County's Resource Fair Seeks to Help Break Stigma of Addiction Treatment

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – The stigma associated with drug addiction is an insidious obstacle keeping many from seeking help, and no one knows that better than the men and women in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

The Community Resource Fair organized through the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office will seek to help break that stigma by bringing together myriad organizations offering addiction services and an array of other services to Pittman Park on Wednesday, July 10, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

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With support from the New Brunswick Police Department, the fair will also offer social services surrounding homelessness, food insecurity, mental health and other more.

“That’s what we want to emphasize, that law enforcement is here to help,” said Lt. Grace Brown of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. “We’re offering resources. We’re not there to arrest people or do any type of roundup. We’re offering resources, and we are trying to help the community and give back in a different way by offering different things to them.”

Brown's work through a countywide initiative is seeking to provide wraparound services to the community. It’s called Blue Cares, and does it ever.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said Blue Cares was launched about five years ago in response to the spike in drug overdoses. She said the problem grew during the COVID-19 pandemic and the explosion of fentanyl use. So, Blue Cares was designed for a police officer and a recovery coach to respond to people with information about recovery resources.

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“Blue Cares has expanded to become a resource for county residents who might be charged with a disorderly persons offense or offenses in municipal courts, but their addiction is deemed to be at the core of the issues,” Ciccone said.

Through initiatives such as Blue Cares, the state’s ARRIVE Together (Alternate Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation) program and others, the emphasis of law enforcement and the criminal justice system shifts ever so slightly.

“It’s not punitive,” Ciccone said. “There are four reasons we have a criminal justice system: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and restitution. So, we’re going out of the retribution and deeper into the rehabilitation area.”

Woodridge Behavioral Health (addiction services), Center for Great Expectations, Suburban Health Clinic, the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, Rutgers Stars Program, Rutgers MORE Van, James Lee Johansen Consulting, New Jersey Reentry Corporation of Middlesex County, Operation Helping Hands, the county Office of Human Services, the Office of Workforce and Career Development and the New Brunswick Police Department will take part in Wednesday’s Resource Fair.

The other services that will be available include Narcan kits and training, housing assistance and ID cards for treatment and housing. There will also be food, free toiletries and giveaways of donated clothing.

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