Biographical Info

An experienced, dynamic and committed public health professional, Dr. Jeffrey L. Reynolds is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Family and Children’s Association (FCA), based in Mineola, NY. Since it began as an orphanage more than 130 years ago, Family and Children’s Association (FCA) has been committed to caring for Long Island’s vulnerable children, youth, seniors and families while helping them prepare for successful futures. The organization offers community-based programs for struggling families, at-risk adolescents, vulnerable seniors, and adults with substance use disorders. Today, FCA is one of Long Island’s largest health and human organizations with an annual budget of $20 million, 340 staff, 200 volunteers and 30+ programs.

From 2009-2014, Dr. Reynolds served as Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD). With offices in Mineola, Ronkonkoma and Riverhead, LICADD provides substance abuse screenings, brief interventions and referrals to addiction treatment, as well as professionally-facilitated family interventions, relapse prevention programs and anger management services to adults and adolescents. Under Dr. Reynolds’ leadership, LICADD pioneered the launch of “Too Good for Drugs, an evidence-based K-12 substance abuse prevention program in several Long Island schools, initiated a new mentoring program for children of incarcerated parents and expanded LICADD’s Employee Assistance Program, which now covers 80,000 public and private employees in the tri-state area. During his tenure, LICADD’s revenues tripled and the number of families served per month increased nine-fold. LICADD recently became an affiliate of FCA so as to consolidate administrative functions.

Prior to joining LICADD, Dr. Reynolds worked for the Long Island Association for AIDS Care for 19 years, where he started out doing case management and finished his tenure as Vice President for Public Affairs, responsible for government relations, resource development, strategic marketing, and communications. In 1997, he co-founded BiasHELP of Long Island, an organization dedicated to assisting victims of hate crimes and their families. As BiasHELP’s Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Reynolds secured federal, state and local grants and launched a wide array of crime victim assistance services and school-based violence prevention programs.

Dr. Reynolds currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Nassau County Heroin Prevention Task Force and is chair of Suffolk County’s Sober Home Oversight Board. He chaired Suffolk County’s Heroin/Opiate Epidemic Advisory Panel, which released sweeping recommendations in 2012 and serves on the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA-LI) Prescription Drug Working Group. Dr. Reynolds has also served as Chair of Nassau County’s Youth Board and spent three years on Suffolk County’s Welfare-to-Work Commission. Dr. Reynolds is Vice Chair and remains the longest serving member of the NYS AIDS Advisory Council, first appointed by the NYS Senate Majority Leader in 1994 and reappointed three times since then. He serves on the Board of Directors of Families in Support of Treatment (FIST) and Strong Youth’s Advisory Board. Dr. Reynolds has served as a consultant and grant reviewer for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is a frequent presenter at statewide and national health and human service conferences.

He has authored more than 200 news and op-ed articles that have appeared in a wide variety of publications and is consistently used as an expert source for substance abuse, addiction, HIV/AIDS and human/civil rights information by local and national radio, television, online and print outlets. Dr. Reynolds has received numerous awards for his community service and leadership and was named one of the “50 most influential Long Islanders” each year 2010-2015 by the Long Island Press. Since 2012, Dr. Reynolds received leadership awards and honors from the Simple Hope Foundation, Caron Treatment Centers, Strong Youth, Inc., the Long Island Recovery Association and LICADD. In January 2014, he graduated from Energeia, a regional stewardship program spearheaded by Molloy College.

Dr. Reynolds holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dowling College (1988), a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) with a specialization in health administration from Long Island University (1997) and a doctorate from Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare (2007). Dr. Reynolds’ doctoral dissertation was on “Using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change to Explore Substance Use Patterns and HIV Risk Behaviors in a Suburban Sample” and he remains an Assistant Clinical Professor at Stony Brook. Dr. Reynolds is also a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP) and a U.S. Department of Transportation-qualified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP).

A lifelong Long Island resident, Dr. Reynolds lives in Smithtown with his wife and children. He’s an avid marathon runner and triathlete, a passion he’s used to raise much-needed funds for FCA.

Level of Media Interview Experience: Advanced