Rutgers University–Newark announced receipt of a $1.1 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to support undergraduate and graduate students who comprise its addiction recovery community. The funds will be used to defray the students’ costs of housing, books, parking, and meals.
This is the first time Rutgers-Newark has received a recovery housing grant, according to Barbaros Dinler, director of Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) at Rutgers-Newark. ADAP provides early identification and interventions for students who use alcohol or other drugs. Its comprehensive services include evaluation and assessment, consultation and outreach, brief motivational interviewing, individual counseling, intoxicated driver resources, psychiatric care for co-occurring disorders, treatment referrals, family support services, nicotine dependence assessment and referral, coordination with professional assistance, and pharmacy assistance.
“Students in recovery face complex issues. Some may have depleted their financial aid, while others may have lost the trust of their family and face homelessness,” explained Dinler.
Presently, Rutgers-Newark has one residence hall that accommodates up to eight students in recovery. With special dispensation for recovery students to live on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, students have committed to moving on campus into recovery housing and will be moving into Rutgers-Newark housing at the start of the fall semester.
“Recovery housing isolates students from others who might be using alcohol or drugs and shields students in recovery from having to explain why they are not using,” Dinler noted. “For those with a renewed sense of commitment to moving their lives forward by furthering their education, the recovery grant helps them to build community among similarly situated individuals.
