InsiderNJ.com
October 24, 2018

Today, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross’ bipartisan Jobs Plus Recovery Actwas signed into law – as part of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act. Norcross’ bill establishes a pilot program to give addicts access to job training services during the recovery process, helping lower the likelihood of relapse and providing a boost to local economies.

Norcross – the Vice-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic – supported the overall opioid legislative package, as well as specific provisions to help those struggling with the disease of addiction by expanding access to treatment, providing more resources for mental health agencies and strengthening enforcement mechanisms.

“I fought to have job training included in the recovery process, and now we’ll be investing in our friends, neighbors, sons and daughters when they need us most, and our economy will be stronger as a result,” said Congressman Donald Norcross, Vice-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic. “In the past eight years, opioid deaths in New Jersey have increased six-fold – and while we’re taking a positive step forward today, we need to keep working on solutions, increase mental health and addiction funding and safeguard health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions because one preventable death is too many.”

In addition to the Jobs Plus Recovery Act, the legislation that today became law also contained provisions from bills that are part of the Bipartisan Task Force’s 2018 legislative agenda, including:

• The Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act, which facilitates the use of Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) by repealing existing limits on how many patients can be treated with MAT.
• The CRIB Act, which would establish residential pediatric care centers within Medicaid to treat babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome caused by exposure to opioids during pregnancy.

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