Legislation sponsored by Senator Diane Allen (R-Burlington) to help monitor the availability of beds in New Jersey’s mental health and addiction treatment facilities is now law after it was signed by Governor Chris Christie.

The Governor signed Sen. Diane Allen’s legislation to help improve access to addiction and mental health treatment. (Wikimedia Commons)

“Access to treatment facilities is vital to our mission of combating the opioid epidemic, as well as treating mental health in New Jersey,” Senator Allen said. “This measure will ensure our residents and healthcare professionals have up-to-date access to information on how many beds are available at treatment centers across the state.”

The legislation, S-2466, requires the development and maintenance of a data dashboard report which will track the number of open beds that are available in the state for individuals in need of mental health or substance abuse treatment. The new law requires any facility that receives state or county funding for short or long-term treatment to submit this data so the dashboard can be updated daily.

Information regarding the number of open beds will be prominently displayed on the Departments of Human Services website and will be made available upon request to the public through the statewide 2-1-1 phone system. Based on the daily information, the dashboard report will include the address, phone number and type of service provided for each facility that reports that it has beds available.

“This gets all of the necessary information into the hands of those who need it the most,” Senator Allen said. “We need to help people obtain the treatment they need as quickly as possible.”