$150K Grant Will Help Camden County Battle Opioid Abuse

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — The Camden County Police Department has been awarded about $150,000 to participate in the state’s opioid response team program, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Teams that participate in the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (NJ CARES) Opioid Response Team Program provide around-the-clock crisis intervention for anyone who is battling addiction.

The team will be deployed to assist those at the scene of an overdose, in a hospital following an overdose, at a police station following an opioid-related arrest, or during calls for service in which someone is under the influence of opioids.

Team members trained in de-escalation techniques and how to interact with individuals with opioid addiction issues will provide on-scene support, information, and/or referrals to treatment and recovery programs.

At least one representative from the Camden County Police Department and Camden’s Emergency Medical Services will have at least one representative on the team. A Substance Abuse Recovery Advocate (“SARA”) will also be on the team. ORT specialists will be available at all times to respond to drug-related crises and show survivors that treatment is always available for those who are ready to turn their lives around.

The Camden County Police Department is one of five agencies to take part in the program. Others include Newark, Paterson, Trenton and Toms River. The grants are for $149,999.80 each, and funding will run from Oct. 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021.

“We have learned that merely responding to an overdose is no longer sufficient, we have to address the root cause of the issue,” Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said. “To effectively combat and reduce the prevalence of drug overdoses in Camden and elsewhere, we must ensure that treatment continues beyond the initial point of contact. Having a team of experts who can refer survivors to recovery services will be a tremendous asset to the department and to those we serve.”

The municipality-focused ORT program is designed to complement the county-based Operation Helping Hand programs in which Camden County participated in June. Those programs saw officers immediately offer addiction intervention services to individuals attempting to purchase heroin and other narcotics. Read more here: Camden County Announces Results Of New Drug Treatment Program

“We know that the minutes and hours after an overdose, an arrest, or another drug-related crisis offer drug users an important opportunity to get the help they need to turn their lives around,” Grewal said. “These Opioid Response Teams will be trained to spring into action at a moment’s notice, day or night, to ensure that drug users experiencing a crisis know that the door to treatment and recovery support services is always open.”

For more information regarding this program, visit https://www.nj.gov/oag/.