Advocacy E-news June 3, 2020
June 3, 2020
GOVERNOR AND AG GREWAL ANNOUNCE NEW MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN POLICE-CIT TRAINING
Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today provided updates to ongoing initiatives that advance the Administration’s goal of strengthening trust between police officers and the communities they serve in New Jersey. Experts agree that one of the most effective ways to reduce police use-of-force and death-in-custody incidents is by expanding the use of Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs), which help officers respond to situations involving individuals with mental health issues. To reduce the barriers to entry, the Attorney General’s Office is exploring the capacity to build a statewide CIT training program. As a first step, the state will launch a pilot program, with police departments in Atlantic City, Paterson, Trenton, and Millville, as well as New Jersey State Police Troopers assigned in Trenton.
Read the Press Release in InsiderNJ
MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS INCREASINGLY FRUSTRATED BY DELAYS IN COVID-19 FUNDING
Health care providers that primarily treat the poor, children and people with disabilities are getting left out of the COVID-19 aid being issued by the Trump administration, frustrating advocates who worry about the future of the Medicaid safety net. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has provided $72 billion to help hospitals and clinics stay afloat during the pandemic, but Medicaid providers — including mental health and substance use clinics, disability care providers and children’s doctors — have seen very little of that money.
FIRE DESTROYS ABANDONED N.J. MANSION ONCE THE SITE OF STATE-RUN PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL
An abandoned Wall Township mansion home to a distinguished Hearst newspaperman before becoming a state-run psychiatric hospital was destroyed by a roaring fire on Saturday morning and then demolished by county workers. Firefighters began battling the second-alarm blaze at the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center shortly after 8 a.m. Monmouth County Public Works demolished the building after the flames were extinguished.
N.J. TENANTS COULD GET UP TO 12 MONTHS OF RENT RELIEF FROM NEW PROGRAM
Some New Jersey renters who are financially struggling due to the coronavirus crisis could soon receive emergency rental assistance from a new $100 million fund, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday. The state Department of Community Affairs has created the COVID-19 short-term rental assistance program to help to low- and moderate-income households facing financial hardship, focusing on those who became unemployed due to the pandemic, according to Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who also heads the department.
FRONT-LINE DOCTORS FACE A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS AMID CORONAVIRUS
The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the American psyche, with a third of Americans now showing signs of clinical depression or anxiety, a rate twice as high as before the pandemic, according to Census Bureau data. Those grim statistics are likely even direr for the health care workers on the front lines of the crisis, experts say.
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