A Collaboration of Behavioral Health Care Plus Addiction Treatment is a Turning Point for Two New Jersey Organizations

PARAMUS, NJ, July 11, 2012 (Press-News.org) Two northern New Jersey health care organizations have come a long way since their inception in the 1970s and are now further expanding their reach to clients through a newly-formed affiliation. Care Plus NJ, Inc. (a behavioral health and primary care center headquartered in Paramus) and Turning Point (a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center headquartered in Paterson) are now offering collaborative treatment and referral services for their clients.

As stated by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), six out of ten people with a substance abuse disorder also suffer from some form of mental illness. To recover fully, the person needs treatment for both conditions.

This affiliation will provide a continuum of services for each organization's clients with co-occuring disorders and offer a seamless referral and admissions process. An alignment of the treatment plan will allow for a comprehensive approach that identifies, evaluates, and simultaneously treats both disorders, and pave the way for the client to meet their recovery goals.

"It is our mission at Care Plus to provide both the quality and variety of services that will enable our clients to meet a positive outcome," stated Joe Masciandaro, President and CEO of Care Plus NJ, Inc. "This affiliation will allow us to offer treatment to our mental health clients who are struggling with addiction, or provide a seamless referral to those that come to us looking for help with a substance abuse problem. An affiliation with an organization like Turning Point - with their unique combination of compassion and clinical excellence - is perfectly aligned with our mission and will give our clients the best possible platform for recovery."

"We are very pleased to be entering into this partnership with Care Plus; they are a stellar organization," said Dr. Manuel Guantez, Turning Point's Executive Director. "In the spirit of 'no wrong door' the goal of our partnership is to develop an integrated service delivery system that meets the complex mental health, addiction, and other needs of our clients."

Masciandaro also noted that this was the first affiliation like this in the area. With the changes in state and federal funding, it has happened at the "perfect time to ensure a complete continuum of care for each agency's clients," he stated.

"These types of strategic collaborations are the future of behavioral health across the country, but especially in New Jersey where changes in funding for critical programs has changed drastically. This partnership brings together the best of both agencies, making each of us more viable and relevant, and ultimately providing the best quality services. Collaboration between mental health and addiction programs is long overdue and can only improve our work and outcomes for our clients," Dr. Guantez concluded.

Care Plus NJ, Inc. was established as Mid-Bergen Community Mental Health Center, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation, on January 5, 1978 to provide "high quality, low cost" mental health services. The agency has since grown to 23 sites across northern New Jersey, and will touch the lives of nearly 20,000 people this year. As the leading provider of recovery-focused mental health care, family services, and integrated primary care, their services address the unique needs of individuals with a holistic approach to recovery and overall wellness. Care Plus has been continually accredited by The Joint Commission since 1995. In the 2011 Mental Health Corporations of America, Inc. (MHCA) Customer Satisfaction Survey, Care Plus ranked number one amongst all member organizations for a third time, ranking in the top three for the past nine years in which they participated. For more information, visit http://www.CarePlusNJ.org

Turning Point first opened a 10-bed residential program for men on March 17, 1975 in Cedar Grove. Over the years, they have responded to the complex treatment needs of substance abusers, and grown to treating more than 2,000 men and women a year for alcohol and drug addiction, and their co-occuring disorders, at their state-of-the-art facility at the Barnert Medical Arts Complex in Paterson. In 2003, the agency's accomplishments were recognized by the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence of New Jersey and the White House's National Office on Demand Reduction as the "model treatment program". Turning Point is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and adheres to the criteria set by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). For more information, visit http://www.TurningPointNJ.org