N.J. will spend $16.45 million on behavioral health crisis centers

New Jersey will spend $16.45 million to establish behavioral health crisis centers in five counties, giving people experiencing mental health or substance use emergencies an alternative to hospital emergency departments or intervention by law enforcement.

The Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Centers will be located in Bergen, Camden, Essex, Monmouth and Morris counties and implemented in phases, the Department of Human Services announced today.

The centers will provide immediate assessments, treatment and stabilization in community-based settings.  Patients will also be connected with longer-term behavioral health services when appropriate.

“988 is more than a phone number,” Human Services Commissioner Stephen Cha said.  “It is the front door to a behavioral health crisis system that must have somewhere to take people when they reach out for help or for people to walk in without an appointment when they need help.”

Cha said the investment would help ensure people in crisis receive appropriate care in the right setting while providing a path toward recovery.

The package includes $14.95 million in state funding and $1.5 million from a federal Mental Health Block Grant administered by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The state portion consists of $8.66 million in unused fiscal year 2026 appropriations and $6.3 million carried forward from the previous fiscal year.  Human Services officials said they are pursuing Medicaid reimbursements and permanent state funding to sustain the centers after their launch.

“The need for response to someone who’s experiencing a mental health crisis at that very moment is the most important decision, phone call, or outreach they’ll ever make in their life,” said State Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge), the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee chairman.

Vitale said the centers would allow the state to move beyond telephone assistance by directing callers to immediate care without unnecessarily burdening hospitals and local health care workers.

New Jersey launched the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in 2022. The free, confidential service connects callers, texters, and online users with trained crisis counselors.

The stabilization centers will join 988 counseling services and mobile response teams as part of a broader system intended to provide someone to contact, someone to respond, and a safe place to receive help.