An aerial shot of Clems Run, site of three proposed mental-health treatment facilities that will provide housing for patients of up to 30 days.
A group of Clems Run residents is banding together to oppose the placement of amental-health treatment facility on the township street.
The project, according to the state’s Department of Human Services, is headed by Legacy Treatment Center, after its purchase of the property at 317 Clems Run. Two others will be placed in the state in Warren and Mercer counties. The facilities – called crisis diversion centers – will provide temporary housing for up to 30 days with a maximum capacity of five individuals each for treatment of mental-health issues.
Residents made their concerns known at the Harrison Township Committee meeting on Feb. 3. They range from what is called vague information about who will stay at the centers, their client backgrounds and potential dangers to area children.
“Former Mayor (Louis) Manzo has met with my husband and my neighbor and Legacy,” said resident Jaclynn Biebel. “We have been met with a lot of unclear information. When they met with Manzo, they (Legacy) said the patients would be 19 to 25, then they said they could be any age up to 60. We’ve had people tell us that they bought the house for themselves; they just weren’t when they were going to move in.
“They’ve told us that they’ve had no issues with their group homes,” she added, “and that there would be no issues. But in an article from January of 2019, their treatment center in Trenton had a counselor who was charged with sexually assaulting an underage patient.”
The “article” she cited is actually information from a press release through the state’s attorney general in December of 2018. A former employee of Legacy Treatment Services, Elijah P. Williams, was indicted on charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault on a victim older than 13 and younger than 16; second-degree sexual assault; and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to the release.
The incidents allegedly took place at a teenage group home run by Legacy in Mercer County between Nov. 11 and Dec. 24, 2017. Legacy fired Williams, according to the attorney general, but he was not working in a professional setting when he allegedly committed the crimes.
Biebel – who submitted a copy of the release about Williams to the committee – is concerned a similar issue could happen in Mullica Hill. While she and fellow Clems Run residents understand the importance of helping those with mental-health issues, they also fear the center will bypass necessary treatment options.
“It was a great place to raise our home and now I’m very scared for my children, for their safety, and now I’m coming to see what can be done from the township’s standpoint,” Biebel noted. “Because I don’t think this is a safe place for it.”
Mayor Adam Wingate and other members of the committee were supportive of the Clems Run residents. But township Solicitor Brian Duffield believes major changes in the plan are needed at the state level.
“It has to be done at the state level since it’s a state-created situation,” he explained. “They’ve taken all the enforcement power from the municipalities and even the county. It’s regulated by the state, it’s controlled by the state and the state has determined that group homes are under permitted uses. They’re permitted uses in residential zones so we can’t zone them out. We can’t regulate them because they’re licensed by the state of New Jersey.”
The committee plans to send a letter to the state asking to at least have the Clems Run residential zone moved elsewhere in town.
“There’s a silver bullet out there,” argued Committeeman TJ Coakley. “We want to load that one first.”
If you or anyone you know is experiencing mental health, thoughts of suicide or substance abuse, call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.
