VA NJ Healthcare System

They provide outpatient, inpatient residential, detox and telemedicine. The nearest alternative is in Orange, under a mile away, if you want something to compare it against.

They provide detox for 5 substances: alcohol, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methamphetamines and opioids. Whether a bed is free this week is a question for the call, and East Orange has 8 other centers.

Yes. They offer a program for pregnant and postpartum clients, which is one of 13 named programs here.

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

Yes, they treat 65 and over, which is less common than it should be and rarer still outside a city the size of East Orange.

There is a role, and it is a bigger one than most people expect going in. Family sessions are normally held in evenings or at weekends, because the people expected at them are working. Look up the free family groups in East Orange as well, because they outlast any program.

There is no fixed length. What is on offer tends to be a 30, 60 or 90 day program. The early part of any program is mostly stabilizing, and the work people picture when they think of treatment starts after that. If you can only be away for a fixed period, say so at the start rather than partway through.

Inpatient is the higher level of care, and higher is not automatically better for everyone. A clinician settles this on risk, history and circumstances, and the assessment is a single appointment. If you are told you need the most expensive option before anyone has asked you anything, get a second opinion.