Bill Text: NJ A4766 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations act to provide $15 million of Expanded Addiction Initiatives appropriation to services for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-12-06 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee [A4766 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4766-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Amends Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations act to provide $25 million of Expanded Addiction Initiatives appropriation to services for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act amending the Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations act, P.L.2018, c.53.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The following language provision in section 1 of P.L.2018, c.53, the annual appropriations act for Fiscal Year 2019, is amended to read as follows:
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46 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 20 Physical and Mental Health 23 Mental Health and Addiction Services 290 Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services DIRECT STATE SERVICES |
Notwithstanding the provisions of any law or regulation to the contrary, the amount hereinabove appropriated for Expanded Addiction Initiatives shall be used to develop, support, and expand programs and services, including providing grants to entities providing such programs and services, that the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Human Services, and the Commissioner of Children and Families determine to be most effective in directly addressing the Statewide public health crisis associated with substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder and mental health disorders co-occurring with substance use disorders, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting. Such programs and services may include, but shall not be limited to, efforts to improve access to community-based behavioral health care, develop the State's anti-addiction infrastructure, support enhance integration of care, and address relevant social and economic factors; provided, however, that of the amount hereinabove appropriated, a minimum amount of $25,000,000 shall be used to develop, support, and expand programs and services that serve individuals with co-occurring mental health disorders and substance use disorders in an integrated treatment setting. [the] The amount appropriated may be expended or transferred.
(cf: P.L.2018, c.53, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends the annual appropriations act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to provide that a minimum of $25 million of the $100 million Expanded Addiction Initiatives appropriation is used to develop, support, and expand programs and services that serve individuals with co-occurring mental health disorders and substance use disorders in an integrated treatment setting.
Among the 8.9 million adults with any mental health and a substance use disorder in the United States in 2016, 44 percent received substance use treatment or mental health treatment, 13.5 percent received both mental health treatment and substance use treatment, and 37.6 percent did not receive any treatment. Research demonstrates that individuals receiving services in integrated co-occurring treatment facilities were more successful than individuals in non-integrated facilities in the following areas: reduced substance use, improvement in psychiatric symptoms and functioning, decreased hospitalization, increased housing stability, fewer arrests, and improved quality of life.
The services provided in New Jersey, as with the nation, lack the capacity to meet the existing needs of the State's adults with co-occurring disorders, putting the health and livelihood of residents who struggle with mental health and substance abuse disorders at risk. This bill aims to improve the State's ability to serve those residents by directing existing State funding to support services and programs for this population.
