New Jersey Counties Slated to Receive $5.2M in CARE Act Funding

Two New Jersey counties are slated to receive $5.2 million in Ryan White CARE Act funds to provide treatment and other services to patients with HIV and AIDS, the Bergen Record reports. The funds will help provide 3,200 individuals in Bergen and Passaic counties with medical services, counseling, transportation and other services. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) said, "This funding will go directly where it is needed, to the local level where HIV is being fought on the front lines." Karen Walker, chair of the Bergen-Passaic Planning Council, added that most of the patients benefitting from the funding "have no other form of medical coverage" and "would not otherwise be in care." Agencies due to receive funding include the Paterson Counseling Center, Straight and Narrow, CAPCO, Barnert Hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey Buddies and Catholic Community Services. The funding for the two counties increased by $600,000 this year, bringing New Jersey's total grant funding for 2001 to $34 million. The state has the highest percentage of women with HIV/AIDS and is third in the number of pediatric AIDS cases (Layton, Bergen Record, 1/23).