NJMentalHealthCares (NJMHC) is New Jersey’s first comprehensive behavioral health management helpline and website, serving professionals and the general public. Every call is answered within seconds by a trained, professional behavioral healthcare specialist. The Helpline staff provides professional assessment of presenting problems and issues, including the use of standardized tools to assess concerns such as depression, suicidality and substance abuse. Our staff readily answers questions and discusses concerns, providing information, resources, support and advocacy navigating the public and not-for-profit behavioral health systems. Follow-up phone assistance is offered to every caller to ensure connection needed services.
All of our staff members hold degrees in behavioral health and participate in ongoing training which includes topics such as:
• Interpersonal Theory of Suicide of Suicide Assessment Model (Standard for National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline)
• Handling Difficult Callers / Handling Crisis Callers
• ASAM Levels of Care
• UNCOPE Substance Abuse Screening Tool
• Motivational Interviewing
• Understanding Developmental Disabilities
• Understanding Entitlements
For more information, resources and support or to access services, Please Call our Toll Free Helpline: 877-294-HELP (4357), A TTY line is available for the deaf and hearing impaired at (877) 294-4356 Hours of operation are Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Participating Center
NJMentalHealthCares (NJMHC) staff is trained to and regularly handles crisis and suicidal callers who contact the Helpline. Therefore in September, 2012, the program formalized its expertise in this area and commitment to this significant and often devastating mental health issue by becoming a participating center with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Helpline is an ideal fit for handling these calls given the extensive and ongoing staff training, as well as the database and staff expertise, enabling callers to be readily linked to needed crisis or other behavioral health services.
The Peer Recovery WarmLine (PRW)
The Peer Recovery WarmLine is open 365 days a year, including holidays. The hours of operation are Monday thru Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Holidays, 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
At Peer Recovery WarmLine “Recovery is Mutual”
· All calls are answered by peers who are trained, supportive mental health consumers.
· This service does not provide crisis intervention. For an emergency, call 911 immediately!
For callers who need support:
· We get to each caller as a person..how he/she views the situation and the world.
· We support efforts to develop and implement the caller’s own personalized Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP).
· We use the International Peer Support model. That means the caller and peer mutually supports each other’s recovery and talk about their our own stories in a way that helps the recovery process for both.
Information & referral:
· We have the most up-to-date listing of NJ’s community mental health services.
· We will follow up on any referrals we give you to make sure you are satisfied.
Need someone to talk to? Afraid no one will understand?
For free Mental Health Support, Information and Referral from Peers
Toll Free Helpline:
Call 877-292-5588, A TTY line is available for the deaf and hearing impaired at (877) 294-4356
If you are interested in position on The Peer Recovery WarmLine: Please send your resume via email to PRWfeedback@mhanj.org
The Peer Recovery WarmLine us a service of The Mental Health Association in New Jersey and is funded by the NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Community Education
NJMentalHealthCares (NJMHC) serves as one central access point statewide where individuals may obtain wide-ranging information about mental health, co-occurring, and other community services, as well as professional psycho-education, advocacy and supportive counseling.
As part of our commitment to ensure we reach any individual in need of our services, we provide outreach statewide to groups who are interested in learning more about the Helpline.
For more information or to schedule a presentation contact: Joanne McCarthy LMHC, LPC, LCADC, Director of Call Center Services, jmccarthy@mhanj.org, 973 571 4100 x165.
