In January 1981, the Mercer County Alcoholism Advisory Committee, a citizen committee, was established to advise the County Executive and County governance regarding the delivery of coordinated alcoholism services in Mercer County.

By 1983, Public Law 1983, Chapter 531 was passed. This law increased the responsibility of the County's advisory committee and established Local Advisory Committees on Alcohol (LACA) in each county. The Mercer County Alcoholism Advisory Committee was designated as the Local Advisory Committee on Alcohol (LACA).

In 1989, the law was amended by Chapter 51 to require the establishment and maintenance of the Local Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (LACADA).Through the amended law, each county’s committee is required to develop and write an annual Comprehensive Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Plan and submit a contract application for use of Alcohol Education, Rehabilitation and Enforcement Fund (AEREF) and other State discretionary funds.

The Local Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse’s subcommittee, the County Alliance Steering Subcommittee (CASS), is tasked specifically with developing an annual Mercer County Municipal Alliance Plan. This plan describes and allocates the Drug Education Demand Reduction Fund (DEDR) funding, which is distributed by the State of New Jersey Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (GCADA) for the Municipal Alliance programs. There are six Municipal Alliance programs in Mercer County. 

For more information, please contact Heather DeLorenzo at hdelorenzo@mercercounty.org or 609-278-2743.