NJ Governor Announces $11M For Addiction Recovery Programs

By Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor

September 8, 2025

Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey will spend nearly $11 million in national opioid settlement funds on community-based addiction treatment for uninsured people, peer counseling, and recovery support for pregnant and postpartum women struggling with addiction.

A state council that advises policymakers how to best spend settlement funds selected those services for funding because they have proven effective in the state’s ongoing fight to reduce drug overdoses and yet have waiting lists or risk closure with federal funding cuts and no alternate sources of funding, officials said.

The council acted similarly in 2023 when it recommended officials spend $500,000 to fight the growing prevalence of xylazine, an additive known as “tranq” or “the zombie drug” because of the sores and stupor it induces in users.

Services that will receive $10.85 million in funding include:

• $4.3 million for community-based addiction treatment for uninsured people. About 1,000 uninsured people each month are admitted to community-based recovery programs.
• $3.5 million over 2.5 years to continue a checkup program in which peer recovery specialists follow up with people who have completed treatment to ensure they’re living independently and drug-free.
• $2 million for such specialists to support people in inpatient programs, halfway houses, and other short- and long-term residential placements.
• Almost $1.1 million to extend a maternal wraparound program that serves pregnant and postpartum women in addiction recovery.

New Jersey is set to receive more than $1.1 billion over the next two decades from pharmaceutical companies, which agreed to pay billions in lawsuit settlements to atone for their role in the deadly opioid epidemic. The state will get half of that funding, while counties and local municipalities will get the other half. The new spending announced Tuesday is on top of $120 million the state allocated last year of its share.

Both the state and at least one local government have faced criticism this year for how they have used the settlement funds.

State lawmakers infuriated harm reduction advocates and the state attorney general in June when they diverted $45 million in settlement funds to four hospitals to offset expected Medicaid cuts. Local spending drew scrutiny after the state comptroller’s office denounced Irvington’s use of $632,000 in settlement funds on “opioid awareness” concerts, rather than direct services for people struggling with addiction.

Sarah Adelman is commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services and chairs the New Jersey Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council. The funding announced Tuesday is “vital for helping people build stability and sustain long-term recovery,” she said.

“This most recent investment will bring life-saving support to individuals and families affected by addiction. It will expand access to essential treatment and recovery services, including support for expecting mothers during pregnancy and up to a year after birth, which is such a critical time for both mothers and babies,” Adelman said in a statement.

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