TINTON FALLS — The Arc of Monmouth County will be able to continue providing mental and behavioral health services to clients now that state funding has been partially restored.
“We have been negotiating with the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), and we have come to an agreement,” Mary Scott, executive director of The Arc of Monmouth County, said in an interview last week.
“We consider it to be very important to maintain this service because we don’t think there are alternatives for the community for the mental health services.”
Scott said the nonprofit received approximately $400,000 in total from the DDD, a division of the Department of Human Services (DHS), for the entire health and mental health services program. She said she is unsure how much in state funding The Arc would be receiving to provide mental health services.
Primary health care services will be discontinued as of Dec. 31, but The Arc of Monmouth will continue to provide psychiatric services, counseling and behavioral supports.
“The Arc employees will do their utmost to provide patients and families with resources to assist them in finding alternate primary care providers,” said Kristen Creed, The Arc’s director of health services.
“We urge patients to contact their insurance provider immediately for a list of health care professionals who accept their insurance plan.”
In a letter posted Sept. 22 on The Arc’s website, the nonprofit said the funding cut would mean the end of some services.
“We are very sorry to be informing you that The Arc of Monmouth’s contract to provide health services and mental health/behavioral health services is being discontinued effective Dec. 31, 2014,” the letter stated.
“We have taken enormous pride in offering these extremely important services to hundreds of people with developmental disabilities and their caregivers in Monmouth County for almost 25 years.”
According to the website, the DDD funds 70 percent of the operating budget.
Scott said one of the reasons Monmouth was slated for funding cuts is because they are one of the few organizations providing such services that receive state funding.
“There are not a lot of other programs like this in the state,” she said.
According to Scott, The Arc of Monmouth County has been receiving DDD funding for health services since around 1990.
Scott said she is hopeful that clients who previously accessed health services would find other providers.
“We are hopeful that people will be able to get the health services through their regular insurance plans or other providers in the community,” she said.
Scott also said The Arc is in the process of putting together information packets for other organizations that provide health services.
She said many clients and families reached out to both The Arc and the state following the September announcement.
“I know that a number of families were concerned and did express those concerns to us and to the DDD,” she said.
Scott also said the negotiations that took place in October to preserve mental health services were very positive.
“Honestly, I felt from the beginning the representatives from the [state] were very interested in trying to make sure that needs of the people that we serve were taken care of,” she said. “I felt more of a partnership in trying to figure out what was best.”
In September, state Sen. Jennifer Beck said she would intervene on behalf of The Arc. Last week, she lauded the restoration of funding for mental health services.
“I spoke to Mary Scott last week, and we are really happy to hear that the DHS has agreed to restore a portion of the funding for counseling services,” Beck said. “I think we found a good resolution for the moment, and it is certainly in the best interest of the clients of The Arc.”
The Arc of Monmouth serves more than 1,300 individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities through education, vocational training, residential services, health care, supported employment, recreation, individual and family support, self-directed services and advocacy.
For more information, visit www.thearcofmonmouth.org.