East Greenwich Township

Summary

East Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, reports 43,233.11 in opioid settlement money received through 06/30/2026. The national settlements list uses for the money, among them treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The list is not exhaustive. Other documented, evidence-based programs that address the epidemic also qualify. In either case the money must supplement local spending, not replace it.

The Township holds no dedicated account. The receipts register it produced says it is "Using Police-misc line item to enter monies/utilize." Each settlement payment is posted to the police Other Expenses appropriation, sub account POLICE: Miscellaneous, and settlement purchases are charged to the same line. Every dollar ran through the police miscellaneous line.

The production documents twelve purchase orders, fifteen line items and seven vendors. They total 37,194.55, released from 09/14/2022 to 06/10/2026. No line went to a treatment or recovery provider. The Township produced no cash disbursement register and no cancelled checks, so each release date below is the payment identifier and date printed on the purchase order screen. Twelve purchase orders, seven vendors, 37,194.55 paid.

This project classes 25,874.05 as non-conforming and 11,320.50 as unverified. Nothing is classed as conforming. Read the Township's findings.

The police website

The largest use of the money is a police community engagement web service from Online Policing Solutions, Inc of Millville. The Township bought it on three purchase orders charged to the police miscellaneous line.

The FY2024 report filed the website as a program under primary prevention, education and training. No record documents a prevention program delivered through the platform. A department web platform is a police communications cost, and no listed use covers it. Spent it on a police community engagement web subscription.

Tents, cups and giveaways

The police line paid 7,094.05 for community relations goods. Carpa Conexion, LLC of Chattanooga supplied a custom tent, backdrop and cloths for 1,455.00 and a canopy bundle for 999.00. Mary Bridget Enterprises, Inc of Cinnaminson supplied cups and keychains for 642.64, community relations items for 2,497.59 and community events giveaways for 1,499.82.

The FY2023 report gives the reason in the Township's words. "Solely spending funds on items that assist our Public Safety Officers to engage with our community and stakeholders in a positive, impactful way." No record documents an evidence-based prevention program that these goods serve. None of them is among the uses Exhibit E lists. Spent it on tents, cups, keychains and giveaways.

The challenge coins, 3,730.00 on two orders, are certified as part of a Straight to Treatment program, carried to advertise it. The vehicle medical kits, 6,240.50, are certified as nasal naloxone and tactical medical kits. The purchase order reads VEHICLE MEDICAL KITS and nothing more, and no invoice shows what the kits contain. This project classes the coins and the kits as unverified.

What East Greenwich told the State

Each town with a direct share files an annual report with the Department of Human Services. The Township reports each year's receipts correctly. After FY2023 its spending figures do not match its purchase orders.

The FY2023 report is exact. Its 2,097.64 is the first two purchase orders, 1,455.00 and 642.64, to the cent. FY2023 certification is exact to the cent.

The FY2024 report certifies 16,831.16. That is the year's receipts, 17,790.71, less the 959.55 the report gives as unspent. The receipts register applies each incoming settlement payment to named purchase orders. The FY2024 receipts went to the coins, the website and the kits, and those are the three program amounts in the report, apart from 0.70 on the coins. So the certified figure is 4,800.66 released in FY2024 plus 12,030.50 released in FY2025. Another 6,820.75 released in FY2024 appears in no report. Across FY2023 to FY2025 the Township certified 18,928.80 spent. Releases through 06/30/2025 were 25,749.55. FY2024 figures imply 12,030.50 more spent than the books.

The FY2025 report certifies 0.00 spent and says "funds were not spent in this reporting period." Two orders were released in that year, the website for 5,790.00 on 07/10/2024 and the medical kits for 6,240.50 on 08/14/2024. Certified zero spent while paying 12,030.50 in orders.

The same report gives 36,170.01 received since 2022. The FY2024 total plus the FY2025 year gives 37,129.56, which is 959.55 more. FY2025 total receipts fall 959.55 short of the prior filing. Its unspent figure, 17,293.73, is the register's receipts through 08/18/2025 less releases. It includes 5,913.72 that arrived after the year closed. FY2025 unspent total has 5,913.72 received after year end.

FY2026

The FY2026 report covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It reports 7,063.10 received in the year. That ties to seven register receipts.

It certifies 1,350.00 spent and assigns all of it to one program, the Kingsway Regional High School Summer Leadership Camp. It files the camp under Diversion and Re-entry Support and reports 2 individuals served. Purchase order 26-00705, 2026 SUMMER LEADERSHIP CAMP from Partners in Prevention, was released on 06/10/2026 for 1,350.00. The program figure matches it.

The police line paid two settlement orders that year.

The certified 1,350.00 is the year's payments less exactly the 10,095.00 website renewal. No program in the report describes the website. The FY2025 report certifies 0.00, so no report counts the payment. Left a 10,095.00 police web payment out of FY2026 spending.

The report gives 6,998.11 as unspent and uncommitted on hand. That is the book balance at 06/30/2026 to the cent. The register shows 44,192.66 received through 06/22/2026. The purchase orders show 37,194.55 released through 06/30/2026, the website renewal included. The report's own figures give a different balance. It certifies 43,233.11 received since 2022, and the four reports certify 20,278.80 spent. That leaves 22,954.31. The balance on page 2 counts the website payment as spent. The spending figure on page 1 leaves it out. FY2026 balance counts the payment its spending left out.

The report's goals answer says the Township continues "deploying settlement funds toward community-facing prevention, harm reduction (naloxone deployment), and connection-to-care initiatives such as the Straight to Treatment program." It answers that the Township has no strategic plan and did not engage the public before deciding.

What should happen

The Township has paid 25,874.05 for a police website and promotional goods that no listed use covers. It can restore that money to the settlement fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.

The money has no account of its own. The Township can open one, so that what comes in and what goes out can be read without a receipts register.

The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller can examine the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports and the records behind them.

The purchase order screens are here and the first receipts register page is here. How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.