As part of Governor Christie’s $200 million commitment to combat the devastating opioid crisis in New Jersey, the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services awarded Oaks Integrated Care $9.7 million to provide Enhanced Care Management (ECM) for individuals with an opioid use disorder in the southern region (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties). The program will bring essential recovery support services and 80 new jobs to South Jersey with sites based in Camden, Atlantic and Cumberland Counties as well as in-community mobile response teams. ECM provides a holistic approach to care that combines care management, care coordination, wraparound and recovery services for individuals being discharged from licensed treatment facilities that provide residential, halfway house, [...]

October 1-7 is Mental Illness Awareness Week, a week created in the hopes of educating and increasing awareness about mental illness. Mental health issues are important to address year-round, but highlighting them during this week provides a time for people to come together to support, educate and fight against the stigma surrounding mental health. Many people with serious mental illness are challenged doubly. Not only do they struggle with the symptoms and disabilities that result from the disease, but they are challenged by the stereotypes and prejudice that result from misconceptions about mental illness. Millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. In fact, there are more than 200 classified forms of mental illness. Some [...]

September marks Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The month gives us time to connect with those affected by suicide, reflect on how suicide has touched our own lives and to share resources to better support individuals, families and their communities in efforts to prevent suicide. According to the CDC, each year more than 41,000 individuals die by suicide, leaving behind thousands of friends and family members to navigate the tragedy of their loss. Too often people considering suicide are afraid to ask for help, and those who think they see the signs of trouble are reluctant to be wrong and then offend, or cause embarrassment. NAMI reports that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among adults in the [...]

May is Mental Health Month! As Oaks Integrated Care joins the Instagram community, we want to shed light on the strides the social media platform has taken to support mental health. Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. Recognizing their ability to offer help and support, the photo sharing app has stepped forward in an effort to better the mental health of their users. Recently they introduced a new tool aimed at helping users who suffer from mental illness and depression through encouragement from friends and family. 1 in 5 people experience mental illness in a given year according to the World Health Organization and an estimated 350 million people suffer from depression. To offer [...]