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Residents and service providers urge Morris County to revisit opioid settlement funding for Edge New Jersey
Summary
Multiple speakers at the Nov. 17 Morris County commissioners meeting urged the board to reconsider opioid settlement grant allocations after Edge New Jersey — the county's only comprehensive harm-reduction provider — was denied funding and filed an appeal.
Multiple community members urged the Morris County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 17 to revisit how the county allocates opioid settlement funds after the county denied an application from Edge New Jersey, the county’s only comprehensive mobile harm-reduction provider.
In public comment, Sierra Winters, chief impact officer at Edge New Jersey, said the settlement funds are restitution intended to repair harm from the opioid crisis and ‘‘should prioritize harm reduction services, grassroots, and peer-led organizations.’’ Winters also said the grant decision had been removed from the meeting agenda and that Edge has submitted an appeal.
Joanne McHenry, chief executive officer of Edge New Jersey, told commissioners that Edge operates the county’s only authorized mobile harm-reduction center and detailed the organization’s recent work: collecting 5,000 used syringes in the last quarter and serving 400 unduplicated people in harm-reduction services since January. McHenry said Edge requested $72,000 of approximately $420,000 available in the county review but was denied and has filed an appeal for reconsideration.
Other speakers echoed those requests. Daniella Mendez, a Dover resident, and Ava Johnston, a health care worker with harm-reduction experience, called on the board to align county allocations with the New Jersey opioid settlement roadmap, which they said emphasizes funding harm reduction. Bridal Agadi, a harm-reduction specialist with lived experience, summarized services Edge provides—naloxone distribution, sterile supplies, wound care and linkage to treatment—and asked the commissioners to prioritize evidence-based programs.
Commissioners did not take formal action on the appeals during the meeting. Chair thanked the speakers and Edge New Jersey for their testimony and moved on to the next agenda items; no vote or new funding decision was recorded. The public commenters said they had pursued administrative appeals and expected the item to return to the board for further consideration.
The comments put the county’s approach to opioid settlement spending under public scrutiny and flagged a pending administrative appeal. The board has not announced a schedule for reconsideration or a date for further discussion of the grant allocation.
