NJAMHAA 75th Anniversary

26 75 th Anniversary 2024 • Communications Concepts APEX Awards for Publication Excellence – Diverse Faces: All Are Worthy of Full Investment • CarePlus Foundation’s Courage Award – Debra Wentz • Social Innovations Journal’s New Jersey Social Innovation Award for Legislative Impact – Debra Wentz 2023 • NJBIZ’s 2023 Best Fifty Women in Business – Debra Wentz 2021 • American Society of Association Executives’ (ASAE’s) Power of A Award for School Based Youth Services Program Advocacy Initiative • Roger Mansel Lifetime Achievement Award, Family Connections “A Toast to Hope” – Debra Wentz 2020 • Advocacy Leadership Award for Organizational Excellence from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing 2019 • ROI-NJ Champions of the C-Suite (CEOs of the Year) – Debra Wentz • ICON Honors Award from NJBIZ – Debra Wentz NJAMHAA Awards (continued) To date, NJAMHAA’s advocacy resulted in: On July 10, 2025, substance use treatment providers learned that effective July 1, 2025, the New Jersey Statewide Initiative (NJSI) Program and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Initiative (SAPTI) could no longer enroll new members. NJAMHAA immediately requested an emergency meeting with leaders in DHS and DMHAS. This advocacy resulted in an additional $10.85 million of opioid settlement funding being invested to extend recovery and prevention services. Of this amount, $4.3 million was designated for serving eligible uninsured residents through the NJSI and SAPTI. The remainder of the opioid settlement funds available at that time were invested as follows: $3.5 million over 2.5 years to continue the Recovery Management Checkup program; $2 million to continue deploying Peer Recovery Specialists in residential treatment agencies; and $1.05 million to extend the Maternal Wraparound Program. In September 2025, the state announced an investment of $130.7 million in state opioid settlement funds to expand harm reduction services and launch new community-based support initiatives for families impacted by substance use. This allocation included $118.7 million over five and a half years to maintain and increase Harm Reduction Centers, and $12 million over three years for family and community support organizations. Just three months later, the state allocated more opioid settlement funds: $15 million to bridge access to community-based substance use treatment; $8 million for critical facility repairs, modernization, expansion, and mobile units; $10.5 million over three years to expand the housing continuum; $4.86 million over three years to expand the Keeping Families Together program; $6.2 million over two years to launch pilot Perinatal Centers of Excellence; $3 million over three years for monitoring and evaluation of state-level opioid settlement programs; and $250,000 to conduct a study on administrative barriers to care. In addition, both houses passed S3000/A3576, which codifies and extends authorization for certain out-of-state healthcare practitioners and recent graduates of healthcare training programs to practice in New Jersey. In this bill, the definition of healthcare providers includes individuals with emergency graduate licenses and temporary certification as alcohol and drug counselors. FY2026 NJAMHA successfully advocated for behavioral health services to not be carved into Medicaid managed care. Naltrexone was approved for treating alcohol and other substance use disorders 1900-1991 1995 1990s Several breakthrough antipsychotic drugs were introduced. 1990 Clozapine, the first of a new generation of antipsychotic drugs, was introduced.