It’s been called by far the most substantial federal investment in mental health and addiction services in generations. Last year Congress gave 24 states a cut of $23 million in order to create mental health care programs. New Jersey was one of them. Now eight of those states stand to get even more money to implement their plans. The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Services President and CEO is Debra Wentz.
Williams: Why should New Jersey be one of the eight states to get more funding?
Wentz: New Jersey has great need and has one of the lowest medicaid rates in the nation. This has prevented New Jerseyans from receiving mental health and substance use disorder services for many years. The need is enormous. One in four people in New Jersey have a mental illness, and of those people only one third receive treatment. More than 985,000 people have an addiction, and of those people only six percent have access to care. Half of the homeless population has serious mental illness. 10 percent of the people in our nursing homes are not elderly, but people who are dealing with a chronic mental illness. Two thirds of the people in our jails have a substance use disorder and it goes on and on. We have increased need. It was wonderful that New Jersey signed on to the medicaid expansion.
Williams: What programs does New Jersey have that qualified it for the pilot planning program?
Wentz: New Jersey applied. The New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services applied to receive one of these grants. It’s a planning grant, so during that year in order to become a certified community behavioral health center which is very important because they can command a much higher federal rate of reimbursement than the current community mental heath and addiction services. To meet those demands though its very stringent. The state will plan to certify providers, and then if they are one of the eight states that are selected, although we are advocating that Congress fund all 24 states, what that would mean is that the provider would provide direct crisis mental health services, screening assessment and diagnosis of mental health and substance use services, patient center treatment and outpatient mental health and substance use services.
Williams: What would it mean for New Jersey to get addition funding for mental health services?
Wentz: A lot of political will through Congress. I think that New Jersey’s fortunate that our own Congressman Leonard Lance was one of the original co-sponsors of the Excellence in Mental Health Act. For the eight states that currently would receive funding to fund two certified community behavioral health clinics it would mean nationwide that 750,000 uninsured or low income people would obtain services, and in addition returning vets and military personnel would get intensive mental health services. If all 24 states were funded, that would actually represent three times as much money that would go into the system which has long been underfunded.
Williams: Governor Christie has championed addiction services in the state, like drug courts. Do we have enough addiction services? What can be improved?
Wentz: First of all, workers compensation could be improved so that you can attract and retain a workforce that is consistent so that providers can invest and expand services. Unfortunately, the need is greater than what we have access to, but this Excellence in Mental Health Act and the certified community health centers is an enormous possibility. In New Jersey only six percent of the people who need treatment for addictions receive it, so we just need to do more. There is increased demand with man made natural disasters, vets returning from wars and the fact that so many people are traumatized as children with domestic violence and other crimes. We have our emergency rooms, our jails, our shelter overflowing with people who need treatment and it just isn’t enough. So anything that brings additional funding is great.