Chooper's Guide ... the Internet's most comprehensive substance abuse treatment, prevention and intervention resource directory.

Christie announces plan to expand, streamline drug treatment in N.J.



Summary/Abstract

Christie announces in his state of the union address plans to expand, streamline drug treatment in New Jersey

Content

State of the State: Chris Christie on streamlining government services for drug addictionGov. Chris Christie delivered the 2015 State of the State Address to 216th Session of the N.J. State Legislature, Tuesday January 13, 2015 in Trenton. In his speech Christie outlined plans to help those in the state who are struggling with drug addiction. (Source: NJTV) 

Amid a growing heroin and opioid crisis in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie announced in his State of the State address today plans for two significant efforts to bolster the way substance abuse treatment is accessed and provided. Christie said he has launched an effort to streamline how those suffering from substance abuse are connected to treatment, which is often described as a confusing web of bureaucracy that leaves those seeking help without answers. He said the state has created a single phone number that will help connect those seeking help to available treatment services, regardless of where they are in the state. Currently, Christie noted, this task is split among federal, state and local governments, as well as private groups, which can make navigation difficult. "Imagine, just one phone call to provide real time information, assess available treatment options and connect them to the help they need right then," Christie said. "It’s the smart way to make sure we don’t have people that are stuck in the system."

Details of the call-in substance abuse assistance line were announced earlier today in Toms River

Christie also announced that he plans to expand the offender re-entry programcurrently in place at the Hudson County Correctional Facility, to five other cities: Newark, Paterson, Toms River, Trenton and Atlantic City.

"We’re helping them lay their own foundation for successful reentry into society … We’re helping them break the cycle of dependency,” Christie said. “We’re going to fight to make it happen.”

The Hudson County Jail program, championed by former Gov. Jim McGreevey, has shown significant successes since it began in 2009. It helps connect drug offenders to treatment while they are in jail and connects them to housing, additional treatment and employment services when they leave.

"Most of the offenders that come through this jail committed a crime because of a drug addiction. But it occurred to me, why are we just throwing money at something that’s not working?" Oscar Aviles, the jail’s director told NJ Advance Media in a recent interview. "We have funding to pay for the commitment and have these people in a structured environment. We ought to be treating them."

McGreevey, who has been instrumental in pushing for the expansion of the re-entry program, said it will follow the same model in place in Hudson County and has the full cooperation with the local county jails.  He said the five new programs will partner with local treatment, housing and employment to follow inmates when they leave correctional facilities and may also take referrals from federal prisons in the state.

"It begins to change the national debate regarding reentry," McGreevey said. "We have this very expensive yet failed system of incarceration. The governor has demonstrated great leadership and courage in stating the need to change the status quo." 

Christie's actions, if put into action, would represent significant steps in the battle against heroin and opioid abuse in New Jersey. In a December interview with NJ Advance Media, he discussed the need to both expand and streamline drug treatment in the Garden State.

Throughout his five-years as governor, Christie has emphasized the need for addiction to be treated as a disease with a focus on treatment over incarceration. It’s a position he has held for two decades, since working with substance abuse treatment center Daytop Village in Mendham as a Morris County Freeholder in the 1990s, and one he again emphasized today.

“My position on this is pretty simple — drug addiction is a disease. It can happen to anyone, at any time, from any station in life, but we can treat it,” he said. “Crying at the needless senseless funerals of our children and our friends is not enough.”

In his address, Christie touted the expansion of the state’s drug court system, which allows criminals brought to court on drug charges a chance at entering a treatment program in lieu of a jail sentence.

He also noted a bill he signed that promises immunity to people who witness a drug overdose and call 911 for assistance, as well as legislation that greatly expanded the availability of drug overdose antidote Narcan, which saved more than 700 lives in 2014 alone.

But the successful use of Narcan also underscores the expansion of the heroin and opioid crisis under Christie’s watch. While final figures likely won’t be available for months, experts say the number overdose deaths in New Jersey will likely remain similar to or exceed rates in 2013, when at least 741 people died.

The successful use of Narcan is a measure of lives saved in the state, but also of how many were brought to the brink of death by heroin or opioids in 2014.

There also remains a lack of residential treatment for substance abuse in New Jersey, one that Christie himself acknowledged in a recent interview with NJ Advance Media. An annual survey by the federal government shows that New Jersey’s residential treatment facilities have been operating at or near capacity for several years.

While details of Christie's plan to expand the Hudson County Jail program remain unclear, it appears likely to focus on those arrested and/or jailed for drug charges in New Jersey. If that is the case, the impact for those without an arrest record seeking treatment would be minimal.

Comments