Forge Health | KPC
Syosset, NY

As a member of the team that created the IOP model of care, Claudia Ragni has been a prominent leader in the field of substance use disorder since 1983. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Kenneth Peters Center for Recovery, Long Island’s premier program for the treatment of chemical dependency.

Honored as “Agency of the Year” by Employee Assistance Professionals Association, KPC has consistently been ahead of the curve in providing the highest quality patient centered care available on Long Island.

Claudia serves on the boards of several grassroots community coalitions and is an active fundraiser for charities that serve the addicted population and their families.  She has also served as President of EAPA, is one of the founders of Long Island Recovery Association, heads the Leadership Council for Long Island Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependencies where she has been a volunteer for over 45 years. She has been on multiple task forces addressing various issues in the community.

As a political advocate, she has been personally involved in the passage of over two dozen laws to enhance insurance coverage, increase access to care and reduce impact of utilization review.  These include the first insurance mandate to cover alcoholism treatment passed in 1986, mandated coverage for family services, predatory marketing law, elimination of precertification along with a bundle of 14 laws addressing the opioid crisis.

Claudia has been the recipient of numerous awards and proclamations including NYPD for her work following 9/11 at Ground Zero, The Humanitarian Award by LICADD in 2004 and 2018,  Community Leadership by Caron Foundation and Person of the Year by Long Island Recovery Association. Claudia has been given proclamations by Hillary Clinton, George Pataki, Carolyn McCarthy, Charles Schumer, Laura Curran for her work in the field.

Claudia speaks nationally on a variety of topics and teaches the post-masters addiction curriculum at Adelphi University.