NAMI NEW JERSEY
ADVOCACY NETWORK
UPDATE
April 5, 2001
PLANS ANNOUNCED FOR GREYSTONE
The
New Jersey Department of Human Services has announced the preliminary plan,
Redirection II, which is intended to make system wide improvement to the
state's mental health system in all 21 counties. The centerpiece of this
plan is a "state of the art" replacement hospital on the grounds of
Greystone. A 250-bed hospital would be constructed which in conjunction
with some existing buildings , would accommodate 390 patients. It also
calls for developing community programs for 388 state hospital patients.
The
Plan Calls For:
· Group homes and supervised apartments, with an array of
support services.
· PACT programs in all counties.
· Medication related services, including improved access to
psychiatric and nursing staff.
· Crisis/respite services to prevent unnecessary
hospitalization.
· Services for people with a mental illness who also have
drug and alcohol problems.
· Expanded access to 18 month Integrated Case Management
including patients discharged from short term care facilities.
· Supportive housing and rental subsidies.
The
plan is projected to include $22 million during FY 2002 for the expansion of
community services and $32.2 million in FY 2003. Following the two year
phase-in, $35.2 million is to be available on an ongoing annual basis to
support the community expansion.
In the
next two months, meetings will be held with mental health constituency groups
and county mental health boards. Plans are being made for a public
hearing at a location near Greystone. It is anticipated that Acting
Governor DiFrancesco will decide on a final plan after reviewing the public
comments.
Please distribute this Alert to other advocates for improved
mental health services in New Jersey. If you would like to receive NAMI
NEW JERSEY Advocacy Alerts by email, contact Phil Lubitz, the Advocacy Network
Coordinator at mailto:aminj@sprynet.com
or by phone (732) 940-0991.
NAMI
NEW JERSEY: http://naminj.nami.org/naminj/