Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Strong partnerships are essential to New Jersey’s ability to prepare, respond, and recover from public health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of clear communication and coordinated action among state agencies, across sectors, and across levels of government. Partnerships have improved the State’s readiness and brought valuable voices into the State’s planning and response efforts. These include, but are not limited to, local, county, and federal health agencies, health care institutions and associations, nonprofit and community organizations, and industries. 

Building Integrated Planning, Training, and Response Relationships

• As part of its efforts to improve cross-sector readiness, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) increased coordination with the state’s three Regional Healthcare Coalitions. These coalitions include hospitals, emergency management agencies, public health departments, emergency medical services, and other healthcare providers. These coalitions are currently supported through ASPR’s Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), which may be at risk per the proposed federal budget. On a recurring basis, the Health Commissioner and key staff leverage this forum to discuss pressing issues, provide status updates on health planning for large-scale events like the 2026 World Cup, and share updates and lessons learned across the healthcare continuum.
• To support local coordination, NJDOH’s Division of Disaster Preparedness, Resiliency and Emergency Medical Services (DPREMS) conducts regular engagement with regional healthcare coalitions, health officials (NJACCHO), and designated local and county health agencies (LINCS agencies) to align emergency plans and share real-time guidance.
• The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) fosters long-standing public-private collaboration through the Interfaith Advisory Council, the New Jersey Shield program, and Hometown Security Initiative seminars. These platforms support threat awareness, community safety, and inclusive outreach across over 4,000 partners in every county.
• In June through Executive Directive No. 25-002, NJDOH designated the Center for Health Equity and Wellbeing as the State's first official Public Health Institute (PHI), marking a significant milestone in bolstering New Jersey's public health infrastructure. This designation positions New Jersey to join over 40 other states with similar institutes and fulfills the vision of legislation (P.L. 2025, c.46) enacted by Governor Murphy. Public health institutes help states transform and diversify the infrastructure, personnel, and resources necessary to address a variety of public health threats, including chronic diseases, substance use epidemics, and communicable disease outbreaks.

Enhancing Multi-Channel Public Communications

• Health misinformation is on the rise. NJDOH works to ensure accurate, trusted information reaches priority populations in collaboration with trusted community organizations and health educators. Communications tools deployed include multilingual educational toolkits, social media outreach, FAQs, and talking points. Coordinated strategies include training local ambassadors, engaging rural health networks, and hosting community-based vaccine education campaigns with support from faith-based organizations, professional organizations (like the NJ chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics), and health clinics.
• New Jersey emerged as a national leader in the use of FEMA’s IPAWS and Everbridge systems for emergency alerts, including the geo-fencing of critical infrastructure and large venues. In March 2024, NJOEM issued Directive NJOEM-13 to standardize the alert and warning process across the State and counties.
• NJOEM developed and operates a Virtual Joint Information Center (VJIC) in partnership with FEMA and other agencies. Hosted on the secure HSIN platform, the VJIC enables coordinated messaging during emergencies and can be activated rapidly to support 24/7 communication needs.
• New Jersey State Police’s (NJSP) Media Production Center creates public service announcements and training materials focused on emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.
• Ready.nj.gov provides the public and emergency management community with timely updates, guidance, and tools.
• Since the pandemic, NJOEM and the NJSP have expanded the number of trained Public Information Officers (PIOs) and increased statewide deployment capacity through the NJ All-Hazards Incident Management Team (NJ-AHIMT).

Strengthening Health Preparedness Partnerships with Trusted Community Organizations

• NJDOH partnered with retail pharmacies and healthcare providers through the Emergency Medical Services Task Force (EMSTF) to ensure equitable access to medical countermeasures, particularly for small and independent practices that lack large-scale infrastructure.
• The Rapid Mobile Response Team (RMRT), launched in 2020, provided community-based COVID-19 education, testing, and vaccination services through partnerships with local organizations. The program became a model for equity-driven outreach in hard-to-reach communities. This initiative relies on federal financial partnership that may be at risk per the proposed federal budget. 
• In 2024, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM) launched a new team-based model for the Voluntary Agency Liaison (VAL) role, which now includes community, faith-based, and mass care partners. This initiative strengthens local engagement and will guide a formal plan to define roles in resource coordination, donations management, and case management. 
• The NJOEM Disability Access and Functional Needs (DAFN) Coordinator built strong ties with advocacy organizations and the NJDOH to coordinate health services for individuals with disabilities, including support for testing and vaccination through Centers for Independent Living.
• Many state agencies have evolved forums convened during the pandemic to provide updates on a range of topics. For example, the Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Housing and Community Resources continues to hold regular meetings with community-based organizations, evolving from emergency pandemic outreach to sustained virtual and in-person engagement. Likewise, the Department of Corrections developed a stakeholder database and holds regular meetings with non-governmental organizations, contractors, and advocates to support coordinated operations during health and safety emergencies. 

Convening Interagency Forums for Coordinated Planning and Responses

• As part of the Murphy Administration’s broader strategy and ongoing commitment to public health preparedness and affordable health care access, the NJDOH convened an Interagency Vaccine Workgroup in late August to minimize interruptions to vaccine availability and coverage. The workgroup brings together leaders from the Departments of Human Services, Children and Families, Education, Banking and Insurance, Law and Public Safety’s Division of Consumer Affairs, and Treasury to enhance coordination. Collective actions have included issuing orders and directives to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for all ages and the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, as well as aligned messaging to the public about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
• When the Trump Administration suspended federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in November 2025, Governor Murphy convened an interagency Task Force and declared a State of Emergency to organize the response. Interagency relationships and response strategies honed during the COVID-19 pandemic enabled  the State to rapidly centralize information and resources for constituents, develop reporting channels to key feeding sector partners, deploy personnel and refrigerated trailers, and accelerate funding to ensure families remain fed.
• Building on informal cross-agency collaboration frameworks established during the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey launched a coordinated response to the emergence of H5N1 avian influenza in animals. NJDOH, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Environmental Protection developed contingency plans for potential human cases and created a centralized resource hub. This unified approach ensures that agencies operate from a shared playbook and that key populations—such as hunters, farmers, and animal health professionals—have clear, accessible guidance.
• The One Health Task Force convenes health care professionals, veterinarians, and other scientific professionals and State agencies, with the goal of promoting the health and well-being of the state’s residents, animals, and environment.
• The Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force is a multi-agency team of New Jersey Cabinet-level executives responsible for the coordination of state homeland security initiatives and policy, utilizing a data-driven, risk-based approach to address capability gaps and increase statewide preparedness.

Sharing Best Practices across State Lines

• NJOEM leads the State Emergency Management Program Stakeholders (SEMPS), which includes representatives from FEMA, the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Coast Guard, and other federal entities. SEMPS meetings support regular engagement, training, and policy coordination. NJOEM leads coordination efforts through monthly SEMPS and DSPPG meetings, as well as numerous task forces and working groups that involve state, local, and private sector partners. These include planning for major events like the World Cup and other large-scale incidents.
• New Jersey is a founding member of the Governors' Public Health Alliance, a new coalition of governors designed to protect the health of people across the U.S., was launched in October 2025 to support national, nonpartisan coordination on public health at the gubernatorial level. Governors Public Health Alliance will support Governors and their states in coordinating and collaborating to protect the public’s health by facilitating data sharing and communication about health threat detection, emergency preparedness and response, public health guidance and policy, and deployment of experts. 
• Through NJDOH, the State is also active in the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. The Collaborative’s shared purpose is to work together in new ways – optimizing the use of shared resources, innovating and reimagining core services – to ensure trust in public health, respond to public health threats, advance community health and strengthen confidence in vaccines and science-based medicine.  The group’s shared goal is to protect the health, safety and well-being of all residents by providing information based on science, data, and evidence, while working to ensure equitable access to vaccines, medications and services.
• Federal partners have helped convene trainings and expertise sharing. In May 2024, NJDOH hosted the Strategic National Stockpile Program to conduct hands-on training on Receipt, Stage, and Storage (RSS) operations with support from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services. NJOEM partnered with federal FEMA and HUD on a 2023-2024 pilot program to develop a Housing Recovery Support Annex focused on post-disaster housing planning, in collaboration with other states including Louisiana, Montana, and Washington.

• Continuing the annual executive-level tabletop exercises hosted by the Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force (DSPTF).
• Further strengthen public engagement and feedback loops by scaling digital tools, virtual forums, and feedback surveys that allow residents, especially those unable to attend in person, to identify service gaps, report barriers, and help co-develop local solutions.
• Continue elevating community voices in policymaking and service design by gathering insights from and advisory bodies composed of residents with lived expertise and community stakeholders. 
• Train additional Public Information Officers (PIOs), while expanding capacity to deploy PIOs for both in-state and out-of-state emergency response needs.