News

February 22, 2023 The Borough of Yaedon in Delaware County, Pennsylvania has gained attention after a series of individuals have died by suicide while in police custody. As reported in today's edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the families of Shawn Morcho and Wendy Spence call...

February 21, 2023 "For years, data brokers have operated in a controversial corner of the internet economy, collecting and reselling Americans' personal information for government or commercial use, such as targeted ads," as report...

February 16, 2023 The New Jersey Age-Friendly Advisory Council and the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) will be holding two virtual listening sessions to hear from New Jersey residents about how to make the state a better place for all ages. Governor Phil Murphy has taske...

February 14, 2023 A2878/S1069, the "Medicaid Transportation Brokerage Program Oversight and Accountability Act", would establish vehicle, staffing, and performance standards, and review and reporting requirements for non-emergency medical transport provided under the state's non-em...

February 13, 2023 On Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy signed S3491/A5086 into law, increasing the minimum monthly benefit under the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Minimum Benefits Program from $50 to $95. This comes as the extra tempor...

February 9, 2023 As two pillars of the Unity Agenda set out by the President last year, mental health and fighting the opioid crisis both received a significant amount of attention in both of these aspects of the President's speech, but came late in the speech. After noting many polic...

February 7, 2023 On February 6, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy signed S511/A1471, the "Temp Workers Bill of Rights", into law, after the legislation faced many rounds of debate, multiple revisions, and a previous conditional ...

February 6, 2023 Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, who was appointed to his position in the White House COVID-19 Response Team in March of 2022, recently participated in an interview with Eric Topol, Editor-in-Chief of Medscape, in which he called attentio...

February 2, 2023 On Monday, the Biden Administration gave notice to Congress that it intends to let the emergency declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic expire on May 11, 2023. Currently, there are two emergencies in place, the COVID-19 National Emergency, and the Public Heal...

January 30, 2023 On January 24, 2023, the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) hosted the final of three 988 Mobile Crisis Public Listening Sessions, with the first two having taken place on January 17, and 19, 2023. During these listening sessions, New Jerseyans were able to...

January 26, 2023 Financial Wellness Is One of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness, Significantly Reduces Stress The New Jersey Department of Treasury launched a website with online courses with a progress-...

January 24, 2023 The deadline for New Jerseyans to sign up for 2023 health insurance plans through the state's health insurance marketplace, "Get Covered New Jersey", is January 31, 2023, just eight days away. With the end of the open enrollment period fast approaching, State Senato...

January 23, 2023 The New Jersey Department of Health (DHS) has hosted two 988 Mobile Crisis Public Listening Sessions during which New Jerseyans were able to offer verbal testimony on new 988 mobile crisis response teams. DHS and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services ...

January 19, 2023 Greater Investment in the Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Is Needed for the Wellbeing of New Jersey's Diverse Population A March 2022 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows that the nationwide number of behavioral health soci...

January 19, 2023 On January 11, 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced that New Jersey has joined nationwide settlement agreements with pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart, as well as with drug makers Teva Pharmaceuticals and Allergan, to resolve claims...

January 18, 2023 Kean University is launching a new mental health partnership with an Essex County school district in New Jersey using a $4.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The partnership, called the BeWell Mental Health Initiative, will place Kean graduate stud...

January 17, 2023 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the 12th extension to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) through at least April 11, 2023. HHS has maintained that it will provide a 60-day notice to providers before the planned end of the PH...

January 12, 2023 Governor Phil Murphy announced and today, the New Jersey Division of Taxation updated its website to read that the deadline to file the Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) property tax relief program applications has been extended to ...

January 11, 2023 In his State of the State Address on January 10th, Gov. Murphy emphasized addressing racial inequities through maternal health care, recognizing the inherent value of every member of "our proud LGBTQIA community" and bringing the American Dream and justice to all thro...

January 10, 2023 A new study conducted by researchers from the RAND Corporation, published in JAMA Health Forum, has found that in 2020, there was a more than 50% decline in in-person mental healthcare utilization among patients, and that this decline was offset by telehealth servi...