Official Site of The State of New Jersey
In 2025 the New Jersey Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma decided to host a discussion of the current state of affairs in mental health care for persons who are dually diagnosed with both a mental health condition and an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) or autism. It immediately became apparent, with input from the state’s top advocates and agency leadership, that this was an important issue that required much more than 90 minutes of discussion.
What followed was a year’s worth of work, including two online Learning Collaboratives and an in-person panel discussion dedicated to envisioning new needed mental health services geared towards the needs of this population and fighting stigma associated with having both a mental illness and IDD or autism.
We invite you to watch the recordings of these events and read the summary of recommendations for action and change from some of the top leaders in New Jersey, persons with lived experience and their families, frontline service workers and CEOs, and other participants from both the behavioral healthcare and IDD fields. A list of resources for mental health care for dually diagnosed individuals, including descriptions and links, that was compiled by the Council and its partners. Links to all of these materials are below:
§ Event Recordings:
o Breakout Discussions:
o Facilitated by Angela Calzone
o Facilitated by Celine Fortin
o Facilitated by Susan Tellone
The Council offers its sincere thanks to our partners for lending their time and ideas, and helping to remind us that everyone can educate about mental health and stigma and that making change begins with each one of us.
Council Members and other Partners
§ Debra L. Wentz, Ph, Chair, NJ Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma; President and CEO, New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies; Executive Director, New Jersey Mental Health Institute
§ Dan Balboni, PsyD, Director, Psychological and Social Services, Matheny Medical and Educational Center
§ Pamela Brown, MSW, Vice President of Adult DD Services, Oaks Integrated Care
§ Angela Calzone, President and CEO, Inroads to Opportunities
§ Cynthia Chazen, Coordinator of Community Outreach and Partnerships, New Jersey Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma
§ Melissa Cheplic, MPH, NADD-CC, Senior Training and Consultation Specialist, The Boggs Center on Disability and Human Development
§ Cathy Chin, Executive Director, Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities
§ Celine Fortin, Executive Director, The Arc of New Jersey
§ Robyn Holt , Director of the Criminal Justice Advocacy Program, The Arc of New Jersey
§ David Jacobs, Member, NJ Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma
§ Bonny Life, PhD, MA, MPP, Program Director, DD Services – CARES Program, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, a RWJBarnabas Health Facility
§ Colleen McLoughlin, MEd, Deputy Director of The Boggs Center and Director, New Jersey’s federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
§ Shauna Fuzes, Vice President of Public Affairs and Member Services, New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies
§ Deborah M. Spitalnik, PhD, Founder and former Executive Director of The Boggs Center on Developmental Disability and Human Development at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
§ Susan Tellone, RN, BSN, MSN, CSN, Founder of Thriving Minds and Resiliency Advocate, Executive Director of The Samaritan Center, Member of the NJ Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma
§ Robert Titus, Public Policy Coordinator, New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities