patch.com/new-jersey/gloucestertownship: Project SAVE, Started In Gloucester Twp., To Be Tested Countywide

10/22/2018

Project SAVE, Started In Gloucester Twp., To Be Tested Countywide
 
 

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — A drug treatment program Gloucester Township has been using since 2014 is now being tested as a pilot program at the county level.

Project SAVE (Substance Abuse Visionary Effort) will be implemented throughout Camden County as a pilot program for one year, county officials announced on Thursday. Licensed social service professionals will be present in municipal courts throughout the county to offer services for low level drug offenders. 

Substance abusers will be linked to the appropriate resources regardless of their ability to pay, according to county officials.

"We are looking at all options to make a long-term impact on this epidemic," Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr, founder and active member of the Camden County Addiction Awareness Task Force, said. "We have seen the impact this program has had on a small scale in Gloucester Township, and we believe as a governing body we should be opening it up and providing the same hope and opportunity for treatment, detox and recovery throughout the entire county. It is no secret that every municipality in the county is struggling with this crisis and the sooner we have the ability to get professionals intervening to stop it, the better off residents will be."

County officials say they can lower the overall cost of the program through regional contract management services. The Freeholder Board said it will allocate $100,000 to start the program and monitor its investment through the county Department of Health and Human Services with the 18 incoming municipalities like any other grant program.

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