2026-advocacy-piece

RECOMMENDATIONS Invest in Necessary Infrastructure ARRIVE Models 10 The Behavioral Health Budget Must Reflect New Jersey Value & Needs • Invest $20 million in capital funding for community-based providers to apply for support to meet the facility requirements of fully integrated sites, as well as upgrade their aging facilities, grounds and fleets. • Pass S144/A3625 to reinstate the 70+ year exemption of vehicle registration fees for nonprofit organizations’ vehicles. Prior to when the majority of programs overseen by the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services moved to fee-for-service reimbursement from contracts, providers could submit requests at the end of each fiscal year to utilize unspent funds for infrastructure needs, such as vehicle purchase, heating/ventilation/ air conditioning system replacement and roof repair. Since 2016, that option has not been available to most programs, many of which reside in aging facilities. Capital funding is long overdue to both fill this gap in support of property and fleet needs and to enable organizations to undertake renovations that would allow them to more fully integrate primary medical care into their service continuum. The high level of comorbidities that individuals with mental health and substance use disorders experience can be positively impacted with coordinated, on-site delivery of basic medical care. The proposed integrated license regulations offer opportunities to provide comprehensive care at a single location and should be fully supported with an initial investment of $20 million for a capital needs grant program. Also long overdue is the passage of S144/A3625 to reinstate the 70+ year exemption of vehicle registration fees for nonprofit organizations’ vehicles. The repeal of this exemption in 2017 resulted from a reinterpretation of the term “humane societies” used in the 1940 statute. The resulting costs can be significant for providers with large fleets, all of which should continue to benefit from the same exemption still afforded to water districts, hospitals and other non-profit categories. Non-Law Enforcement Response: Mental health professionals respond alone. Co-Response: Law enforcement respond on scene not in uniform and mental health professionals respond on scene simultaneously. Telehealth: Law enforcement respond on scene and mental health professionals join remotely via telephone or video conferencing. Close Follow-up: Law enforcement respond on scene in uniform and mental health professionals join on scene subsequently. Follow-up: Law enforcement respond on scene alone, and mental health professionals follow up with the individual to provide mental health and support services at a later date and time. Includes information from ARRIVE reports with an incident date from 5/1/2023 to 11/30/2025 and marked complete as of 12/2/2025. A single ARRIVE report may include the use of more than one ARRIVE model. Thus, the total may be greater than 100%. Source: New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, ARRIVE Together Dashboard – ARRIVE Models 11,410 ARRIVE Reports 2,143 19% Co-Response Reports 4,495 13% Follow-up Reports 394 3% Telehealth Reports 212 2% Non-Law Enforcement Intervention Reports 4,243 37% Close Follow-up Reports