By Dr. Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul

We’re working on several pieces of legislation to increase access to healthcare for two of our vulnerable populations: people with mental health disabilities and students.

Last week we introduced a bill to allow accredited clubhouses to receive Medicaid reimbursement for mental health rehabilitation services. The “clubhouse program” is a non-residential community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program accredited by Clubhouse International. 

Clubhouses like the Shore House in Long Branch are adult membership-based, 18 years or older, and designed to alleviate a member’s emotional or behavioral problems with the goal of transitioning them to a less restrictive level of care; to reintegrate clubhouse members into the community and increase social connectedness beyond a clinical or employment setting. With staff assistance, members engage in operating all aspects of the program, including food service, clerical, reception, janitorial, and other member services such as employment training, housing assistance, and educational support.

Shore House has been a great LD11 partner. They do compassionate work that helps their members feel less isolated and more like they are part of the community. The organization’s most recent annual report showed more than 3,500 member visits to the Shore House in 2022. The average cost of each visit was approximately $43, significantly less than more costly inpatient treatment services. Shore House members have had a rehospitalization rate of less than 2 percent, compared with a rate of more than 40 percent for adults living with mental illness who do not have access to a clubhouse program..

By requiring Medicaid reimbursement, subject to federal law regulations, for clubhouse mental health rehabilitation services, our legislation would encourage opening more accredited clubhouses, expanding access to affordable mental health services to more residents. 

Our LD11 partner, Senator Vin Gopal, has introduced a version of the bill in the Senate. 

We are also working on legislation to address the shortage of school nurses by allowing nurses licensed in other states to serve as school nurses in New Jersey.

With the nation facing high rates of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma among K-12 students, along with an unprecedented mental health crisis among youth, more than a third of schools across the country don’t have a full-time, on-site nurse, according to a 2021 survey by the National Association of School Nurses. 

Nurses left the profession in staggering numbers under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exodus also affected school nurses, who were tasked with tracking cases and tracing exposures. In addition to the extreme load of work that the pandemic created, school nurses got caught in the middle between anti-maskers and maskers and anti-vaccine and pro-vaccine parents. 

In general, kids’ attendance and learning can suffer when they don’t have access to a school nurse, and student care is addressed by unlicensed school employees when children are sick or injured at school. A Journal of School Nursing study found that students with illnesses or injuries were sent home 18 percent of the time when evaluated by an unlicensed school employee while only 5 percent went home after being seen by a school nurse.

We will continue to work for legislation that increases access to affordable healthcare, mental health services, and social connectedness because addressing these issues is integral to building stronger, fairer communities and that makes life better for all residents.