Among the county programs initiated during the last seven years to combat substance abuse was the launch of Hope One Mobile Outreach vehicle in 2019. The unit regularly travels to communities throughout the county to offer training on overdose antidote use and other services.
The Burlington County Commissioners have announced a large drop in suspected drug-related deaths last year, the lowest in more than a decade.
Fifty-nine suspected deaths were reported in the county last year, according to preliminary numbers posted by the chief state medical examiner. That represents a 32% reduction from 88 in 2024.
The drop marked the fourth consecutive year of declining drug deaths in the county, which peaked in 2018, when 159 people died. It was also the lowest total on record dating back to 2012, when 67 died, according to the state attorney general’s NJ Cares reports.
Among the programs the county credits with the decline in deaths in the last seven years is the Hope One Mobile Outreach vehicle. It regularly travels to communities throughout the county to offer training on overdose antidote use, make referrals to recovery services and provide other resources for those struggling with substance use disorders or other mental-health ailments.
A second mobile outreach van was launched in 2024. Hope One for Youth specializes in mental-health and substance use prevention education for children and teens. The county also opened two Peer Recovery Centers in 2020 and 2022 at the Human Services Building in Westampton and at Burlington City Hall, where residents in recovery can get free support services.
Last year, more than 1,025 people received services from the facilities.
Other actions taken include the creation of a Regional Opioid Advisory Council to develop recommendations for disbursement of county opioid settlement funds. One action approved by the the commissioners will appropriate $200,000 from the settlement to make grants available in all 40 county municipalities.
The county also continues to distribute opioid emergency kits to local schools, libraries, houses of worship, motels and other locations. The kits are similar to wall-mounted automated external defibrillator cabinets, but contain the overdose antidote Naloxone, also known as Narcan.
More than 250 emergency kits have been distributed since 2023, and the county has also trained and distributed Narcan to close to 1,000 first responders and community members.
The Department of Human Services Behavioral Health and Addiction Services Division has launched and expanded Camp Cardinal, a free day camp program at YMCA of the Pines in Medford exclusively for children who’ve suffered a loss due to substance use disorder or have been impacted by substance use disorder in their families. Twenty-eight children participated in the two camp sessions last year.
