Warren County consolidates mental health and substance-use advisory bodies

The Warren County Board of County Commissioners voted April 23 to abolish the county Mental Health Board and the Local Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and create a single Warren County Mental Health and Substance Use Advisory Committee to advise the county Department of Human Services. The measure passed unanimously.

Commissioner James R. Kern moved the resolution and Commissioner Lori Ciesla seconded; Commissioner Director Jason J. Sarnoski recorded the affirmative vote as part of the unanimous recorded vote. The action appears as Resolution 223-25 in the meeting packet.

The new committee, established pursuant to citations included in the resolution, will combine the duties of the prior two bodies and serve in an advisory capacity to the Department of Human Services. The resolution references state statutes governing county advisory bodies and cites N.J.S.A. 40:20-80 and 40:20-81 among the authorities in its text.

County officials did not discuss specific membership criteria or an implementation timeline during the public portion of the meeting; the board later appointed several members to the new committee under Resolution 248-25. The appointment list adopted at the same meeting included names and staggered term expiration dates, indicating the board intends to populate the committee immediately.

The action replaces two long-standing advisory structures with a single panel intended to advise on both mental health and substance-use matters. The resolution states the new committee will serve the county in an advisory role; it does not create new county program funding or change county administrative authority over service delivery.