Sens. Richard Codey and Michael Doherty proposed the task force after the threatened closure of Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital.
The Administration building at Senator G.W. Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Lebanon township, N.J.The state Senate and Assembly each unanimously approved Assembly Bill A2866, which would establish the State Mental Health Facilities Evaluation Task Force. Comprised of 21 members, the task force would submit its findings and recommendations in regard to state facilities to Gov. Chris Christie and the Legislature by Feb. 1.
The legislation now heads to Christie's desk for final approval. Christie and state legislators agreed last week to keep Hagedorn open.
The Senate version of the bill came out of an unlikely match between Sens. Richard Codey, D-Essex, and Michael Doherty, R-Warren/Hunterdon, the two primary sponsors of bill S2069.
"By putting a panel of experts to the task of finding cost efficiencies in the State mental health services safety net, we can be sure that we’re proceeding in a way that puts care first,” Codey said today in a statement. "New Jersey cannot take a step backwards when it comes to the quality of mental health services we provide to those in need."The freeholders boards in Hunterdon and Warren counties have taken different paths in regard to the proposed task force.
Hunterdon County freeholders approved a resolution on June 15 that, in part, supports establishing the task force. Warren County freeholders declined last week to support the legislation.
Following Wednesday's freeholders meeting, county Freeholder Everett Chamberlain said, "I think the governor's got a very difficult job. He's trying to right a financial wreck down in Trenton and I think we have to leave politics out of it. Let him do his job."