State to distribute $95M to expand safe-syringe sites and addiction recovery services

New Jersey communities will get $95 million in national opioid settlement funds over the next three years to expand addiction treatment services and fight an opioid epidemic that contributed to more than 2,500 overdose deaths statewide last year, officials announced Thursday.

The funding is just the first batch of more than $1 billion pharmaceutical companies are expected to pay New Jersey over the next two decades to settle national lawsuits over their role in creating and fueling the opioid crisis.

“Importantly, half of that amount will go directly toward our counties and local governments so these funds can be spent quickly on the front lines of our communities,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a morning news conference at a harm reduction center in Newark.

The state council tasked with advising policymakers how best to spend the money recommended officials first beef up harm reduction services statewide, so the biggest chunk of the funding Murphy announced — $24 million over two years — will expand such centers to 18 counties and fund harm-reduction supplies in especially drug-ravaged communities.

Until last year, just seven counties had these centers, where people can get clean needles, wound care, connections to treatment and other social services, and more. State lawmakers passed a law in January 2022 to remove restrictions that had prevented new harm reduction centers from opening; state health officials began accepting applications for new centers last July.

“Expanding support for our neighbors struggling with addiction, rather than throwing them behind bars, saves lives and improves community health more broadly,” Murphy said. “We know what works, what doesn’t work. We’re doubling down on what does work.”

The funding will also support:

• Expanding operations at New Jersey’s 22 community peer recovery centers, which provide treatment information and other resources ($17.5 million over three years).
• Replacing and adding mobile units providing medication-assisted treatment services in communities ($9 million over three years).
• Expanding remote referral services to enable 24/7 connections to treatment providers and harm reduction services ($19.5 million over three years).
• Expanding supported housing, including emergency shelter beds, short-term rental subsidies, transitional housing beds, and permanent housing assistance ($17 million over three years).
• Expanding a state program that provides housing vouchers and links to community services to parents recovering from addiction ($8.1 million over three years).
• Providing xylazine test strips, wound care supplies, hygiene kits, and other harm reduction materials to address emerging drug trends ($500,000).

Overdose deaths have fallen statewide from their record high of over 3,000 in 2021, but some alarming trends persist, said Kaitlan Baston, the acting state health commissioner.

“While we are flattening the curve for some, we are not flattening the curve for all,” Baston said. “As we’ve seen the numbers drop off for white New Jerseyans, we’ve actually seen them continue to rise in the Black and brown communities in our state, which is unacceptable. And we’re seeing disproportionate amounts of people really affected in rural areas and staggering numbers in the elderly population. And so I say all this not to be depressing, but to say we have work to do, and that is why we are here.”

Addiction recovery providers and advocates applauded the news.

“These recommendations are exactly the types of services we should be funding if we want to save as many lives as possible,” said Eddie Frierson of the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition. “Harm reduction is the best tool we have to prevent overdose deaths, and we have mountains of evidence and personal experience to prove it. Now we just need more dollars so every community in the state has access to this lifesaving care.”