Passaic County’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services hosted the opening luncheon for the Office of Recovery on March 7^th at the County Administration building in Paterson where service providers, community leaders and key stakeholders were invited to the introduction of the new program managed by Vito Andrisani.

On April 4^th, DMHAS staff participated in the Morris County Hope One Symposium where agencies and professionals gathered from all over New Jersey to share their successes with the Hope One mobile recovery outreach model.

On April 28^th, DMHAS staff attended the Passaic County Public Services Conference where community professionals were invited to learn more about the public services offered by the County and what each department and division have to offer to Passaic County residents.

May 3^rd marked the celebration of Bergen County’s 10^th anniversary of being Stigma Free which Passaic County DMHAS staff attended to network and connect with other Stigma Free communities to help further propel the Stigma Free initiative here in Passaic County. Additionally, DMHAS staff attended the Ringwood Health Fair and Hawthorne’s Stigma Free Walkathon. The DMHAS spent the month of May highlighting Mental Health Awareness Month by engaging with County residents in conversation about the County’s Stigma Free initiative and the prevalence of mental health challenges. The Stigma Free initiative aims to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental health and substance use challenges, breakdown barriers and access to services and supports, as well as to provide the information and education about these challenges so that no Passaic County resident feels alone.

The Stigma Free initiative presentation was delivered to the Passaic County Commissioners at the June 13^th County Commissioner Board meeting. During the meeting, the Mental Health Association in Passaic County and the Mental Health Clinic of Passaic were recognized for their dedication and commitment to continuous service to the residents of Passaic County.

On May 31^st, Passaic County DMHAS participated in the John. K. Kennedy High School Wellness Festival. Over 800 students benefitted from outreach from several resources and were provided information on mental health, substance use, and overall general wellness.

On June 2^nd, DMHAS attended the Spring Teen Summit hosted by United for Prevention in Passaic County. High schools throughout the County participated in sharing their 30 second PSAs relating to mental health, addictions and over all general wellness. Winners were announced and students participated in a workshop to help prepare them for October’s Teen Summit.

Passaic County’s DMHAS wrapped up Quarter 2 with two Adult Mental Health First Aid trainings with Woodland Park's municipal staff.

All advisory board and committee meetings of the Mental Health Board, Local Advisory Committee on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism and the Professional Advisory Committee will resume in September.

In addition, Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid Trainings will be scheduled for the months of October, November and December. Training dates will be announced in the coming months.

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.

Support: The goal will be to prepare community members to be willing to engage in services and this will be done by preparing and praising individuals to seek assessment, education, and referral for identified needed services.

Health: The Office of Recovery will be supporting health through assessment, medical referral, housing, behavioral health, and vocational referral; monitoring and follow-up will be through case management.

Identify: Staffing will be directed and tasked to be available to the community and identify needs through the provision of behavioral health screenings, surveys and just listening to individuals reporting to outreach stations and other outreach methods.

Network: The Office of Recovery will use tact in referring consumers to appropriate and specific services. Through community-specific planning networking will be done with not only large institutions but also with small private entities, all in the best interest of the residents of Passaic County.

Educate: Provide opiate use, misuse, and related treatment knowledge-specific education to the community by enhancing knowledge of available services and new evidence-based methods to improve quality of life within the community as well as eradicate myths and encourage growth in wellness.

The Juvenile Administration Division receives County and State (JJC) funding to administer programs for the Passaic County Family Court, Youth Detention, and Juvenile Detention Alternative Programs. Additionally, this division operates the Youth Services Commission (YSC) which serves as the planning body for the development of programs for court-involved, at-risk, and low-income youth. Programs address needs at each point in the continuum of care, prevention, diversion, detention alternatives, disposition, and re-entry.

Referrals for these services generally come from Family Court, schools, youth case managers, community providers, and probation departments, parents and/or guardians, and the community. For more information about these services, please contact the Juvenile Administrators.

Le’Var Starr: levars@passaiccountynj.org

Francine Vince: francinev@passaiccountynj.org

For assistance in accessing any of the advertised meetings, please contact the Human Services Department -

Call: (973) 881-2834 or email: Marilyn DelValle: marilynd@passaiccountynj.org

www.passaiccountynj.org/dja

We have begun planning our 9th Annual Youth Services Conference and our first meeting was held on June 1, 2023. Please email Marilyn DelValle@ marilynd@passaiccountynj.org for a meeting invite if you are interested in attending our next meeting.

The Passaic County Parks & Rec Department, in collaboration with the Passaic County Youth Services Commission, has developed an overnight Youth Leadership Retreat that aims to enrich the lives of Passaic County youth. This retreat is open to all students enrolled in a Passaic County high school. This retreat is hosted every summer at Camp Hope in West Milford, NJ where engaging and dynamic leaders train our students on a variety of topics aimed at increasing their leadership abilities, self-confidence, and decision-making skills. The students stay in air-conditioned cabins with beds and hot water, and given three meals from our dining hall staff (and dessert around the fire pit at the end of each night!)

The curriculum covers:

The 2023 Youth Leadership Retreat has concluded; if you are interested in applying for the 2024 Youth Leadership Retreat - please email: KerryK@passaiccountynj.org.

The Youth Services Commission administrators will be hosting quarterly “Lunch and Learns”. The first Lunch and Learn was held on March 15, 2023, at Passaic County Community College Wanaque. Presentations were given by Shannon Ferray on mental health first aid and Monique Dujue-Wilson on the educational rights of the children served in the juvenile justice system and sex trafficked youth. The second Lunch and Learn was held on June 22nd at the County Administration building and a presentation was given by the New Jersey Bar Foundation on restorative transformative justice. The next Lunch and Learn is scheduled for September 21, 2023.

The Paterson Education Fund kicked off our first set of RTJ Trainings at their facility located on 422 Broadway in Paterson where participants acquired the knowledge and tools necessary to facilitate restorative practices circles. The trainings took place on April 25th, May 8th, and May 11th, 2023.

The Paterson Healing Collective was able to facilitate our second set of RTJ training with Dr. Liza Choudhury, providing an overview of its definition, history, theoretical principles and practices, controversial issues, and its efficacy in terms of reducing crime and restoring victims and communities on June 14, 2023 at their facility located on 100 Hamilton Plaza in Paterson. Dr. Choudhury's Reimaging Justice Team facilitated their last RTJ Training on June 28, 2023 where the team discussed how to create healing circles to facilitate tough conversations, conflict mediation in the community, credible messengers, advocacy and hospital-based violence intervention.

Supported by Passaic County Commissioners Bruce James and Orlando Cruz, the Division of Community Outreach & Family Services hosted a Collaborative Housing Conference on April 24^th which featured guest speaker, Julia Orlando, as well as the Passaic County Lived Experience Board. The goal of this conference was to emphasize the innovative ways that the Department of Humans Services would like to collaborate with community partners to address the growing homeless population. Highlighting systems of collaboration to provide trauma-informed care and services, and adaptive leadership strategies. The discussion also focused on systems achievements, data-driven analysis, community barriers, agency investment, current initiatives, and future opportunities. The conference was both well attended and well received, with unanimous support for community collaboration with the Department of Human Services Housing Initiative.

Impact Passaic is a multi-sector, collaborative effort that aims to create scalable and sustainable programs to improve support systems for individuals and families in Passaic County. This data driven program collaborates with community members to develop and foster culture of equity, respect, and trusting relationships for healthy and safe communities.

Impact Passaic would like to highlight that we are currently seeking members to join the following Task Forces:

For those who are interested in learning more about Taskforce membership, please contact the Department of Human Services.

Passaic County’s WDB has returned to in-person for the subcommittee meetings.

Duwan Bogert, Division Director, has taken the roll of Chairperson for the Advocacy and Ability Committee and Healthcare Committee.

The Job Developer with the Board is currently collaborating with venders to hold a job fair in the upcoming months.