NJ state government promotes programs to help residents with health care, taxes

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration and the New Jersey Department of the Treasury have launched a new initiative to promote resources provided by state government.

Garden State Community Outreach is a new statewide campaign focused on raising awareness about state-funded programs that aim to help New Jersey residents. Many of the programs highlighted are new, and the outreach effort is designed to provide assistance to New Jersey residents applying for or seeking access to them.

Lawmakers designated federal pandemic relief money to create the outreach initiative.

A new landing page launched to help residents identify which programs they are eligible for and apply for them. Garden State Community Outreach will also have people going door to door to provide application assistance for a range of available resources starting next week.

Which programs are included?

The programs highlighted will include mental health services, utility assistance, tax credit information and even assistance for families with newborns.

A complete list of programs residents will be able to receive assistance with are:

• Psychiatric Advance Directives
• WorkFirstNJ
• NJ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (NJSNAP)
• MyNJHelps
• NJABLE
• Family Connects NJ
• NJ FamilyCare
• NJSave
• Winter Termination Program (WTP)
• Payment Assistance for Gas and Electric
• Lifeline Program
• Comfort Partners Program
• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
• NJFinLit
• NJ Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
• NJ Child Tax Credit (CTC)
• Senior Freeze (property tax reimbursement).

There will also be information about support programs including:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• Connecting NJ
• ReachNJ
• StopOverdosesNJ

What did officials say?

Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement his administration is “committed to building a stronger New Jersey where every family has equal access to opportunities that will help them thrive.”

“Amidst the hustle of daily life, Garden State Community Outreach is designed to help ensure that every family is not only aware of these programs, but understands how to access them,” Murphy said.

More information about the Garden State Community Outreach program is available at GardenStateOutreach.us .

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ state government promotes programs to help residents with health care, taxes