Commissioners oppose ending of school-based mental health program
Newton. The Sussex County Commissioners plan to send a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy stating their opposition to taking the Youth Services programs out of the schools and replacing it with a new plan they fear will make it difficult for Sussex County youth not to receive services.
The Sussex County Commissioners sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy last week in an effort to preserve the Youth Services Program based out of the Sussex County Technical School in Sparta.
The program provides on-site local mental, health and psychiatric services, medical and dental services, among any other programs for local students. The program has been in place for 30 years and has served more than 25,000 students across the state each year and the commissioners’ letter called the removal of the program “short-sighted.”
Murphy is proposing a new program – the new Jersey Statewide Student Support Services network – that will create 15 Mental Health hubs across the state using the funding that is allocated for the current program, using $15 million in American Rescue Plan money, and will be administered by the state Dept. of Children and Families.
The NJ4S network will provide statewide coverage through regionally based hubs that will offer prevention strategies used to support the state’s students and families. Each hub will integrate its programming with existing state and local services, to improve coordination and reduce duplication of effort. Hubs will offer a tiered menu of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies that can be deployed in high-need districts.
“There is a deep, deep, deep concern that Sussex County will not receive funding for a mental health hub of its own and that services will be provided through a larger county hub, located somewhere else, potential leaving our students without critical mental health services,” Commissioners Director Anthony Fasano said.
Commissioner Herbert Yardley also suggested sending a letter to State Sen. Steve Oroho to follow-up with a letter.
“I think it’s an important issue,” Yardley said.
It’s not the first time the school-based program was jeopardized. It was on the chopping block in 2020, but Commissioner Dawn Fantasia said a strong pushback and outcry stopped the funding from being cut.