Atlantic County lays out $850,000 opioid-settlement plan, prioritizing treatment and case management

Atlantic County addiction-services staff presented a $850,000 plan for opioid-settlement funds to the Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18, outlining awards for case management, treatment and prevention and describing monitoring steps to ensure providers use the money for the purposes approved.

Brian Wilson, director of Addiction Services for Atlantic County, opened the presentation by describing local trends: “In 2022, we hit an all time high with over 255 suspected overdose deaths” in Atlantic County and “a little over 1,031 Narcan deployments” by first responders, he said. Wilson and Sharon Rogers, the county’s opioid-settlement coordinator, said the county convened a 30-member advisory committee in 2022 and later formed an operational Opiate Task Force that recommended funding priorities after a resident and provider survey.

The county’s plan divides $850,000 so the funds can be sustained over “the next 15 to 20 years,” Wilson said. The split is: 50% to treatment ($425,000), 40% to a single non-biased case-management provider ($340,000) — including an allowance to use up to $85,000 of that case-management pool for support services such as sober living and transportation — and 10% to prevention ($85,000). Rogers told commissioners the RFP process received nine applications and that seven awards were approved.

Why it matters: county officials said the allocations respond to gaps identified in a county survey of more than 550 participants, which ranked funding for sober living, affordability of treatment and continuity of care as top concerns. Commissioners asked how the plan would expand services beyond what providers already deliver and how the county will monitor results and reassign funds if a provider cannot use them.

County monitoring and next steps: Rogers said the county has given each provider a quarterly budget tracker and will meet regularly with awardees; if a provider has not spent funds in a timely way the county will reallocate money so it is not returned to the state. Wilson said awards for 2025 are a test period and allocations are “flexible” going into the next calendar year if needs dictate.

Awardees and uses (as presented): Angels in Motion — $340,000 (case management hub; street outreach; peer recovery specialists; connections to housing, sober living, transportation and health care); South Jersey AIDS Alliance — $85,000 (harm-reduction vending machines; Narcan distribution and testing supplies); Atlantic Care FQHC — $186,660 (split in presentation as $102,960 for detox and $83,700 for intensive outpatient services and assessments); AtlantiCare JBRC Residential — awarded $100,000 (short-term residential); PURA Inc. — $20,561.52 (short-term residential for Hispanic male residents); Family Empowerment — $58,133.54 (intensive outpatient); Maryville — $59,133.44 (short-term residential and detox). Wilson and Rogers said these figures came from RFP responses and site visits and that the county approved seven of nine applicants.

Commissioner questions and staff responses: Commissioner [Guerra] described the presentation as “visible and transparent” and asked whether awards were enhancements of existing services or simply payments for ongoing work; Wilson and Rogers said the funding is largely an enhancement and that some providers already receive Chapter 51 or other funding streams that will be coordinated with the settlement dollars. Commissioner [Rotino] asked about benchmarks; Rogers said performance metrics and reporting are “in motion,” that providers will present to the task force, and that the county will track numbers served, continuity of care and long-term outcomes.

Limits and clarifications: Rogers said most treatment providers offer co‑occurring mental‑health services, and that the Angels in Motion hub will handle post‑discharge case management — for example, linking clients to housing, job services and follow-up care. Wilson said the county has reduced overdose counts since 2022 and emphasized the settlement funds are intended to shore up a service continuum from street outreach to detox and sustained recovery supports.

Ending: County staff said they are posting materials and survey results on the county website, will continue community outreach and that task-force decisions and provider reports will be available to the board and the public as the program unfolds.