Governor Murphy Announces Nearly $50 Million in Opioid Settlement Investments to Expand Housing, Treatment, and Maternal Health Supports

12/23/2025

TRENTON - Building on the Murphy Administration's efforts to combat the opioid crisis, Governor Phil Murphy today announced the allocation of nearly $50 million from New Jersey's Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund to support critical programs, connect New Jerseyans with tools to reduce overdoses and other harms of substance use, and support residents' treatment and recovery.

With this new allocation, the State of New Jersey has now allocated more than $324 million in state-level opioid settlement resources toward prevention, treatment, recovery, and community supports. The new investments will allow the State to expand its treatment infrastructure, reduce barriers to care, and enhance services that improve long-term stability and health for residents.

"The opioid epidemic has had a devastating impact on every corner of our state and nation. My Administration has made it a priority to bring together public health experts, service providers, clinicians, and those with lived experiences to help us better understand this crisis and maximize the use of our opioid settlement funds," said Governor Murphy. "With today's announcement, we are building on our historic investments into life-saving and life-altering programs that have had a tangible impact on New Jerseyans combating addiction. Together, we have infused more than $324 million into our most vulnerable communities to reduce harm, empower families and individuals, and support sustained recovery."

"These investments reflect New Jersey's unwavering commitment to saving lives and expanding access to compassionate, evidence-based care," said Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman, who chairs the Advisory Council. "By investing in stable housing, strengthening access to timely treatment, bolstering harm reduction and recovery supports, and expanding maternal health services, we are directing resources to programs that make a meaningful difference to help individuals and families achieve long-term health and stability."

The new $47.84 million allocation includes a mix of expansions to evidence-based programs, capital investments to serve more patients, family health-focused innovative programs, and strategic planning initiatives:

• Bridge Access to Community-Based Substance Use Treatment- $15 million to provide access to treatment for uninsured individuals.
• Capital Investments for Substance Use Treatment Providers- $8 million for critical facility repairs, modernization, expansion, and mobile unit investments to improve treatment access.
• Housing Continuum Expansion- $10.5 million over three years to establish new housing and wraparound services for medically complex individuals in Essex County, including 20 housing slots, case management, provider certification and training, and drop-in center capacity building.
• Keeping Families Together Expansion- $4.86 million over three years to support 30 to 35 additional families and address rising housing costs in this nationally recognized Housing First supportive housing model.
• Perinatal Centers of Excellence- $6.2 million over two years to launch a pilot center offering integrated maternity, behavioral health, and wraparound services to address substance use disorder, the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths in New Jersey.
• Monitoring and Evaluation of State-Level Opioid Settlement Programs- $3 million over three years to measure program outcomes and ensure accountability and impact of settlement-funded programs.
• Study on Administrative Barriers to Care- $250,000 to identify policy changes that can improve access to care and advance a public-health-focused, harm-reduction strategy.

The recommendations were advanced by the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council, which was established in 2022 and charged with advising the Administration on the effective, equitable use of opioid settlement dollars. The Advisory Council's Strategic Plan prioritizes housing, harm reduction, treatment access, and coordinated wraparound services.

"In New Jersey, statistics have shown that more than 40 percent of families involved with the child welfare system lack safe and stable housing. Our Keeping Families Together program has been a critical component in providing supportive housing and wraparound services for more than 600 families navigating substance use and addiction recovery, family safety concerns, and who, without this evidence-based intervention, would have likely been subjected to family separation and deeper end involvement in the child protective service system," said Department of Children and Families Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer. "During these challenging economic times, I am excited that this grant will allow us to reach up to thirty-five more at-risk families and help them remain safely together as they receive access to the supports and services they need to thrive."

"Substance use disorders remain the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths in New Jersey, and that's not a statistic we can accept," said Acting Health Commissioner Jeff Brown. "This nearly $50 million investment builds on the Murphy Administration's relentless focus on addressing the overdose crisis, and the Perinatal Centers of Excellence pilot reflects our commitment to ensuring no mother has to navigate treatment and pregnancy care in silos."

New Jersey, along with eligible counties and municipalities, will receive more than $1 billion in settlement funds over the next two decades. The newly allocated funding builds on more than $276 million in previously allocated opioid settlement spending, including nearly $145 million to continue growing harm reduction services through 2030. Strategic investments of settlement funds have transformed New Jersey's opioid response infrastructure - enabling services in every county among New Jersey's 55 and counting Harm Reduction Centers, adding mobile units and remote referral tools to bring care closer to communities, providing supportive housing for New Jerseyans in recovery, expanding operations at 22 Community Peer Recovery Centers, reducing impacts of new threats in New Jersey's drug supply, and more.

Requests for proposals and grant availabilities relating to the State's portion of opioid settlement funds are available hereon a rolling basis.