New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 90 - WORK FIRST NEW JERSEY PROGRAM › Subchapter 18 - SUBSTANCE ABUSE › Section 10:90-18.1 - General provisions and purpose

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Based on
				P.L.
				1997, c. 14 (Work First
				New Jersey Act), approved January 29, 1997 and
				P.L.
				1999, c. 427, approved
				January 18, 2000, the WFNJ Substance Abuse Initiative (SAI) is established to
				help promote the goals of the WFNJ program, to move WFNJ recipients from
				dependency on WFNJ cash assistance benefits to self-sufficiency, to the extent
				possible.
(b) The New Jersey
				Department of Human Services (DHS) in collaboration with the New Jersey
				Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has established a substance
				abuse treatment program entitled the "SAI". The SAI addresses the needs of WFNJ
				recipients who are abusing drugs and/or alcohol to the extent that WFNJ
				recipients are unable to move forward and take advantage of work, work
				readiness activities, or other service offered through the WFNJ program. The
				SAI shall provide substance abuse screening, assessment, treatment placement,
				utilization management, care coordination and case management. The screening
				and assessment services are available at the local WFNJ county welfare agency
				(CWA). The referral of WFNJ recipients to and participation in the SAI shall be
				either voluntary or mandatory. A substance abuse assessment shall be
				administered to each WFNJ recipient referred to the SAI by a professional
				clinical care coordinator (CCC) using nationally recognized standardized
				assessment tools. The CCC shall meet the requirements for Alcohol and Drug
				Counselors as established in the Alcohol and Drug Counselor Licensing and
				Certification Act,
				P.L.
				1997, c. 331. This
				subchapter is for use by the WFNJ CWAs/MWAs in the administration of this
				ongoing DHS initiative that shall provide an equal and meaningful opportunity
				for WFNJ recipients to participate in substance abuse treatment.
(c) All WFNJ CWAs/MWAs shall make referrals
				to the SAI program.
(d) The
				purposes of the SAI program are as follows:
1.
				To make no cost substance abuse treatment services, that include screening and
				assessment administered by a CCC, treatment, placement and follow-up as
				determined clinically appropriate by a CCC, available to WFNJ TANF/GA
				recipients who have substance abuse problems;
2. To assist SAI participants in removing
				substance abuse barriers to employment, as determined by a CCC, and to enable
				participants to obtain treatment with the goal of moving towards
				self-sufficiency, to the extent possible;
i.
				Supportive services shall be provided in accordance with N.J.A.C.
				10:90-5;
3. To provide
				SAI participants with an integrated combination of work activity and substance
				abuse treatment as determined clinically appropriate by the CCC, by requiring
				individuals who are able to work to participate in job readiness activity that
				ultimately leads to work; and
4. To
				allow an SAI participant's hours spent in treatment to count towards the
				required hours of a WFNJ work activity.
i.
				For WFNJ recipients required to participate in a work activity, substance abuse
				treatment counts as a participant's work activity only if the CCC assesses the
				individual and monitors the participant's treatment.