New Jersey is worthy of full investment in behavioral health care
New Jersey, along with the rest of the nation, continues to face unprecedented mental health and substance use crises that are accompanied by suicide and overdose epidemics, funding for mental health and substance use treatment and supports must be among the highest priorities of the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, or NJAMHAA, recognizes that resources are more limited this year and many worthy causes are competing for finite resources. Not only is the return on investment in behavioral health extremely positive for the state’s bottom line, but those investments truly save lives every day.
Money invested in prevention, treatment, recovery supports and other types of behavioral health services saves the state dollars that otherwise would be spent on higher numbers of children, youth and adults going to emergency rooms, being hospitalized, getting involved with the criminal justice system or ending up homeless.
And such investments in services prove effective and impactful every day, assisting New Jersey residents on their paths to recovery — to jobs, to better health, to renewed relationships and more. NJAMHAA’s “Diverse Faces, All Are Worthy of Full Investment” highlights the lifesaving work of behavioral health staff and the need for more investment to ensure all of New Jersey’s diverse populations have access to the services they deserve.
COVID may no longer be classified a pandemic, but its enduring impact on the emotional well-being of individuals, from young children to seniors, continues to be immense. The statistics are alarming:
● Suicide was responsible for 48,183 deaths in 2021, which is about one death every 11 minutes.
● Alcohol-related deaths spiked nearly 30% between 2017 and 2021.
● In 2021, suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 14 and 20 to 34; the third leading cause of death among individuals 15 to 24; and the fifth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 44.
● In a December 2022 survey, 58% of young adults reported experiencing little or no purpose or meaning in their lives in the previous month.
New Jersey’s behavioral health care workforce is on the front lines every day working to help individuals — individuals who are our family members, friends, neighbors and colleagues — past their crises or along their paths of recovery. They are there when help is needed — for you and your loved ones; for all of New Jersey’s diverse populations.
Each and every one is worthy of New Jersey’s full investment in behavioral health care.
Debra L. Wentz, Ph.D., is president and CEO of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, a statewide trade association representing 164 organizational providers of services for more than 500,000 children and adults with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, intellectual/developmental disabilities and co-occurring disorders.
New Jersey’s behavioral health care workforce is on the front lines every day working to help individuals.