David Hernandez, 33, a former Vineland, New Jersey, resident was a recovering addict. With the help of the Cumberland C.AR.E.S addiction recovery nonprofit in Vineland, David was able to reach his nine-month sobriety milestone in December of 2020. During his road to recovery he obtained a job at a local factory, was healthy enough to consistently see his 10 and 14-year-old sons, and reconnect with his friends and family.
Hernandez was supposed to be a survivor of the opioid epidemic plaguing Cumberland County and the nation as a whole. Unfortunately, his life was uprooted later that year when pandemic restrictions and Covid-19 cases were at its height. The factory he worked at shut down, causing him to lose his job, experience stress, isolation, and economic upheaval— all known triggers for addiction and relapse. These stressors drove him to relapse; through June, July, and August of 2020, he was in and out of the Cumberland C.A.R.E.S recovery facilities located in Vineland. Unfortunately, his ongoing battle with heroin addiction would take his life in January of 2021. Hernandez overdosed on the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Hernandez’s story is just one of the many in Cumberland County and around the U.S. that showcase how Covid-19 has exacerbated the opioid crisis and escalated overdoes deaths. Melissa Niles, the Cumberland County Human Services Director, Mental Health Administrator, and Alcohol & Drug Coordinator tells this story to emphasis the need for recovery services like Cumberland C.A.R.E.S. during the pandemic.
Niles has been working in substance abuse services for 17 years and with the help of the Prosecutor’s office she was able to establish Cumberland C.A.R.E.S in 2015. The “C.A.R.E.S” in Cumberland C.A.R.E.S stands for “Compassionate Addiction Recovery Equals Success.” The program allows those who are seeking to get clean long-term, not only from opioids but other drugs and alcohol, to receive support from peers and mentors who have been recruited and trained to serve in a variety of settings. To date, Cumberland C.A.R.E.S has trained 14 Peer Recovery Coaches so that when someone is ready for recovery, they have a coach to provide them with the support they need to go through the recovery process and journey.
“Our residential programs and detox facilities are open and admitting people. In fact we created more services for those who need them…now we hold virtual alcohol anonymous and substance abuse meetings and you can even meet virtually with a recovery coach,” Niles stated.
Covid-19 has caused the nation’s opioid epidemic to grow into a much more complicated and deadly drug overdoes epidemic. The American Medical Association reported that more than 40 states have experienced an increase in opioid-related mortality, as well as, ongoing concerns for those with a mental illness or substance use disorder. The national data that has been reviewed thus far also suggests that “U.S. drug overdose deaths are on track to reach an all-time high.” Addiction experts like Niles, blame the pandemic, which has disrupted recovery and treatment programs, left people stressed, isolated, and economically disadvantaged. Before Covid-19 became widespread, the nation was in the midst of the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in its history. There was a record 71,000 overdose deaths last year and this year, reviewed national data of reported drug overdoes, by The Associated Press, has concluded that due to Covid-19, 2021’s tally will surpass that number.
In New Jersey and Cumberland County in particular, this spike in drug and alcohol addictions and overdoses are consistent with national statistics. Two months before Covid-19 became widespread nationally, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced that drug overdoes in 2019 were down by three percent. As of July 2020, state officials now have said that overdoes deaths in New Jersey were up twenty percent. Nearly 1,600 residents lost their lives to drug overdoses between January and the end of June of 2020. These numbers are record breaking; the state ended 2020 with a record number of fatalities related to alcohol and drugs, particularly opioids.
Compared to most New Jersey counties, opioid use and overdosing is very prevalent in Cumberland County the county where Niles work. According to the New Jersey Attorney General’s statistics, in 2019, the county had 37.4 overdoes deaths per 100,000, making the county’s drug overdose death rate the worst in New Jersey.Cumberland County is one of South Jersey’s largest, most rural cities. Substance abuse and overdosing has always been a concern for the county.
The town of Vineland alone reported 304 cases of heroin abuse in 2019. Not only is it the poorest county in New Jersey, but for the sixth year in a row, Cumberland County was ranked the “least healthiest county” in the state of New Jersey after a study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin found it to be “extremely lacking in the prevention against prescription drug abuse, obesity, chronic illness management and other issues.” Despite accurate statistical evidence not being available yet for this year, evidence from the Cumberland County’s Prosecutor’s Office and Human Services Team suggests that these overdose numbers are rising due to the pandemic.
Jennifer Webb-McRae, the prosecutor for Cumberland County is greatly concerned by reports of increased death from overdoses, particularly of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
“The same social isolation that’s helping us flatten the curve is triggering mental health issues and stressors for people struggling with depression or substance abuse issues,” she said.
Matthew Rudd, head of Strategic Planning & Programs at Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, agrees with Prosecutor Webb-McRae’s sentiment and also feels that in a time where we are experiencing a peak in outside stressors, it’s important that we are supporting one another and maintaining services like the ones provided by Cumberland C.A.R.E.S.
“There needs to be continued encouragement to check in on each other. We can still be socially connected even though we are distant and it’s not as rich as in person connections. We can still be checking on our friends and families,” Rudd said.
Rudd’s encouragement for people to stay connected and supportive throughout the pandemic is one of the ways communities and individuals can help stop the opioid epidemic and prevent future overdoes.
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