Rutgers UBHC Newark

They are set up for 2 levels: outpatient and telemedicine. Of the 8 centers within 14 miles of Newark, 3 offer a bed.

They do not detox, and nothing inside 14 miles of Newark does either. Ask them where they send people, because a place without one usually has somewhere it refers to.

They prescribe buprenorphine and naltrexone, which means the medication side is handled here rather than referred out to somewhere else in Newark.

They take court referrals, which usually means they are used to the reporting side of it. Courts in Newark send people to places set up for it rather than to any opening.

Newark has 9 AA groups, which is a different thing from treatment and a useful one next to it.

Treatment that involves the household tends to hold up better than treatment that does not. What a center can tell a family member is limited by privacy law, and that limit holds even for a parent of an adult. Look up the free family groups in Newark as well, because they outlast any program.

Someone asks what is going on, what has been tried before, and what insurance you have. A call outside office hours often reaches an answering service rather than an intake worker, which is worth knowing before judging a program by it. Ask what the next step is and who is responsible for arranging it.

The levels run from a weekly appointment up to a residential bed, with two useful steps in between. People commonly start higher and step down, rather than choosing one level and staying there. Ask what the step down from residential care looks like at that center.