Chief Assistant Prosecutor Brad Seabury Joined Morris CARES and Community Leaders for Community Presentation

Published on March 27, 2018

On the morning of March 26, 2018, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Brad Seabury joined Morris Center for Addiction Recovery Education & Success (CARES), Sheriff James M. Gannon, and local leaders for the monthly community breakfast at the CARES headquarters in Rockaway Borough.

From left to right: Alton Robinson of CARES, Beth Jacobson of Morris County Dept. of Human Services, Barbara Kaufman of MCPIK, CAP Brad Seabury, and Sheriff James M. Gannon.

Alton Robinson, the Lead Peer Recovery Specialist at CARES, began the morning by welcoming the various members of the Morris County community who took time out of their morning to discuss the current heroin and opiate epidemic. Representatives from some of CARES' community partners, such as Atlantic Health and St. Clare's Hospital, followed Alton and spoke about their combined efforts with CARES and local law enforcement in the treatment of those suffering from substance abuse disorder.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seabury was the keynote speaker for the event, and took the opportunity to educate these leaders in the community on how the Morris County Prosecutor's Office is combatting this epidemic. The highlight of the discussion was the affect that the Narcan 2.0 program has had on Morris County, and what this means going forward. Brad specifically emphasized the partnership with Morris CARES, and their Peer Recovery Specialists. The ultimate goal of the program is to offer face to face support for every person that has been reversed from Narcan, whether it be five minutes following the overdose, or four months down the road. Lives have already been saved from this program, and countless more will be saved in the future.

Following Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seabury, Sheriff James M. Gannon spoke about Hope One. Hope One is a mobile recovery access vehicle that travels twice a week to different locations in Morris County, with the goal of providing clients with immediate access to services and treatment facilities that can help them on their road to recovery. Sheriff Gannon also discussed the partnership between Morris CARES and the Morris County Correctional Facility, and even brought up two recovered addicts who went through the Morris County Correctional Facility and are now living healthy lives because of the efforts put forth by Morris CARES.

Barbara Kaufman, Director of Prevention Services at Morris County Prevention is Key (MCPIK), wrapped up the breakfast by thanking Alton Robinson and CARES for hosting these monthly community breakfasts to further educate members of the Morris County community about this epidemic. The breakfasts are typically attended by representatives of the treatment community, local leaders, and residents of Morris County who are looking to make a difference. This is a communal effort, and the working partnerships between community leaders, programs such as Morris CARES and MCPIK, and local law enforcement agencies allow Morris County to be one of the best counties in the nation at combatting the heroin and opioid epidemic.

Inquiries concerning this press release should be directed to Public Information Officer Peter DiGennaro at pressinquiry@co.morris.nj.us or 973-829-8159.