Sarah M. Adelman is the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services, overseeing the state’s largest cabinet-level agency with a staff of nearly 8,000 and a budget of approximately $29 billion. The Department serves half of New Jersey’s children and one in four adults, providing healthcare, food and child care assistance, mental health and addiction services, aging and disability services, and more.
Under her leadership, the Department now provides universal access to health care for children, increased monthly food assistance benefits, and expanded access to addiction services including creating the nation’s only year-round free naloxone access program. She also chairs the Governor’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council.
Commissioner Adelman led the agency through the COVID pandemic, ensuring programs were available to serve families’ needs. She has prioritized investments and growth in the care workforce, adding more than $2 billion in funding to increase wages and improve training, recruitment, and retention.
Prior to becoming Commissioner, Adelman served as Deputy Commissioner overseeing the Developmental Disabilities, Aging Services, and Medicaid divisions. Previously, she served as vice president at the New Jersey Association of Health Plans and as chief of staff at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute.