OCEAN COUNTY – The NJ Reentry Corporation, a non-profit agency meant to assist those returning from addiction treatment, incarceration, or the theater of combat, has closed down its Toms River branch and will be consolidating its Ocean County operations into the Monmouth County branch, which is located in Neptune. This move leaves the corporation without a base of operations in all of Ocean County.
Questions began to swirl as to the nature of this departure.
When former Governor James McGreevey, who is the current chairman of the NJ Reentry Corporation, was asked why the office was closed down and consolidated, he said it was not due to local politics but a decision based on resource allocation and utilization.
“This was a decision about resource allocation and the concentration of efforts. Candidly, the Toms River location was chosen based on volume. Client utilization at that site was lower relative to other locations, and consolidating those operations allowed us to redeploy resources while continuing to serve Ocean County through partner-based, in-person enrollment and services,” he said to Jersey Shore Online.
Another reason why the Toms River location was closed down was the fact that most of those people who are now getting enrolled in the program are doing so directly from the institution they are placed in, rather than requiring them to go to a standalone office.
“A second factor was the importance of institutional enrollment. Increasingly, enrollment is occurring directly in county jails and addiction treatment centers, where individuals are already engaged, rather than requiring them subsequent to release to travel to a stand-alone office,” McGreevey said. “Aligning resources with those settings demonstrably improves access and service effectiveness.”
McGreevey also stated that just because they are moving out of Ocean County, it does not mean they will no longer be helping those in Ocean County who need their assistance.
“Enrollment in Ocean County is continuing. NJRC (NJ Reentry Corporation) is actively working with partners throughout the county and will be providing in-person enrollment and services through partnerships. Agreements are being finalized to ensure consistent, on-the-ground access and enrollment for individuals seeking services,” he said.
“At the same time, veteran services are expanding. NJRC is entering an agreement with the New Jersey Department of Corrections to broaden services for justice-involved veterans behind the wall, strengthening continuity of care from incarceration through reentry. Overall, the number of veterans served has significantly increased,” he said.
McGreevey said his team has a very good success rate. According to the NJRC website, they only have a 14.01% reincarceration rate out of all the people that they work with. Those findings, documented by the New Jersey State Police, reflect outcomes for 11,474 individuals who completed the program over the span of eight years.
The post NJ Reentry Closes Ocean County Location appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
