New R-FH Municipal Alliance: Benefit?

The first Rumson-Fair Haven Municipal Alliance to Prevent Alcohol and Drug Abuse is on its way to being established.

But whether or not forming the alliance will unearth and effectively stave off deep-rooted substance abuse issues among juveniles in the area remains to be seen, both residents and officials have said.

What sort of programs the alliance will employ will be determined after its membership has been chosen and convened and target issues are assessed.

Officials’ take, opting for a “wait and see” approach, is that the programs eventually undertaken can’t hurt and may just help not only teens and adolescents, but other clusters of the population, such as seniors.

The boroughs have been known for harboring underreported, masked juvenile substance abuse issues, because of the “affluence (demographics) and parents wanting to make problems go away,” as Fair Haven Councilman Jonathan Peters put it at a recent governing body meeting.

This is the very beginning of a process here that, as of 2008, state statistics say 526 New Jersey municipalities in 403 alliances have undertaken since 1989. There are 566 municipalities in the state.

Why is the Rumson-Fair Haven alliance one of the last to jump on the alliance bandwagon? People have wondered whether or not an alliance would just add another bureaucratic layer to and duplicate services for existing school drug programs and private counseling. The issue was brought up again by a resident, who also said he has high hopes for the R-FH alliance.

In addition, it’s been tough to get an accurate reading on substance abuse statistics in affluent areas like Rumson and Fair Haven, Monmouth County Municipal Alliance Coordinator James Wallace said at a previous meeting, because the statistics come from agencies that provide free rehab and assistance. In this area, he had added, more are likely to be able to afford private care.

Statistics on that are not available.

One statistic that is available is the drug of choice lately — heroin. Middletown’s municipal alliance, established for decades now, recently reported, mostly through police observations and records that not only heroin was popular, because it is cheaper by the year, but prescription drug abuse is on a rampant rise. Marijuana, cocaine and alcohol also still top the list.

With the recent rise in arrests of juveniles purchasing alcohol illegally, being in possession of marijuana and other drugs and drinking underage at parties, Rumson Police Chief Richard Tobias told Patch at the Oceanic Bridge reopening that he is committed to a crackdown on substance abuse among area teens.

Now, there will be an alliance working toward that same goal and others, such as educating seniors on medication interaction dangers.

For now, ordinances have been adopted, as a matter of procedure, making the formation of the group and its composition and purpose official. “The ordinance has to be passed (adopted) so we can apply for funding, effective January 2013,” Mayor Ben Lucarelli said.

And, as part of the start-up process, the search is on for a part-time coordinator to spearhead the organization’s initiatives and seek out grant funding. The middle schools in both towns, the high school and both boroughs have contributed $5,000 each in seed money to get the alliance ball rolling.

Given room to tailor their own programs to suit particular communities’ needs, the municipal alliances’ salient purpose is to source funding to run programs that are designed to stave off substance abuse.

The group, according to the ordinance, will have an executive committee comprised of five voting members who are members of the Rumson and Fair Haven governing bodies, each town’s board of education and one member from the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional Board of Education. These members, the ordinance says, are to be appointed by the respective governing bodies to serve one-year terms, “ending on Dec. 31 of that calendar year.”

The general membership of the alliance is, in turn, to be appointed by the executive committee and should include, according to the ordinance, representatives from the police department, parent-teacher organizations, a local civic association, religious groups, the senior citizen community, substance abuse treatment and abuse prevention organizations, the Juvenile Conference Committee and a student assistance counselor (SAC).

Each year $15 million in legislative funding is allocated to the Governor’s Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, the umbrella under which the alliance funds fall.

As with any state and/or county-funded program, this one requires the adoption of the ordinances establishing the alliance within state and county-recommended parameters.

The county will guide Rumson and Fair Haven through the formation process. While the alliance coordinator's position is being advertised, a salary has not yet been disclosed. Check the boroughs' Web sites for more details. 

What problems do you think need to be addressed by the alliance? Do you think it is necessary or redundant, as some have said? Give us your input in the comments section below.