Gowanus Could Get a Huge New Rehab Center on 2nd Avenue

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Addiction and mental health treatment center NYCATS — now being rebranded as the RevCore Recovery Center — is moving forward with plans to open a new facility inside the Department of Corrections parole facility at 15 2nd Ave. in Gowanus.

Avraham Schick, RevCore's executive director, outlined the company's plans at a Community Board 6 committee meeting on Wednesday.

Schick said the proposed 5,000-square-foot treatment center, which would occupy available space inside the parole facility, could open as early as February or March, though he said it would likely take longer to get up and running.

The business needs to receive state approval from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). But Schick also stressed that he wants to be transparent about RevCore's goals and earn community approval for them.

"Our intent is for this facility to be truly community based, to be a part of the community," Schick said.

The treatment center would initially operate between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. five days per week, Schick explained, though it would gradually start running several evening programs each week as well, typically until around 8 p.m.

In its first year, Schick said the treatment center would probably work with about 100 patients at a time — approximately 50 from the parole center, and 50 from the community. In its second year, that number would increase to about 180, with 80 individuals on parole and 100 from the community. The treatment center would be intended to serve locals, and wouldn't be marketed in other parts of the city, Schick said.

RevCore doesn't typically hire security guards, but Schick said that's because "we have staff that are really well trained in de-escalating techniques" and have good relationships with their patients. However, security would be hired if needed, he said.

The company also intends to hire locals as staffers whenever possible, Schick said.

The community members and CB6 board members who attended the meeting were generally supportive of the proposal, though several asked for greater specifics concerning RevCore's intended rate of growth and hours of operation.

But Schick and clinical director Kirk Chisholm, who also attended the meeting, said definitive numbers are hard to provide. The facility will adapt to the needs of its patients, they said, and will therefore have to modify its procedures, hours and caseloads accordingly. That said, both staffers suggested there would be a limit to how many patients would be seen there — less than 300, they suggested — and noted that the facility would never operate 24 hours per day.

The four members of CB6's Youth, Human Services, and Education Committee who led Wednesday's meeting voted to approve the plan, with a few conditions. Among them: they want RevCore to put together a community advisory committee, to provide quarterly reports on its patient loads (and where its patients are coming from), to notify the community when it makes changes to its hours or treatment schedules, and to focus on hiring locally.

RevCore's proposal will next be considered by the full CB6 board, which meets on Nov. 9.

Top image courtesy of Brandon Giesbrecht/Flickr