ASSEMBLY HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2391

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

      The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2391.

     This bill expands the Early Intervention Support Services (EISS) Programs, currently available in 11 counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Camden, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Morris, and Ocean), to provide for one program in each county in the State. An EISS program is defined in the bill as a program that provides rapid access to short term, recovery-oriented crisis intervention and crisis stabilization services for up to 30 days to an individual 18 years of age or older with a serious mental illness and includes, but is not limited to, medication, therapy, and case management services, which are offered at an on-site location, other than a hospital, or through outreach in the community. The bill requires that an EISS program be available to provide services 14 hours per day, seven days a week.

     EISS Programs are designed to provide the crisis intervention and stabilization services needed to help prevent the recurrence of a crisis and to reduce overutilization of hospital emergency departments for a behavioral health crisis. Additionally, the bill requires that the DOH coordinate with each county EISS program in the State to provide for education about the program, and accessibility to the program, to members of the public served by that county program and to those organizations or persons who may be the source of referrals to that program.

     The bill also provides that DOH is to utilize the moneys available to it for the program to ensure that funding is available for: expanding the program to each county in the State; and the expansion of a program in existence on the effective date of this bill, based on the needs of the program to provide services. The bill requires DOH to collect information from each EISS Program in the State, including information about the services provided, their utilization, and the number of individuals who have been stabilized and referred to treatment.  Based on the information collected, the DOH is to issue annual reports to the Governor and to the Legislature, which reports shall include a review and analysis of each program and any recommendations for improvement.