{"id":1474,"date":"2020-01-28T20:55:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T20:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/?p=1474"},"modified":"2020-01-28T20:55:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T20:55:13","slug":"attorney-general-grewal-and-the-union-county-prosecutors-office-unveil-operation-helping-hand-24-7-365","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/press-releases\/main\/2020\/01\/28\/attorney-general-grewal-and-the-union-county-prosecutors-office-unveil-operation-helping-hand-24-7-365\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney General Grewal and the Union County Prosecutor\u2019s Office Unveil \u201cOperation Helping Hand 24\/7\/365\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Hand addiction intervention program to operate year-round, 24-hours a day, according to a joint announcement made Tuesday afternoon by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo, and Prevention Links Chief Executive Officer Morgan Thompson.\u00a0 Under the new program, all suspects arrested in the county for low-level possessory offenses involving heroin or other opioids will be offered face-to-face access to rehabilitative services at the time of arrest.<\/p>\n

The program is part of an effort to address the ongoing opioid epidemic, which continues to affect New Jersey and the country generally. \u00a0In the past five years, more than 500 people in Union County have died due to a drug overdose.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing as our model the program Attorney General Grewal started in Bergen County as Prosecutor and expanded statewide as Attorney General, Union County hopes to bring life-saving recovery assistance to those in the throes of addiction through our launch of Operation Helping Hand 24\/7\/365,\u201d Prosecutor Ruotolo said. \u201cThe opioid epidemic has had a devastating cost in lives lost and futures diminished.\u00a0 We in law enforcement recognize that while we continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who profit from poisoning the people we serve, we must do more in our fight to save the lives of those who have fallen prey to addiction.\u00a0 Operation Helping Hand 24\/7\/365 is our effort to do more, and we are grateful for the partnership we have with Prevention Links, and the support we have from state and county government, to accomplish this goal of doing more.\u201d<\/p>\n

In support of the new initiative, Prosecutor Ruotolo has issued a directive mandating that every law enforcement agency countywide put protocols in place to ensure a smooth and all-encompassing implementation of the program.\u00a0 Operation Helping Hand 24\/7\/365 requires that law enforcement officers offer all individuals arrested for possessory level opioid offenses the option to meet face-to-face with a peer recovery coach from Prevention Links at the time of their arrest.\u00a0 If the individual decides to avail themselves of the program, a peer recovery coach from Prevention Links will respond to police headquarters to meet with the individual to discuss recovery options and coordinate access to services.\u00a0 The individual\u2019s criminal charges are not discharged as the law enforcement officers are required to uphold the law, but as Ruotolo said, \u201cnot doing more in that moment is a lost opportunity for law enforcement to bring help to those who need it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnion County\u2019s expansion of its Operation Helping Hand program to a year-round, 24\/7 service demonstrates the kind of commitment we were looking for when we encouraged counties to implement pilot programs reflecting OHH\u2019s core concept of proactively engaging law enforcement in reaching out to at-risk individuals,\u201d said Attorney General Grewal. \u201cBy taking the unprecedented step of offering OHH intervention and support services on a continuous basis, Union County assumes a leadership role in the fight to end the addiction epidemic and brings hope to the countless individuals impacted by this devastating health crisis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This initiative, and others geared toward addressing the opioid epidemic, have been bolstered by grant funding obtained from state and county government. Specifically, the Union County Prosecutor\u2019s Office was recently awarded $62,500 from the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety\u2019s 2019 Overdose Data to Action Operation Helping Hand Grant.\u00a0 The Union County Prosecutor\u2019s Office is also the recipient of $100,000 in grant funding through Governor Phil Murphy\u2019s Operation Helping Hand Grant.\u00a0 The acceptance of the aforementioned grant funding was approved by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and County Manager Edward T. Oatman.\u00a0 In addition, the Freeholders, and Director Debbie-Ann Anderson, of the Department of Human Services have awarded grant funding to Prevention Links in support of the incredible services they provide county residents.\u00a0 The Freeholders also dedicated $110,000 in direct County funding to Prevention Links for the expansion of the Operation Helping Hands program for 2020.\u00a0 The Union County Prosecutor\u2019s Office is able to allocate a portion of the grant funds received from the State to Prevention Links, and combining those funds with what was awarded from the Board of Chosen Freeholders, Prevention Links was able to hire additional staff so that Prevention Links could serve as the primary rehabilitative partner in this innovative law enforcement initiative.<\/p>\n

In 2016, while serving as the Bergen County Prosecutor, Attorney General Grewal developed Operation Helping Hand as a new and innovative way to combat opioid addiction. Under his leadership, the first multi-county \u201cOperation Helping Hand\u201d initiative was launched in five counties, including Union, in June 2018. Through state and federal funding, the Operation Helping Hand program was expanded to 17 counties in September 2018, and to all 21 counties in the state in September 2019.<\/p>\n

In May 2019, Union County law enforcement agencies pooled their resources for a second week-long Operation Helping Hand session, during which approximately 88 percent of the 148 people contacted through the program agreed to engage in some form of rehabilitative assistance. Of the individuals who accepted help, 56 were entered into inpatient detox treatment, 43 entered intensive outpatient or community-based support program, and 29 entered medically assisted treatment. Remarkably, included in those accepting help at the time were 25 \u201cwalk-ins\u201d \u2013 drug users who were not arrested, but had heard about the program through word of mouth and approached law enforcement for recovery assistance.<\/p>\n

The statewide expansion of Operation Helping Hand has been fueled in part by $1 million in federal funding and $2.2 million in state funding dedicated during the last two years alone. This is, however, the first anywhere that the program has been implemented full time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative has shown and will continue to show a commitment on the part of our county to leverage every opportunity to connect individuals struggling with addiction to a life of recovery,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cFor some, this may be the first time they are ever offered help.\u201d\u00a0 Thompson and Prevention Links have been a Union County partner in Operation Helping Hand from its inception.<\/p>\n

The expansion of Operation Helping Hand to the new 24\/7\/365 model is one of many ways that law enforcement is working to address the opioid epidemic in Union County. \u00a0Earlier this year, Prosecutor Ruotolo formed the Opioid Task Force, which operates out of the Major Crimes Division of the Prosecutor\u2019s Office, and tasked it with helping persons suffering from opioid addiction get the help necessary to address their disease, while also aggressively investigating those profiting from the sale of heroin and the deadly fentanyl.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the Community Law Enforcement Addiction Recovery (CLEAR) program was launched, sponsored by the Union County Board of Freeholders, Union County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Union County Prosecutor\u2019s Office, and Union County Police Department. Through the program, citizens seeking help can travel to one of two locations \u2013 the Union County Sheriff\u2019s Office in the New Annex Courthouse basement level, 27 Elizabethtown Plaza in Elizabeth, and the Union County Police Department headquarters, 300 North Ave. E., Westfield \u2013 anytime from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays, where they can be connected to addiction recovery services free of charge and turn over user-level quantities of drugs and paraphernalia without fear of arrest, prosecution, or questioning.\u00a0 These services will continue, and Operation Helping Hand 24\/7\/365 is an expansion of these innovative efforts.<\/p>\n

In addition, since 2014, patrol officers countywide have been equipped with supplies of naloxone, a lifesaving overdose-reversal drug. Since that time, police have deployed the drug more than 1,000 times, with more than 90 percent of recipients surviving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hand addiction intervention program to operate year-round, 24-hours a day, according to a joint announcement made Tuesday afternoon by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo, and Prevention Links Chief Executive Officer Morgan Thompson.\u00a0 Under the new program, all suspects arrested in the county for low-level possessory offenses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-main","post_format-post-format-aside"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"1970-01-01 00:00:00","action":"","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","browser_timezone_offset":0},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucnj.org\/sheriff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}