Virtual Webinar

Project SAVE – Evidence Based Innovation in the Municipal Courts That Provide Linkages to Care!

Presented by John Pellicane, MBA, DRCC and Colleen Snow, MSW, CADCI
1.0 CE Hours General Introductory
Project SAVE – Evidence Based Innovation in the Municipal Courts That Provide Linkages to Care!

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Date & Time

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Description

Project SAVE is a program generated with the municipal courts, police departments, Camden County’s Health Department, and a New Jersey licensed mental healthcare and substance abuse treatment provider. From the point of a substance abuse-related arrest through the court appearance, all stakeholders work together to offer warm interventions conducted by SAVE advocates. The advocates are mostly substance abuse counselors and counselor interns who are scheduled on certain days in each of the municipalities. All stakeholders work together to rearrange court schedules, etc. to ensure the offenders and counselors are in the courts at the same time. Judges, prosecutors, and/or defenders offer clients opportunities to work with the advocates. The advocates provide assessment, care management, referrals, and follow-up. Through this program, Camden County realized a 37% reduction in naloxone administrations by emergency medical services/law enforcement. From 2019 through April 2022, the program had more than 7,706 referrals. In addition, 2,008 individuals were engaged in treatment, 1,208 assessments were completed and 33,502 outreach calls were made. The program is an illustration of a collaborative effort that is supported, promoted, and funded by the county commissioners and offers client-centered engagement and significant contributions to a reduction of overdoses in the county.

Presenters

John Pellicane, MBA, DRCC and Colleen Snow, MSW, CADCI

John Pellicane

John Pellicane, MBA, DRCC
Director, Camden County Office of Mental Health & Addiction
John Pellicane is Camden County’s Director of Mental Health & Addiction since 2012. He was hired as the County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Director and became both the Mental Health Administrator in 2017. In addition to these roles, he is a former Vice-Chair of the NJ Behavioral Health Planning Council as well as past President of the NJ Association of County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors. Between 1990-2012, he held multiple positions (case management, case management specialists, Crisis Counselor, Vocational Counselor, Substance Abuse Counselor, Mental Health Associate, Behavioral Health Marketing Specialist). In 2014, Camden County’s Freeholder Board established an Addiction Awareness Task Force whose mission was to increase constituent understanding of the Opioid Crisis. Camden County is the 8th largest county in the state but suffered with the highest number of overdose related fatalities. Since 2014, the county invested in a number of life-saving programs. Through the county’s Operation SAVE-A-Life (SAL) program a number of programs were initiated. They include: Supplemental Opiate Overdose Response Program (post-OD-ER support), emergency shelter placement, HALO (grief support-for the loved ones of overdose victims), a 24-7 substance abuse information warmline, a permanent memorial for overdose fatality victims, peer recovery supports in homeless shelters and Project SAVE. Mr. Pellicane on behalf of the county has secured additional grants from the CDC Foundation, National Association of County and City Health Officials, NJ Division of Mental Health & Addiction and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). He is an appointed member of the Camden County Addiction Awareness Task Force, Youth Services Commission, and is on the County’s newly formed commission to oversee the opioid pharmaceutical lawsuit proceeds. He is a leader in his county.

Colleen Snow

Colleen Snow, MSW, CADCI
Assistant Mental Health Administrator, OFRT Program Manager-Camden County
Colleen Snow graduated from Rutgers University in 2017 with master’s degree in Social Work, concentration in clinical therapy, and an emphasis in Addiction Certification Training. She has a variety of clinical experience in the mental health and substance use field, assisting both the youth and adult population. Ms. Snow has been working with the incarcerated population since 2015, after securing a graduate clinical internship at the Camden County Correctional Facility (CCCF) with the Second Chance Program. Thereafter graduation, Ms. Snow became Program Director to a new co-occurring residential to promote rehabilitation for adolescents in the Juvenile Justice System. Her career extended back to CCCF, working in the Mental Health Department with adult inmates, in addition to acting as the Primary Therapist to adolescents at the Lakeland Juvenile Detention Center. In March 2019, Ms. Snow was offered the position of Project S.A.V.E. Coordinator with Genesis Counseling Centers, and later promoted to Project S.A.V.E. Director in June 2020. Ms. Snow assumed overall program administrative accountability, acted as the programs’ data analysis, and responsible for sustaining effective collaboration amongst all stakeholders and associated parties. In May 2022, Ms. Snow joined the Camden County Department of Health, Office of Mental Health and Addiction, acting as the Assistant Mental Health Administrator as well as the Overdose Fatality Review Team (OFRT) Program Manager. She is also co-chair of Camden County’s Gun Violence Advisory Board and has recently submitted her application to the state to sit for the exam to become a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LCADC).