Advocacy E-News November 22, 2017

November 22, 2017

MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES HAD FRIEND IN COUNTY PROSECUTOR|

In November 2003, Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton created a mental illness and intervention committee to address problems that people with mental illness and their families encounter with the criminal justice system. Fourteen years later, the committee continues to meet monthly. It includes members of the criminal justice, corrections, social services and mental health systems, as well as members of NAMI Gloucester County. All of this has been accomplished through the ongoing efforts of Prosecutor Dalton, but on Nov. 9, Gov. Christie nominated a Monroe Township attorney to replace him.

A member of the county’s mental health community argues that Dalton should remain as prosecutor.

CHRISTIE SAYS PROMISE ON ADDICTION, MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT COMING TRUE IN 2019

Nine months after Gov. Chris Christie vowed to add nearly 900 psychiatric and drug treatment beds to help halt the epidemic of opioid addictions and overdoses in the state, the governor announced Friday that 26 health providers have committed to open inpatient facilities and meet the demand within two years, four of the 26 treatment providers have committed to building new private inpatient hospitals. Ninety percent of the bed space will be allocated to people with private insurance. Five percent of the remaining beds will be set aside for people on Medicaid, while five percent will be reserved for people who lack health insurance.

GOVERNOR-ELECT MURPHY OPENS APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THOSE LOOKING TO SERVE ADMINISTRATION

Governor-elect Phil Murphy today put out a call for all interested to apply for a job in the forthcoming Murphy administration through the Transition2018 website, http://transition2018.nj.gov/. The Transition2018 website will also contain transition news, biographies, and offer methods for New Jersey residents to get in touch. Potential job applicants should visit the website and submit their resume through the “Apply for a Position” page.

NJPP: ACA SABOTAGE TARGETING MIDDLE-CLASS NJ FAMILIES

The administration’s sabotage of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplace is driving up premiums and making insurance unaffordable for millions of Americans. In New Jersey, about 150,000 of the 341,000 people who buy insurance through the individual market will see an average 22 percent increase in their premiums in 2018, according to a report released today by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). The impact is widespread across all Congressional Districts, according to NJPP’s analysis, but residents in Republican-led districts are more likely to bear the full cost of premium increases than in Democrat-led districts.

HOUSING NETWORK CALLS FOR MORE SPECIAL NEEDS HOUSING AND RENTAL ASSISTANCE

The Special Needs Housing Trust Fund, administered by the NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and supported by $200 million in state bonding, helped create quality housing with needed supportive services for over 2,000 families and individuals. When the fund ran dry however, no effort was made to replenish it. The Build a Thriving New Jersey initiative would restore the Special Needs Housing Trust Fund with $45 million in bonding, $25 million in state General Fund money for homeless programs and $6 million in realty transfer fee revenues as a match for federal homeless support.

See the full report