the harris project

05/14/2026

Big ideas start with young people💡🧠

Westchester high school students gather your team for the Chappaqua Youth Mental Health and Wellness Hackathon - a youth-led creating, problem-solving, innovation contest. Thank you Shahak!

We’re also proud to partner with the Greeley Photography Club for the 2026 Annual Photo Contest: Capture the Light, Share the Hope - empowering students to use photography to raise awareness for teen mental health and co-occurring disorders. Thank you Ari and Charlie!

📣 Both will only be successful if you participate.
Hackathon:
🎨 Bring your creativity on June 13 from 1pm-5pm
🤝 Build a team
🧠 Share your ideas
💚 Help create change for your peers and community
 
📸 Submit your photography now through October 1
Teen minds. Teen solutions. Real impact.
Tag a student who should get involved.

05/12/2026

Deeply honored to have been recognized by President Pro Tempore and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins as her 2026 New York State Senate Woman of Distinction.

To have Harris’s life, our family’s journey, and the work of the harris project recognized in this way is profoundly meaningful. This honor also belongs to the countless young people, families, school districts, and communities impacted by co-occurring disorders, the intersection of mental health challenges and substance use issues.

It also reflects the collaborative efforts of so many dedicated individuals and organizations, including local and state government, educators, clinicians, prevention leaders, advocates, faith and community partners working together to advance awareness, prevention, early identification, and an integrated system of care for young people and families.

Leader Stewart-Cousins, thank you for your thoughtful leadership, your genuine support of this work, and for the extraordinary kindness and warmth you showed throughout the day and every time we meet. I will carry this honor with me always🌻💚🤍🖤🌻
Stephanie

04/20/2026

4/20 is everywhere. The facts matter.

Today’s ma*****na isn’t just stronger, it shows up in more forms than ever: smoking, va**ng, dabbing, drinks, edibles. That means higher THC concentration, easier access, and harder-to-gauge dosing.

For teens, that can impact memory and learning, mental health, judgment, motivation, sports performance, and driving safety.

This isn’t about fear, it’s about understanding what’s actually at stake 💚🤍🖤
Know the facts. Start the conversation. Be the link.

04/13/2026

Thank you Dan Wakeford for launching Celebrity Intelligence and for your commitment to thoughtful reporting. Your sensitivity when breaking the news on Britney Spears entering a rehabilitation program is what all journalists should strive for. I am honored to have contributed to this piece, sending love and light to Britney and her family. Hope you will read and subscribe!
Stephanie

Stories That Go Beyond Gossip to Explain Why Fame Fascinates Us — and What These Stories Reveal About Society

02/03/2026

Grateful to David Lombardo and the for the opportunity to talk about why co-occurring disorders must be a consistent through line across New York’s and substance use systems.

Appreciated the chance to acknowledge leadership in elevating co-occurring disorders in the Executive Budget, and to be clear that real progress requires integration across prevention, workforce training, treatment, crisis response, and recovery.

We discussed the success of ’s approach to co-occurring disorders, the risks of siloed investments, and why New York would benefit from a Blue Ribbon, time-limited panel on co-occurring disorders to ensure policy, funding, and implementation align with the realities people face.

Episode link coming soon.
Thank you for the thoughtful conversation.



01/14/2026

*** UPDATE ***
Funding was restored, awaiting finally details. Westchester was working closely with us to plan, grateful for local government commitment.
***
Earlier today, Westchester County received official notice that its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Youth & Family TREE grant was terminated effective at midnight.

Separately, NPR is reporting on the broader termination of SAMHSA discretionary awards nationwide, placing this local action in a national context. See link below.

Behind the headlines are real young people and families.

TREE stands for Treatment, Recovery, Engagement, and Empowerment. In Westchester County, the Co-Occurring System of Care–TREE / Encompass project funds an innovative and transformative, evidence-based system serving adolescents and transitional-age youth with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

These are young people navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, and other mental health challenges together with substance use issues with families doing everything they can to hold things together while trying to access coordinated, effective care. What we have built is not a pilot or a patchwork program, but a true national model of excellence for integrated youth and family care.

The termination was not related to performance or outcomes, and the project aligns directly with the priorities outlined in the termination letter. What is at stake now is the infrastructure that makes care possible: coordination, clinical consultation, trained and supported staff delivering care with fidelity, wraparound services, and continuity for families who depend on integrated treatment.

At this early moment, our focus must be on what abrupt federal funding terminations mean for continuity of care, workforce stability, and system infrastructure, and how we work together across local, state, federal, philanthropic, and community partners to protect care for youth and families.

I remain deeply grateful for Westchester County, Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health and team, provider partners, clinicians, and colleagues who show up every day for these young people and their families, especially in moments like this.


Stephanie

The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services. The cuts could total as much as $2 billion.

01/14/2026

STATEMENT FROM THE HARRIS PROJECT INC. ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL’S STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS:

Co-Occurring Disorders: Governor Hochul Advances Integrated Care for New Yorkers with Mental Health and Substance Use Needs

New York, NY – January 13, 2026

Governor Kathy Hochul is taking a decisive and game-changing step to address the realities of co-occurring disorders, when mental health and substance use conditions occur together, an issue affecting individuals and families across New York and the nation.

Nationally, more than 21 million people meet criteria for a diagnosis of co-occurring disorders, and an estimated 60 percent of individuals receiving substance use disorder treatment also have a co-occurring mental health condition. Yet in New York State, behavioral health services remain organized in regulatory and funding silos that fail to align with this reality, forcing people to navigate multiple systems at moments of greatest need.

Governor Hochul’s proposal directly addresses these challenges by allowing clinics to provide mental health and substance use disorder services under a single, jointly issued license. The Governor will also establish a Co-Occurring Capable (CoC) designation for providers certified by the Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) who meet defined standards for addressing complex, overlapping needs.

“These reforms reflect what families, clinicians, and systems leaders have long known: co-occurring disorders is the expectation, not the exception,” said Stephanie Marquesano, Founder and President of The Harris Project Inc. “As both a parent with lived experience and a professional who has spent more than a decade advancing co-occurring disorders systems integration, I have seen the harm caused when systems are designed around diagnoses instead of people.”

Marquesano acknowledged the role of Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Marie Sullivan and Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham in advancing the Governor’s proposal. “I welcome the opportunity to support Commissioner Sullivan, Commissioner Cunningham, and their teams as this work moves forward,” she said.

Marquesano previously served as a member of the New York State Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board, where she consistently advanced the importance of making co-occurring disorders a central priority in the state’s response to the overdose and mental health crises. “Addressing substance use without mental health, or mental health without substance use, will never be sufficient for prevention, care, or long-term recovery,” she said.

With this initiative, New York moves beyond fragmented systems toward a coordinated, evidence-informed, and person-centered approach to co-occurring disorders.
Stephanie

01/05/2026

IT’S CODA Night with the Westchester Knicks 🏀
January 24 | 7:00 PM

We’re proud to partner with the Westchester Knicks for a CODA-themed night — using the power of sports to raise awareness and recognize youth leadership.

the harris project and the Westchester Knicks will celebrate youth engaged in CODA efforts in their schools and communities.

🎟 Free tickets: the harris project has purchased 200 tickets available through advisors, teachers, coaches
🎟 Discounted tickets for all (over 50% off), with a portion benefiting the harris project
🔗 Link in bio to purchase
📍 Westchester County Center | White Plains
🗓 Saturday, January 24 | 7:00 PM
👉 Advisors: Up to 8 free tickets per group, allocated on a rolling basis
📧 To share youth names or for more info: [email protected]
Visibility. Recognition. Community-centered COD Awareness.

Co-Occurring Disorders Awareness (CODA) focuses on the connection between mental health and substance use, and why prevention and early support matter.

12/31/2025

This work doesn’t live in one place.

It lives in classrooms and community spaces.
In conversations between youth and adults.
In prevention, treatment, recovery, and culture.

In 2025, the harris project worked across systems to bring co-occurring disorders out of the shadows and into shared understanding and action.

And behind all of this is community, including the friends and family who steady the work and remind us why it matters.

Swipe to see what that looked like.


11/14/2025

It matters, so the work continues.

Grateful to for revisiting The Missing Issue, highlighting the connection between mental health and substance use.

Co-occurring disorders impacts millions. Elevating these voices builds understanding, and reinforces the urgent need for compassionate, integrated care and support for individuals and their loved ones.

Swipe to learn more, link in bio.