New Jersey Integrated Outpatient License: How to Apply
How New Jersey's April 2026 integrated outpatient license works for IOP, partial care and OTP operators: the CN-7 application, two-year term and renewal.
As of October 2026. New Jersey is still working through the transition to these rules, so confirm current processing with the Department of Health at Integrated.License@doh.nj.gov before you file.
Since April 6, 2026, New Jersey licenses outpatient behavioral health programs, including IOP, partial care and opioid treatment programs, through the Department of Health under N.J.A.C. 8:43K, while DMHAS sets the program standards in N.J.A.C. 10:36. That split matters for anyone running a multi-site outpatient organization in the state. The license, the application, the inspection and the waiver requests go to one department. The clinical program rules, and the contract or affiliation agreement that lets you deliver services at all, sit with another.
This guide is written for the executive director, COO or compliance lead of an outpatient, IOP, partial care or OTP organization. It covers what changed in April 2026, who does what, the CN-7 application, the two-year license, how existing licenses roll over, the waiver and telehealth limits, and the Medicaid alignment that follows. For the wider New Jersey picture, including Medicaid managed care and workforce, start at our New Jersey state hub.
What is the new New Jersey integrated license for behavioral health outpatient programs and how do I apply?
The short version, in order:
- Confirm your services are covered. Any outpatient facility providing behavioral health, mental health, substance use disorder, addiction or opioid treatment is licensed under 8:43K, alone or alongside primary care, reproductive health or pediatric services.
- Complete the CN-7 application found at N.J.A.C. 8:43E-5 Appendix, using its Outpatient Integrated Care Facility section.
- Submit it with the license application fee (and the biennial inspection fee and architectural plans, if they apply) to the Department of Health at Integrated.License@doh.nj.gov.
- Separately, hold a contract or affiliation agreement with DMHAS and meet the program standards in N.J.A.C. 10:36 for each service you offer.
- Renew every two years.
The Department of Health describes the goal plainly: outpatient facilities can now offer these services in combination "through one license and one set of standards" (NJ DOH guidance memo on N.J.A.C. 8:43K). Before 2026, a provider that wanted to offer primary care and addiction treatment under one roof dealt with separate licensing tracks. A 2026 New Jersey Medicaid notice traces the change to the state's 2017 "Single License Law," which directs DOH to establish a "single license" to promote the integration of primary and behavioral health care (DMAHS legal notice, Behavioral Health Program Service Standards).
What changed on April 6, 2026: 8:43K, 10:36 and the repeal of 10:161B
Two companion rulemakings took effect on the same day.
The Department of Health adopted N.J.A.C. 8:43K, the Manual of Standards for Licensure of Outpatient and Integrated Care Facilities, on January 15, 2026, effective April 6, 2026, with an expiration date of April 6, 2033. The same notice lists "Adopted Repeals: N.J.A.C. 10:161B" (NJ Register notice of adoption, N.J.A.C. 8:43K). Rule 10:161B was the old licensing standard for outpatient substance use disorder treatment facilities, so every outpatient SUD program in the state is now on a different rulebook.
The Department of Human Services adopted N.J.A.C. 10:36, Behavioral Health Program Service Standards, on January 14, 2026 (R.2026 d.043), also effective April 6, 2026 and expiring April 6, 2033. That rulemaking repealed N.J.A.C. 10:37E and 10:37F (NJ Register notice of adoption, N.J.A.C. 10:36). Rule 10:36 holds the service standards for outpatient mental health, outpatient addictive disorder, addictive disorder IOP, mental health and addictive disorder partial care, and OTP services in facilities licensed under 8:43K.
For a compliance lead, the practical result is two documents to map your policies against, plus the general licensure procedures in N.J.A.C. 8:43E that apply to every licensed facility in New Jersey.
Who licenses and who sets program standards (DOH versus DMHAS)
This is the point most often gotten wrong, including in older summaries of New Jersey rules that say DMHAS licenses facilities. It does not.
- The New Jersey Department of Health (Certificate of Need and Licensing) issues the facility license under 8:43K, receives the CN-7, inspects, and decides rule waivers.
- The Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), part of the Department of Human Services, writes the program standards in 10:36 and holds the contract relationship.
Rule 10:36-3.1(a) ties the two together. To provide behavioral health services in New Jersey, a program shall "Have a contract or affiliation agreement with the DMHAS" and be licensed by DOH, as applicable, including under 8:43K (N.J.A.C. 10:36 adoption notice). The Department of Health's memo says the same from its side: facilities offering outpatient behavioral health care in New Jersey comply with 8:43K and with the applicable DHS rules, naming 10:36, 10:37 and 10:37D.
One gap to note if you run mental health IOP. DMHAS did not create a mental health IOP level of care in 10:36. In response to a comment asking for one, the Division said it may revisit the idea in "a future rulemaking" and that, for now, the DOH standards in 8:43K apply to intensive outpatient mental health services (N.J.A.C. 10:36 adoption notice). Addictive disorder IOP, by contrast, has its own section in 10:36. If your organization runs both, expect two different reference points for what an IOP day has to contain. Our overview of ASAM levels of care is a useful companion for mapping New Jersey's labels to the continuum your clinicians already use.
The CN-7 application and the two-year license
The Department of Health created a new CN-7 application form, published at N.J.A.C. 8:43E-5 Appendix and on its website. The form now has three sections: Inpatient Facilities, Ambulatory Care Facility, and Outpatient Integrated Care Facility. Per the Department's guidance memo, the Outpatient Integrated Care Facility section is the one used by any facility that provides or wants to provide behavioral health, mental health, substance use disorder, addiction or opioid treatment, alone or with primary care, reproductive health or pediatric services (NJ DOH guidance memo). Picking the wrong section slows processing.
The memo lists what goes in the package: one original and two copies of the completed form, the license application fee, the biennial inspection fee if applicable, full-sized schematic architectural plans if applicable, and any out-of-state track record reports. Integrated care applications go to Integrated.License@doh.nj.gov.
The license term is two years. N.J.A.C. 8:43K-2.5(c) sets the two-year licensure period, and 8:43K-2.8 adds a fee waiver request for providers that do not collect revenue. In the 8:43K adoption notice, one commenter thanked the Department for "extending the licensure period to two years," and the Department kept the period unchanged on adoption (NJ Register notice of adoption, N.J.A.C. 8:43K).
For a multi-site group, two-year terms are easy to lose track of when sites were licensed at different times. Keep a single calendar of each site's license expiration, the services listed on each license, and the DMHAS contract or affiliation agreement behind each program.
How existing licenses transition at renewal
If you already held a New Jersey license for behavioral health care under 10:161B, you do not file a new application on day one. The Department of Health's memo explains the transition this way (NJ DOH guidance memo):
- Existing active facility licenses stay active through the current licensure period.
- A facility that does not want to add services receives a new 8:43K license after it submits a renewal application when the current period ends.
- A facility that applies to add services covered by 8:43K receives a new license.
- A facility not currently licensed for behavioral health care applies (or renews) using the CN-7.
The trap is assuming that "no new application yet" means "no new standards yet." The program standards in 10:36 took effect April 6, 2026, regardless of where your license sits in its cycle. Your policies, staffing and records should match the new rules now, so the renewal inspection is a check rather than a rebuild.
If you filed an application around the cutover
Applications submitted shortly before or after April 6, 2026 were handled under transition procedures that the state described in its spring 2026 presentations. Those procedures may have changed since, and the Department of Health's public pages do not post a current processing status. If you had an application or renewal in flight at the cutover, or you are now waiting on a renewal, ask the Department directly at Integrated.License@doh.nj.gov:
- Is my application being processed under the old rules or under 8:43K?
- Do I need to resubmit on the new CN-7 or send revised policies?
- Is any additional fee due?
- If my renewal is pending, what document confirms my authority to keep operating?
Get the answers in writing and file them with the license record for that site.
Rule waivers, in-person requirements and telehealth limits for facilities
Three items in the guidance memo shape how a New Jersey outpatient program can operate.
Waiver fee. Facilities licensed under 8:43K pay a nonrefundable $375 fee for each licensure waiver request, submitted to Integrated.License@doh.nj.gov. The Department says it plans to bring the same waiver fee to its other licensure rules.
No fully remote facilities. The Department of Health does not license facilities that operate completely remotely, and the memo notes that completely remote operation is not allowed by federal law for narcotic treatment programs or OTPs. On requests to skip a physical site, the memo is blunt: such waivers "will be denied" (NJ DOH guidance memo).
Telehealth follows state law. N.J.A.C. 8:43K-5.7(a) says a facility using telemedicine or telehealth complies with applicable federal and state law, including N.J.S.A. 45:1-61 et seq. Telehealth can be part of an IOP or partial care schedule, but under 8:43K it sits on top of an in-person licensed location, not in place of one.
For operators planning growth, this means each new New Jersey site is a licensed physical location with its own service list, not a virtual extension of an existing license.
Matching Medicaid billing to the new standards (State Plan amendment)
Licensing and payment move on separate tracks. In an April 30, 2026 legal notice, the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) said it intends to ask CMS to approve any needed amendments to the New Jersey Medicaid State Plan and Alternative Benefit Plan to align with 10:36 and 8:43K. DMAHS called the change "expected to be budget neutral" and said the fee schedule for Behavioral Health Program Services will be posted on njmmis.com under rate and code information when available (DMAHS legal notice, Behavioral Health Program Service Standards).
What that means in practice:
- Watch njmmis.com for the Behavioral Health Program Services fee schedule and any code changes tied to 10:36 service definitions.
- Check that the services on each site's license, the services in your DMHAS agreement, and the services you bill all line up. A mismatch between license, program and claim is where audits start. If you run IOP or partial care, our guide to mapping PHP and IOP facility and professional claims walks through tying each service to the setting, payer and billing entity behind it.
- Expect your managed care contracts to follow the State Plan, with timing that may lag.
Our guides on behavioral health claim denials and prior authorization for behavioral health cover the billing side in more depth.
Where Ease fits
Ease is one product for CRM, EHR and RCM, with one login and one patient record. Each organization configures the levels of care it offers, such as outpatient, IOP, PHP and withdrawal management, and each patient's placement carries admission, transfer and discharge statuses. Multi-location groups run every site on one instance, each location with its own NPI and billing provider, and admins configure which sites offer each level of care so clinicians see the relevant options. Census and other reporting can be broken out by location, which helps when you are lining up a site's license against what it actually delivers (more in our multi-location operations guide and our piece on EHR for multi-state behavioral health groups). Licensing decisions stay with the New Jersey Department of Health.
Questions to put to the Department of Health before you file
- Which CN-7 section and which service categories should appear for each of our sites?
- Which fees apply to our application, and are we eligible for a fee waiver under 8:43K-2.8?
- When does each existing site's current licensure period end, and when should the renewal go in?
- For any rule we cannot meet as written, is a waiver realistic, and what supporting evidence should accompany the $375 request?
- For mental health IOP, which 8:43K standards will the inspector apply?
New Jersey's integrated license simplifies the map for operators that want to combine services, but it does not remove the second set of rules. Treat 8:43K as the license and 10:36 as the program, keep your DMHAS agreement current, and plan each site's renewal on its own two-year clock. For more on how New Jersey's rules fit together, return to the New Jersey state hub, and for IOP program design see our IOP and PHP solutions page.
Related reading:
Frequently Asked Questions
Which agency issues the New Jersey license for an outpatient behavioral health program?
The New Jersey Department of Health (Certificate of Need and Licensing) issues the facility license under N.J.A.C. 8:43K. The Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) in the Department of Human Services sets the program standards in N.J.A.C. 10:36 and holds the contract or affiliation agreement each program needs under N.J.A.C. 10:36-3.1(a).
Does an existing New Jersey outpatient SUD licensee need to reapply right away under 8:43K?
No. The Department of Health's April 6, 2026 guidance memo says existing active licenses stay active through the current licensure period, and a facility that is not adding services receives its new 8:43K license after it submits its renewal application. A facility that adds services covered by 8:43K applies for a new license.
What form is used to apply for the New Jersey integrated outpatient license?
The CN-7 application at N.J.A.C. 8:43E-5 Appendix, also posted on the Department of Health website. Any facility offering behavioral health, mental health, substance use disorder, addiction or opioid treatment uses the Outpatient Integrated Care Facility section and sends it to Integrated.License@doh.nj.gov.
How long is a New Jersey 8:43K license valid?
Two years. N.J.A.C. 8:43K-2.5(c) sets a two-year licensure period for outpatient and integrated care facilities, and 8:43K-2.8 lets a provider that does not collect revenue request a fee waiver.
Can a New Jersey outpatient program or OTP operate fully by telehealth under 8:43K?
No. The Department of Health's guidance memo says it does not license facilities that operate completely remotely, that fully remote operation is not allowed for opioid treatment programs, and that waivers of the in-person service location requirement will be denied.
