TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie will announce this week $200 million in new initiatives to target the opioid crisis, primarily designed to overhaul addiction services, as he makes a final push on the issue he hopes will define his legacy.
In a 90-minute interview with NJ Advance Media on Friday, Christie said the funding will be targeted toward underserved populations — the uninsured, individuals on Medicaid, babies born with addiction and their mothers. The money will come out of the budgets of eight state departments, he said.
The governor said he hopes the initiative will significantly improve the way New Jersey approaches substance abuse treatment and prevention by putting more emphasis on making sure care is geared toward sustained sobriety. That will be done by standardizing data collection and building seamless channels for holistic care for addicts through incentive-based programs that reward providers who focus on the long-term.
“It’s changing the way we do this stuff to evidence-based treatment,” Christie said. “You say your methods are great, every treatment center out there says they’ve got the right way to handle it. Well, prove it.”
Christie said he plans to announce the programs in a series of events in the coming week. The initiative is likely the capstone in what has been an aggressive push by the governor to address the opioid crisis in New Jersey, which NJ Advance Media estimates killed more than 2,000 people in 2016 alone.
Christie has directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward prevention, treatment and recovery initiatives during his second term, and said he instructed his staff to look for loose ends that could be tied up before he leavesi office in January.
“I said I don’t want you to worry about money, and I want you to come back to me with a wish…
The post Governor Christie Allocates $200 Million to Fight Opioid Crisis in New Jersey appeared first on FeedBox.