Warren Township
Warren Township reports receiving 155,170.83 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026, certified a police car rewrap and a school show its police budget had already bought as opioid programs, and twice misstated the money it had on hand.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Warren Township reports receiving 155,170.83 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026. It has paid out 73,260.00.
- It bought a 3,000.00 school show from its police training line in March 2026. Five weeks later it bought the same show for the same price with settlement money and called it a peer mentoring program. Read the finding.
- It certified a police car rewrap as Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, with Treat Opioid Use Disorder as the strategy. Read the finding.
- Its FY2024 report put 105,797.47 on hand, more than every dollar it says it ever received. Read the finding.
- Its FY2026 balance leaves out 4,950.00 of interest its own reports certify. Read the finding.
- The largest payment, 40,000.00 to its own Board of Education, went out on a produced agreement that is unsigned. The FY2026 report counts 0 people served.
Summary
Warren Township, Somerset County, reports receiving 155,170.83 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026, interest included. The money must go to the abatement uses the national settlements list, or to documented evidence-based programs that address the epidemic. It must add to local spending, not replace it.
The Township produced two accounts. X-02-40-774-6901, National Opioid Settlement, prints from 01/01/2022 to 09/01/2026. It paid eight vendor checks totaling 33,260.00. 6-02-213-40-6527, the matching grant appropriation, prints from 05/01/2026 to 09/01/2026. It paid the 40,000.00 Board of Education check. Read the Township's record.
This project classifies the 73,260.00 this way.
| Classification | Amount |
|---|---|
| Conforming | 53,500.00 |
| Non-conforming | 6,030.00 |
| Unverified | 13,730.00 |
| Paid through 09/01/2026 | 73,260.00 |
Conforming is the Board of Education agreement, 40,000.00, and the ZSchool police opioid training, 13,500.00. The agreement and the purchase orders name the opioid content. Non-conforming is the police car rewrap, 3,030.00, and the ThinkFast Interactive show, 3,000.00. Unverified is the CredibleMind subscriptions, 13,730.00. Unverified means the record does not settle it either way.
Every expended figure the Township filed agrees with the books. What the reports say the money bought, and what they say is left, does not.
What the Township told the State
The State's reporting year runs 07/01 to 06/30.
FY2023. The Township reported 30,960.46 received and 0.00 expended as of 06/30/2023. It listed three programs, Credible Minds, Narcan and Peer Mediation/Peer Mentoring. None was funded.
FY2024. The Township certified 61,760.98 received in the year, 95,921.44 received since 2022, 4,910.00 expended and 0.00 encumbered. It certified 105,797.47 unspent on hand. The one program was Credible Minds, an online mental health platform.
FY2025. The Township certified 32,979.60 received, 129,901.04 received since 2022, 13,740.00 expended and 7,200.00 encumbered. It certified 107,051.04 on hand. It reported two new programs, Operation Helping Hand Vehicle Wrap at 3,030.00 and Operational Readiness for Police Officers at 6,300.00, and Credible Minds at 4,410.00.
FY2026. The State published the Township's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It certifies 24,519.79 received, 155,170.83 received since 2022, 54,610.00 expended and 0.00 encumbered. It certifies 76,960.83 on hand. It reports one new program, the Youth Mentoring and Mental Health Programs Funding Agreement at 40,000.00, and updates three earlier ones.
What the books show
| Year | Certified expended | Paid in the window | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Agree |
| FY2024 | 4,910.00 | 4,910.00 | Agree to the cent |
| FY2025 | 13,740.00 | 13,740.00 | Agree to the cent |
| FY2026 | 54,610.00 | 54,610.00 | Agree to the cent |
The FY2025 encumbrance is real. ZSchool order 25-01984 for 7,200.00 was open on 06/30/2025 and paid on 09/18/2025.
| Payee | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Warren Township Board of Education | Youth mentoring and mental health agreement | 40,000.00 |
| CredibleMind, Inc. | Three annual platform subscriptions | 13,730.00 |
| ZSchool LLC | Online opioid training for police, three orders | 13,500.00 |
| The Ultimate Alphabet LLC | Remove and rewrap police car | 3,030.00 |
| TJohnE Productions Inc | ThinkFast Interactive assembly | 3,000.00 |
| Total | 73,260.00 |
The Board of Education payment
On 12/11/2025 the Township Committee adopted Resolution 2025-287. It authorizes 40,000.00 for the 2025 to 2026 school year, 30,000.00 for 2026 to 2027 and 20,000.00 for 2027 to 2028, 90,000.00 in all. The Chief Financial Officer certified the funds in account X-02-40-774-6901.
Purchase order 26-01243 was raised on 04/20/2026 and charged to 6-02-213-40-6527. A handwritten note on it reads "Should have been charged to X-02-40-774-6901." Check 29083 paid the Board 40,000.00 on 05/14/2026. The same day a correcting entry cancelled 40,000.00 on the X-02 account. The audit trail for that account shows 33,260.00 expended. The 40,000.00 appears only on the second account.
The agreement funds a middle school extended day mentoring program and an expansion of school mental health services run with University Behavioral Health Care. The student sessions cover anxiety, stress management and drug abuse prevention. It says the programs will let the district "continue and expand services." The copy produced has a blank effective date and no signatures. It sets no reporting requirement, no audit right and no measure of results. Two of its sections name a different organization, Ability Foundation, in place of the Board.
The FY2026 report files the agreement under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training, with the Schedule B strategy Prevent Misuse of Opioids. It counts 0 individuals served. Prevention and mental health programs for young people are among the uses Exhibit E lists, and the agreement cites them. The record does not show what the district funded before, so it does not settle whether this money added to the district's spending. This project publishes no finding on that question.
The police car
The FY2025 report lists Operation Helping Hand Vehicle Wrap at 3,030.00. Its description reads "Remove existing wrap on police car and rewrap with Operation Helping Hand." It files the purchase under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, with Treat Opioid Use Disorder first among its Schedule B strategies. It reports 0 clients. The vendor history shows check 25655 of 01/23/2025 for "Remove & Rewrap Police Car."
The report calls the car a rolling public education billboard for a program that connects people to treatment. No Operation Helping Hand activity or referral appears in the records produced. No treatment or overdose payment appears on the account. Police vehicle graphics are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Read the finding.
Police training and the school assembly
ZSchool LLC was paid 13,500.00 on three orders the purchase orders describe as online opioid training. The reports call the course Operational Readiness for Police Officers and count 16 participants in FY2026. Training police on opioid use disorder is among the uses Exhibit E lists.
The FY2026 report certifies 3,000.00 under the 2023 program Peer Mediation/Peer Mentoring, a one-time event. It counts 1200 served and 1200 as the reduction in opioid-related incidents. The payment is TJohnE Productions check 28896 of 04/16/2026 for ThinkFast Interactive, a school show. The Township paid the same vendor 3,000.00 for ThinkFast Interactive from its Police Education and Training line on 03/12/2026, and 3,000.00 for a teen driver safety show from the same kind of line on 03/20/2025. No peer mediation or mentoring program appears in the books. Read the finding.
The balance on hand
The FY2024 report states 105,797.47 on hand. It reports 95,921.44 received since 2022, interest included, and 4,910.00 spent. On those figures the Township could hold no more than 91,011.44. The certified figure is 14,786.03 more. Read the finding.
The FY2026 report states 76,960.83 on hand. On its own figures, 155,170.83 received and 73,260.00 spent, the Township held 81,910.83. The gap, 4,950.00, is the interest the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports certify. The second opioid account shows 75,537.19 on 06/30/2026. It reaches 76,960.83 only after an entry of 07/27/2026. Read the finding.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.