Navigational Resource Center

Offering outreach, rapid response and navigation to critical services for vulnerable individuals.

Volunteers of America Delaware Valley’s Navigator Program, funded by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, provides individuals in need with linkage to critical social services in order to assist with both short-term and long-term individual and family stabilization. Through collaborative partnerships with providers, hospital systems, law enforcement and the courts, the Navigator Program provides outreach, rapid response and navigation to a number of critical social services, including but not limited to treatment and addiction services, housing, employment services, education, legal services and more.

While the Navigator Program is designed to function very similarly to the Safe Return Program, there is a key difference. Unlike Safe Return, the services offered through the Navigator Program are not solely designated for those who have been incarcerated – the program provides enhanced navigation and coordination of housing and homelessness services to all vulnerable populations, while also addressing factors that contribute to housing instability and homelessness.

Through the Navigator Program, VOADV professionals link individuals to a spectrum of services which are personalized to meet each individual’s specific needs. The program offers the following key services:

• Case management and family reunification
• Housing assistance
  
• Job placement
• Legal assistance and advocacy
• Benefits assessment and reinstatement assistance
• Substance use disorder and mental health referral and linkage
• Treatment referral and linkage
• Assistance with State Identification & Driver’s license

Through additional support by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, VOADV has expanded the footprint of the Navigator Program to include:

• Atlantic and Cape May Counties
• Tri-County – Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem
• Camden County
• Mercer and Burlington Counties

The Navigator Program provides comprehensive, community-based care management to individuals in need through numerous initiatives:

• Navigational Resource Centers – to further enhance the Navigator Program and better address the social services needs of vulnerable individuals throughout our footprint, VOADV also currently operates four (4) Navigational Resource Centers, located in Atlantic City, Bridgeton, Camden and Trenton, NJ. The Navigational Resource Centers are strategically co-located with Safe Return program offices to ensure an immediate, holistic approach to service delivery and one-stop linkage to those requesting assistance.

• IMPACT (Immediate Mobilization of Police Assisted Crisis Teams) Initiative – offering the same immediate, direct approach to service delivery, the IMPACT Initiative meets individuals where they are – in the community, in their homes, on the street, at service events, etc. – to ensure prompt service delivery in a comfortable setting. As a key part of the initiative, IMPACT Specialists work side-by-side with law enforcement partners in satellite offices embedded within police departments – delivering critical social services to those most in need, and at times, diverting from criminal justice system involvement.

• Mobile IMPACT Units – vehicles that can be dispatched, as needed, to communities throughout VOADV’s footprint in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer and Salem counties to deliver direct, immediate social services to individuals in need in coordination with local law enforcement partners. Currently, VOADV operates three Mobile IMPACT Units for regionalized coverage: Atlantic/Cape/Tri-County (covering Atlantic, Cape May, Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland), Camden County and Burlington/Mercer Counties.

• Atlantic City Human Trafficking Pilot – funded by a grant from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), the Atlantic City Human Trafficking Pilot enables VOADV to conduct human trafficking outreach in Atlantic City and offer victims services, while also expanding Atlantic City’s capabilities in taking a diversionary approach when working with missing and at-risk youth. The pilot is designed to include: community-based informational sessions targeting Atlantic City’s youth and their families, as well as a larger stakeholder seminar for pilot partners and the creation of a comprehensive strategic plan to address trafficking victimization in Atlantic City. The efforts of the pilot are further supported by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, as well as other key law enforcement partners.

Office Locations