John Venza, LCSW-R, LMHC

John Venza is a New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has been working with children, adolescents, and families for 40 years. He is the Vice President of Residential Services and Business Development for Outreach Development Corporation, where he provides clinical and administrative oversight to the largest residential adolescent substance abuse treatment programs in the downstate New York region. He is also responsible for business development in support of the agency’s goals for strategic growth.

Mr. Venza is well known for his expertise in practice with adolescents and young adults in New York City and on Long Island. He is the author of five graduate level courses on adolescence, which comprised the Institute for Adolescent Studies at SUNY Stony Brook, where he taught at the graduate level for almost 13 years. He is a recipient of the Brentley Glass – Mortimer Kreuter Excellence in Teaching and Service Award from the School of Professional Studies at Stony Brook University.

Mr. Venza maintains a private therapy practice in which he specializes in parent education and family centered treatment for adolescents and young adults. He was a member of the original Suffolk County legislative opioid task convened in 2010 and is presently a member of the new legislative appointed opioid task force. He also serves as the co-chair of Suffolk County’s Community of Solutions and heads the sub-committee for School Outreach.

Mr. Venza is active on several statewide committees and task forces including the OASAS Adolescent Clinical Advisory group, New York State ASAP Sub Committee on Adolescents chair and Therapeutic Community Association of New York (TCANY). Other notable accomplishments include being featured on the News 12 series, People Making a Difference on Long Island, NPR radio, CNN, Newsday, Parents Magazine, and Life with Teens for his work with adolescents and families.