Passaic County’s DMHAS continues outreach to the County Senior Sites for outreach and supports within mental health and substance use. Monthly visits are conducted currently at Passaic County’s Senior Center in Totowa and collaboration with other agencies throughout other senior sites. .

Passaic County’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services continues to outreach our County’s Senior Sites to generate discussion and provide education on Mental Health, Substance Misuse, Over the Counter Medication Safety and Suicide Prevention. Our seniors have been visited by our Division’s Health Educator along with other staff to generate discussion and provide education. In addition, Seniors have been given access and information on the County’s Virtual Resource Hub where residents can search for hundreds of community agencies and supports in the County. Our visits have provided Seniors a chance to discuss some challenging topics while learning beneficial information. Moving forward, we are aiming to provide continued supports to our Seniors and offer a chance to discuss one-on-one to provide additional resources and referrals to community supports.

Passaic County’s Hope One Van continues to outreach throughout Passaic County. If you are interested in having the van at a community event or if you have identified a place where the van could be of good support, please contact Erin Short at erinsh@passaiccountynj.org.

The Division is now offering both Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid Certificate Trainings to the public.

Youth Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among children and adolescents ages 12-18 while Adult Mental Health First Aid covers the challenges faced by adults in the United States.

What Mental Health First Aid Covers:

To learn more about MHFA and YMHFA or to schedule a training for your team, please contact Shannon Ferray at shannonf@passaiccountynj.org

IDRC is a court ordered 12-hour and 48-hour program for persons convicted of alcohol or drug-related driving or boating offenses in New Jersey. The IDRC educates, detains, screens, and refers participants. Upon screening, participants may be referred to a substance use treatment provider for further assessment. If treatment is recommended, the IDRC will monitor enrollment in treatment services.

Attendance is mandatory as it is court ordered in lieu of jail, however, jail time cannot be substituted for IDRC participation. The IDRC is responsible for reporting non-compliance to the sentencing court and the New Jersey Intoxicated Driver Program (IDP).

NOTICE: All IDRC classes are being held virtually. Clients must receive a scheduling notice and follow the steps in that notice to register for the virtual program.

Questions about the IDRC program can be directed to: IDRC@passaiccountynj.org or (973) 881-2714.

Please see updates from CIACC’s subcommittees:

Community Voice Committee- The Community Voice has been helpful to identify gaps and barriers from experiences that have been reported directly by families on system issues. The CIACC has received the “Promise 2.0 Grant” to promote engagement and have youth and families become more active in the planning process. The council is working on making meetings more accessible through hybrid options, and through printed flyers to post throughout local neighborhoods.

Planning/Education Committee- is committed to partnerships with the School Systems. There is an Annual Conference held in February for both Educators and those in behavioral health. Also, the committee is working toward providing districts with presentations on access to resources within the county.

Racial Equity Committee- Formed to address Racial Inequities within our community. They have created a Commitment Statement to share within their agencies to join us in promoting racial equality starting within our own agencies. The committee have also hosted Youth Forums to directly hear from our youth in the community. A total of four Forums have taken place thus far.

The CIACC is a planning council to advise both the state and the county on any trends/challenges within children’s treatment services, including emotional & behavioral health, substance use, and intellectual developmental disabilities. This is done through the involvement of parents, youth, child serving agencies, and community representatives. The CIACC, through coordination of system partners, also identifies service & resource gaps and priorities for resource development.

If you are interested in learning more about CIACC and our committees please reach out to:

Jenny Vuksic | (973) 225-3193

jennyv@passaiccountynj.org

or visit the Passaic County website

at passaiccountynj.org/ciacc.

The Youth Services Commission (YSC) assists the County in the development of a comprehensive plan for services and sanctions for juveniles adjudicated or charged as delinquent and programs for the prevention of juvenile delinquency as prescribed by the Juvenile Justice Commission. The YSC is the single county agency responsible for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the juvenile justice service system.