By James T. Madore
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
To help the families of emergency workers who have died on duty, the Suffolk County Legislature has created scholarships at Suffolk County Community College for the children of these first responders.
The tuition assistance program, funded with $10,000 for next year, is limited to the offspring of police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who lived in Suffolk and died while working for services that cover the county. It includes the children of police officers from villages and the East End towns, which have separate forces.
“I think it’s the very least Suffolk government can do for our first responders,” said Legis. Joseph T. Caracappa (R-Selden), who wrote the bill, which was unanimously approved Tuesday. “We should be there as a community to help them pick up the pieces and support their families in any way we can, especially their children,” he said yesterday.
The college supports the initiative, according to vice president Mary Lou Araneo. “By allocating resources to cover a portion of their children’s higher education expenses,” she said, “this provision gives a measure of confidence to the family should a tragedy occur.”
County Executive Steve Levy plans to sign the measure into law, saying yesterday that it was in line with benefits for volunteer firefighters.
Levy, a Democrat, also said he would sign a bill seeking proposals for the construction of a new Bay Shore Health Center to replace one closed in 2001 because of ventilation problems.
The bill’s author, Legis. Cameron Alden (R-Islip), has sparred with Levy over the clinic’s fate. Alden said residents have been forced to seek medical care at emergency rooms and overcrowded health centers in Brentwood and Central Islip. The old clinic served up to 9,000 patients per year since the 1970s.
Levy, who has earmarked about $11 million for a new clinic, said Suffolk hasn’t been able to reach agreement on the conversion of a roller rink. “This might shake out some more locations,” he said. “We’ve been aggressively looking but have come up with very limited options.”