Essex County Mental Health Nonprofit To Merge With Morris County Peers

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The Mental Health Association of Essex County has announced plans to merge with their peer organization in Morris County, forming a new agency that will serve both counties.

On April 27, the Montclair-based Mental Health Association of Essex County - which offers a range of health care programs for local residents with mental health illnesses – announced that the merger with the Mountain Lakes-based Mental Health Association of Morris County is expected to be completed around Aug. 1.

Both agencies receive the majority of their funding from the New Jersey Department of Human Services, and are affiliates of Mental Health America, the national umbrella organization for community-based mental health providers, according to a joint statement from the two groups.

The new organization will operate as the “Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris.” MHAEC Executive Director Robert Davison will act as the inaugural president and CEO.

“The mental health provider community in New Jersey is undergoing seismic shifts as we move into a ‘fee-for-service’ environment and, by joining forces and combining resources, this new, cross-county association will represent a ‘whole’ that is truly greater than the sum of its parts,” Davison said.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for two solid, community-based organizations to come together as a single service provider with greater capacity, impact and influence in the field of behavioral health in the state of New Jersey,” Davison added.

According to the news release, Louis Schwarcz, outgoing Morris president and CEO, was the party who initially began the merger discussions. She said that the transition will serve “the best interests of all concerned.”

“I truly believe that Morris and Essex becoming one dynamic service provider for much of the northern New Jersey region will provide the greatest benefit to the consumers and families we serve which, at the end of the day, is what matters most,” Schwarcz said. “The Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris will represent strength, stability, and greater collective capacity for our staff, our volunteers and our supporters to advance our shared mission well into the foreseeable future.”

• See related article: Essex County Mental Health Group Gets $500K Grant For Homeless Outreach

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