TRENTON – A resolution sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would urge the Commissioner of Human Services to ensure that allotments that counties get for alcohol education, rehabilitation and enforcement reflect current needs was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee today by a vote of 6-0.
“New Jersey’s plan to fund county alcohol treatment and education programs is woefully out of date, and we need an overhaul to ensure that State dollars are going where they are needed most,” said Senator Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, the Vice Chair of the Senate Health Committee. “The estimates we’re using right now to calculate how we fund each counties’ programs date back to the 1970’s, and it’s impossible to believe that trends in alcohol abuse haven’t shifted in thirty years. We need to look at the current data to make sure that counties are getting their fair share.”