2024 advocacy piece

13 New Jersey’s Diverse Reentry Population Deserves Full Investment in their Health and Future Year after year, study after study documents the very poor outcomes for individuals following release from incarceration. These include extremely high numbers of overdose deaths in the weeks following release, as well as considerable levels of recidivism. In addition to substance abuse and mental health issues, court involvement is associated with higher rates of chronic and other physical healthcare needs. Providing improved access to health care, training and housing for justice-involved individuals will greatly improve the health, well-being and future of previously incarcerated individuals and will also be favorable to the state’s bottom line through reduced homelessness, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, recidivism and reincarceration. The Nurse Navigator program, fully funded within the budget of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, includes ten social workers, one medical director, four other M.D.s, and one nurse navigator. The program, which currently only focuses on women, serves a critical function by establishing linkages to health care and other services upon release. Dedicated funding in the amount of $1.7 million will strengthen the program and allow it to expand its focus to males. Another critical component of successful reentry is employment and no program provides more options, more placements and more success than the Governor’s Reentry Training and Employment Center (Center). Having provided training to more than 1,750 individuals last year, the goal for 2023 was set at serving 3,000. There is existing space to expand and the Center could increase its capacity to serve 10,000 to 15,000 in 2024. An increase of $667,000 in funding over the present budget allocation would support such an expansion. Perhaps the greatest need for those post-release is stable housing, which is particularly problematic for individuals with a record. No individual can focus on recovery without basic needs being met, and that begins with a place to live. As a first step to seeing an increase in the number of emergency, transitional and permanent housing units for justice-involved individuals, NJAMHAA recommends the introduction of legislation that would require a comprehensive study and roadmap to increase these three types of housing units for this population. New Jersey has an array of programs that serve individuals at various points of their encounters with the criminal justice system: deflection programs at the point of involvement with law enforcement where they are brought to behavioral health programs due to either a mental illness or substance use disorder; diversion programs operated by prosecutors and the courts for those who have been charged with a crime; and reentry programs for assisting incarcerated individuals in returning to their communities and avoiding recidivism. Unfortunately, few of New Jersey’s deflection, diversion and reentry programs are widely known to the many professionals who work with justice-involved individuals. Legislation is needed to require one or more Departments or Divisions to undertake an audit and develop a comprehensive resource directory that will generate awareness of these programs, as well as support collaboration and help prevent duplication.