arts & crafts. Be sure to wear your best costume; prizes will be given out. For more information, please call (718) 667-3545.
 
Wicked Walker: Haunted House and Family Fun Event
Friday, October 29 from 3 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Walker Park, 50 Bard Ave., Staten Island, N.Y., 10310
Get ready for a truly spooktacular Halloween event! Join Walker Park for a free, family-fun filled Halloween event. Enjoy our haunted house, arts & crafts, games, activities and more. Make sure to wear your best costume, prizes will be given out. Starting at dusk, enjoy a screening of Halloween Town. For more information, please call (718) 816-8103.

Chilling Conference House Trails and Stories
Saturday, October 30 from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. 
Conference House Park, 7455 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, N.Y. 10307
Join NYC Parks for a free family-fun filled Halloween event. Listen to ghost stories from the Conference House, enjoy arts & crafts, games, and activities. Join them at 7p.m. for a showing of the movie Coco after the festivities. For more information, please call (718) 816-8103.
​
 Participants should note the following guidelines for each event:

• Please wear a mask if you are unvaccinated or cannot maintain social distance. 
• All individuals should maintain social distancing of six feet during programming, regardless of vaccination status. 
• Wash your hands before attending a program.
• Stay home if you are sick.

Contact accessibility@parks.nyc.gov or (212) 360-1430 for more information regarding accessibility. 

 Staten Island Borough President’s Office, CUNY College of Staten Island, and Northwell Health team up to provide innovative behavioral health support services to CSI students

Staten Island Borough President James Oddo is proud to announce the launch of a new initiative that will bring essential mental health support services to the College of Staten Island (CSI) students. This evidence-based effort, developed by Northwell Health’s Behavioral Health Partnership and initiated by the Borough President’s office, will bring CSI and its student Counseling Center together for an innovative partnership to enhance behavioral health on campus, amidst a nationwide college mental health emergency.
 
“Since the start of my administration, our Borough Hall team has been working to address the increasing prevalence of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among young people in our country,” said Borough President Oddo. “As our education and health teams developed K-12 initiatives, I asked our policy team to focus on tackling the difficult mental health challenges that college students face. Therefore, we are proud to announce a Pre-College Workshop developed by Northwell Health aimed at helping students develop skills to reduce anxiety and depression in their college years.”
 
The Borough President continued, “The spark for this initiative was lit in 2019 when we convened a group of subject-matter experts, practitioners, and administrators from all three colleges in the borough to get their on-the-ground perspective of needs, challenges, and ways in which our office could help. That meeting made it clear, even before the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the college mental health emergency, that we needed to find an effective way to support the critical work of student counseling centers. Therefore, I am excited that Northwell’s AVP of College Mental Health Laura Braider, PhD and her team are lending critical resources and clinical expertise in what will be a paradigm shifting collaboration with CSI. Our hope is to establish clear evidence that this model works so it can eventually be expanded to all three colleges in the borough and beyond.”
 
According to a spring 2019 survey of 68,000 students conducted by the American College Health Association, nearly 24% of college students were diagnosed with or treated for anxiety in the previous year, and 20% were treated with depression—compared to 10.5% and 10.1% respectively recorded in a similar survey in 2009. One in three college freshmen globally report having major mental health disorders, yet most students do not seek treatment.
 
Colleges across the country are now bracing for what they expect will be a surge of student behavioral health issues as caused or exacerbated by the pandemic. The CDC’s recent data demonstrates that the stakes couldn’t be higher: One in four college-aged individuals contemplated suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for that age demographic. Staten Island is certainly no exception to the escalating national, college mental health emergency.
 
“The health and well-being of our students, especially during this pandemic, is of utmost concern,” said Dr. William Fritz, President of CSI.  “We are not only prioritizing methods to ensure our students’ physical health, but through this partnership we will strengthen our efforts to safeguard their mental health as well.”
 
CSI Vice President for Student Affairs, Jennifer Borrero, added, “We are proud to partner with the Borough President and Northwell to provide additional mental health resources to our students. The collaborative treatment plan is a promising national model for addressing mental health challenges among college students.  We are especially thrilled to offer the pilot workshop which equips students with the tools to integrate into college life successfully.”
 
"We are proud to partner on this important issue," said Orit Lender, CEO of the Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC of Staten Island. "The pandemic has shown how important it is, especially for young people, to focus on mental health.”
 
Starting fall 2021, CSI will join Northwell Health’s Behavioral Health College Partnership—already established with 93 New York State colleges and universities—to provide evidence-based emergency evaluations, crisis intervention, inpatient treatment and post-acute care specifically designed for college students. As part of the program, Northwell works closely with the schools and student counseling centers to develop a protocol to respond to a student experiencing psychiatric crisis on campus. Students then have access to Northwell’s inpatient care which exclusively serves college-aged students. Perhaps most distinctively, the program also includes support for students to transition back into their college life with as little disruption as possible.
 
CSI serves nearly 12,000 undergraduate students, most of them Staten Islanders.
 
“We already know that the level of stress experienced by young people as a result of COVID-19 has dramatically increased nationally,” said Dr. Braider.  “Whether it be from the illness itself, or the secondary effects of social isolation, financial hardships or lack of recent experience taking in-person tests, we expect that college students may suffer more stress as they start or return to college this semester.  At this critical time, the Behavioral Health College Partnership team at Northwell is excited to be forging into the area of prevention of psychiatric decompensation of college students.”
 
The Partnership at CUNY CSI will also include a new element that was prompted by early discussions with the Staten Island Borough President’s Office: A pilot virtual workshop delivered by clinicians to prepare rising college freshmen to cope with the stress of integrating into college life. The workshops teach tangible, evidence-based skills that have been proven to effectively address obstacles to happiness and academic success based on research and over 10 years of data gathered by Northwell. During the pilot, Northwell will be evaluating the efficacy of the program to determine whether it should be added, and scaled, as a component of its overall Behavioral Health College Partnership.
 
To learn more about Northwell Health’s Behavioral Health College Partnership, please visit: https://zucker.northwell.edu/behavioral-health-college-partnership

BP Oddo encourages youth to use these free mental health resources in response to a dramatic uptick in suicidal ideation and attempts since COVID began 

Borough President James Oddo has announced a new partnership with several mental health apps from the United States and United Kingdom to offer free resources to young teens and adults in response to the effects that have stemmed from the COVID pandemic. The last 18 months have been challenging and a lot of the anxiety, fear and sadness that came with it might not be going away all by itself. These resources, available now, can help alleviate stress and encourage all to focus on their self care. The tools vary from meditation, play lists, exercises and more to help manage stress and quell anxiety. 

The partners of this initiative include Sanvello, Calm Harm, and Cosmic Kids. Additional resources are also listed on Borough Hall’s webpage here: https://www.statenislandusa.com/mentalhealthapps.html.   

"It's no secret that, collectively, our mental health has suffered during COVID. The pandemic's isolation, grief and lasting effects have wreaked havoc on the mental health of all, but perhaps most in children and teens,” said Borough President James Oddo. “With that in mind, we have created partnerships with several mental health apps that offer tools to help young people cope with their feelings. By putting these apps literally in people's hands, we can help prevent crisis situations from developing and offer help in real time."

We invite you to give them a try via the App Store and wish you good mental health. All of the apps have several resources available for free. Specifically, Sanvello has offered premium access at no cost to Staten Islanders for three months. 

In Sanvello, you’ll find:

• Daily mood tracking and weekly progress assessments that deliver personalized tools and resources for how you’re feeling
• Guided Journeys designed by experts to help you feel more in control and build long-term life skills
• Coping tools like meditations, journal, goals, calm reminders, circle of support, and more, so you always have just what you need — anytime, anywhere
• A vibrant community of peers, 4 million strong

 
Getting started with Sanvello is easy. Sign up at the link below, then download Sanvello from the App Store or Google Play and log in with the account you created on the sign-up page. Ready to start feeling better? https://sanvello-web.app.link/e/statenisland

Calm Harm is a free, award-winning app developed for teenage mental health charity stem4 in the United Kingdom by Dr. Nihara Krause, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, using the basic principles of an evidence-based therapy called Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT).  It provides tasks to help you resist or manage the urge to self-harm. You can make it private by setting a password, and personalize the app if you so wish. You will be able to track your progress and notice changes. For additional resources at Calm Harm, visit https://stem4.org.uk/resources/

Cosmic Kids is ideal for children ages 3 to 9, offering free daily meditations, some breathing exercises, select sleep stories, select music tracks, and some guided meditations. Additionally, the creators have numerous meditation and utopia videos for free on YouTube. The “Calm kids” section also teaches young kids about calming techniques and can be used by parents working with children as young as 3 years old.