Families who have relied on the Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center are more than relieved that the West Seneca facility will stay open.

“That center saved our family,” said Allison Scanlon. "We were to the point where we were to our wits end. We didn't know 'are we gonna lose our son?'"

And she's not alone.

"Some of them are young adults know and you listen to their stories and when they're looking you in the eye—how could you not keep going," he said.

After five long years, that fight, to keep the children's facility from being merged with an adult facility in Buffalo, is finally over.

It was confirmed Tuesday that Governor Cuomo's office was backing off of that idea.

The decision, as welcome as it is, came much to everyone's surprise.

“Why today and not five years ago, I don’t know,” said Chudy, a member of the Save Our WNY CPC Coalition, the group that had been fighting to keep the center open.

"I have no idea. No idea whatsoever as to what changed the governor's mind. But you know what, it doesn't matter as long as it happened," Scanlon said.

But for the adult facility the future is still unclear.

Construction was started to make more space for the pending merger.

But local leaders believe all that work doesn't have to go to waste.

"Senator (Pete) Gallivan had a great suggestion and I support him 100 percent,” said Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, a long-time advocate for keeping the youth facility open. “We have an opiate crisis in Erie County. We need more beds. We can use that facility. This could be a blessing in disguise."