Mental Health Association Of Nj

Bringing The Vaccine To The Patients And The Wider Community

Many of the MHA patients only wanted to get the J& J vaccine because it was one dose, which was especially important for those experiencing homelessness. Because of the MHAs relationships with the county governments in Essex and Morris, the counties committed to deliver the J& J vaccine to the MHA site.

Currently, MHA has hosted five vaccination clinics. As of mid-May the majority of their 1,000 patients with persistent mental health illness have been vaccinated. Davison says they wont stop until everyone has had an opportunity to get vaccinated. The organization has also provided vaccines for staff, a domestic violence shelter, an agency that provides services to the people with developmental disabilities, and other community groups.

Moving forward, the long-term vision of MHA is to become a vaccine dispensary themselves to continue serving their patients and wider community. Davison says because they dont know how often these vaccines will have to be given, we want to develop the in-house capability to give vaccines ourselves during regular business hours on a sustainable basis.

What are you, your health department, or your organization doing to support COVID-19 vaccination in your community? Share your story with and you could see it on our COVID-19 Vaccine Community Features page.

Mental Health Association Celebrates ‘evening Of Excellence’ In Florham Park

Mental Health Association in New Jersey officials pose with honorees of the nonprofit organization’s “Evening of Excellence” benefit Wednesday evening, Nov. 9 at the Park Savoy Estate in Florham Park. From left are honorees Jacob C. Farbman and Angela Patterson, MHANJ President and CEO Carolyn Beauchamp, MHANJ Board Chair Harold B. Garwin, and honorees James McCreath, Aziel Valdez and Aaron Fichtner.

FLORHAM PARK – The Mental Health Association in New Jersey held its most important celebration and fundraiser of the year Wednesday, Nov. 9 at the Park Savoy Estate on Ridgedale Avenue.

More than 230 attendees joined the honorees whose contributions to mental health and wellness were a focus of the evening. The roster of honorees included both individuals and organizations.

Mayim Bialik, Ph.D., was featured as guest speaker through a prerecorded video interview with Steve Adubato

The evening’s honorees were as follows:

James McCreath, the retired former vice president for psychiatry, behavioral health and long-term care for Trinitas Regional Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, was recognized for innovative leadership in behavioral healthcare.

The Behavioral Health and Psychiatry department at Trinitas Regional Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, was recognized for excellence in behavioral healthcare and responsiveness to community needs.

Important Fundraiser

Lynette Sheard hosted the event.

About the MHANJ

For more information visit www.mhanj.org.

Ocean County Programs & Services

• Youth Peer Outreach Support Team

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey in Ocean County focuses on providing direct services to support and educate individuals with mental health, substance use and co-occurring disorders and their family members. Trained staff members provide emotional and mental health support and guidance on the journey to recovery.

A broad variety of wellness and support groups as well as community outreach and education are available. Please review this entire page for links to specific offerings.

For more information, contact Michelle Price, CPRS, CRSP, CGRS, Director of the Mental Health Association in New Jersey in Ocean County, at, or.

For information about MHANJs statewide programs, including additional opportunities for training, our call lines and other services, visit our home page or call the New Jersey Mental Health Cares Helpline at.

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Services Available In Ocean County And Statewide

Peer Outreach Support Teams assist mental health and/or substance abuse consumers in their daily lives in the community.

POST workers are people in recovery from mental illness who serve as recovery role models. They have received specialized training preparing them to provide individual emotional support, information and links to mental health, medical, housing, employment services and facilitate self-help programs.

POSTs community outreach team runs groups, training, and meetings in many of the outpatient programs in Ocean County. They also offer services to residents in three boarding homes such as facilitating recreational activities for them and transporting them to the Journey to Wellness Self Help Center.

Community Outreach and Discharge Planning are provided on a regular basis. POST team members work in partnership with Saint Barnabas Behavioral Health in Toms River to offer guidance and support to mental health consumers as they transition out of short-term care. The POST team may play an important role in the consumers discharge, helping them to bridge the gap between hospital care and life back in the community. For example, POST workers may arrange for such necessities as transportation and offer assistance with arranging for other essential needs such as food and housing.

Mental Health Resources And Support Groups

The outbreak of Covid-19 has been universally stressful and the word pandemic itself creates anxiety.

The longer-term nature of the outbreak has meant significant changes to long-held routines and behaviors.

Its important to take care of yourself and find ways to reduce your stress level and support your mental health and to help your family do the same. These resources may help:

• How Are You Feeling? We are often asked this, and we say fine. But this has been a difficult time, and emotions can be complex. You may be feeling sad, worried, or stressed.
• Covid-19 and Your Mental Health Self-care strategies and suggestions for getting help when you need it.
• Family Mental Health and Well being Resources for parents and children, including parenting, education, and basic needs.
• 2-1-1 New Jersey Mental Health Resources Available resources and information.
• How to Handle Coronavirus Advice and tips for students, parents, healthcare workers, those experiencing financial stress, and anyone struggling with isolation.
• American Red Cross: Virtual Family Assistance -Call center available to assist in locating resources and providing support. Information regarding a variety of mental health resources available as well.

Essex County also offers a resource page for Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services and Other Resources.

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About Mental Health Association In New Jersey

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey is aåÊconsistent force and leader in advocacy and services in our state for those individuals and families affected by mental health and substance use disorders. We are a key partner with the State of New Jersey and other agencies, serving as a hub for mental health and addiction recovery support, education and service ÛÒ both pre- and post-treatment. We continue to pursue the transformation of our mental health system toward wellness and recovery. Our public policy initiatives focus on protecting rights and gaining greater access to care for those in need.

Mission

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey is a statewide non-profit organization that strives for children and adults to achieve victory over mental illness and substance use disorders through advocacy, education, training, and services.

Vision

TheåÊvision of the MHANJ is a statewide community in which people with mental illnesses can achieve full potential, free from stigma and other barriers to care and recovery.

For more information visit www.mhanj.org, follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or , or call us at 973-571-4100, ext. 123.

What Kind Of Services Does Mhaac Provide

• Individuals Concerted in Effort Wellness Program– Program that provides self-help groups that encourage personal empowerment & wellness
• Wellness & Recovery Support Services -Wellness Navigators offer assistance in linking to concrete services, advocate with consumers on both an individual and systems level, and serve as role models so that each service recipient learns the skills needed to advocate for themselves.
• Intensive Family Support Services– These programs offer a comprehensive program of supportive services and activities designed to assist families who have a relative living with mental illness.
• Acute Care On-Call- 609- 517-8614 Available 7 days a week 8am-8pm for families of adults living with mental illness who are in crisis and receiving services from the acute care system.

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Our Goals Are To Empower Program Participants To:

• Engage with community activities

• Maintain connection to treatment and wellness plan

• Use own coping skills to manage self

• Receive support for issues related to COVID-19

GoMo Health leveraged its proprietary emerging science, BehavioralRx, the science of precision health, to build the program and determine the engagement strategy, approach, and content delivered.

The following behavioral and cognitive techniques were applied:

• Influence Technology /Persuasion through shared decision making.

• Anchoring Technology /Cognitively connecting a desired action with an existing everyday activity.

• Reduction Technology / Persuading through simplifying.

• Tailoring Technology /Persuasion through customization.

• Nurturing Technology /Guided persuasion.

• Suggestion Technology/Intervening at the right time.

• Conditioning Technology /Reinforcing target behavior.

New Jersey Mental Health Clinic Becomes Trusted Vaccine Source

Open Communication, Convenient Access Are Key

Bob Davison, CEO of MHA Essex and Morris, and a nurse set up and wait for patients to arrive for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Worries about COVID-19 can be overwhelming and can be particularly challenging for people with mental illnesses. Bob Davison, the CEO of the Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris Counties, New Jersey, knows that well. His organization, which is also a primary care clinic, serves 10,000 people annually and over 1,800 on any given day. MHAs most consistent long-term population is 1,000 patients with severe and persistent mental illness.

Davison remembers a day back in September 2020 when it became clear that a vaccine for COVID-19 was going to be available soon. This realization felt like a call to action to become a vaccination site. We started to think about this deeply because we were tremendously concerned about our population, particularly individuals who have severe and persistent mental illness, Davison said.

Protecting these clients from COVID-19 meant not only providing vaccines but also addressing misinformation so that clients would understand the need for them. Public health actions, such as physical distancing, are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19 but they can make people feel isolated and lonely.

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Tailoring Education Materials To Patients Needs

As the vaccine rollout expanded and patients became eligible to receive it, MHA staff created a curriculum for patients that included an easy-to-understand, one-page pamphlet about the science supporting the vaccines. MHA focused on giving people information they needed to make an informed decision.

We really tried to cater these to what people needed to know and put it in a format that was appealing and easy to understand, Velasquez explained. These flyers were distributed to case managers and direct care staff members throughout all of our programs to make sure they were educated on the information as well. We then rolled out a curriculum so that each consumer would be educated on this topic.

MHA also conducted virtual health education sessions to educate participants about vaccines and answer their questions. The sessions were open to anyone who wanted to learn about the vaccine. Velasquez said these sessions created an open and safe space for people to voice their concerns.

Patients in line outside of MHA Essex and Morris to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

Connecting New Jersey Residents With The Tools To Manage Their Mental Health Or Substance Use Disorder

The Mental Health Association in New Jersey strives for the mental health of individuals through advocacy, education, training, and services. MHANJ dedicates themselves to promoting good mental health for all New Jerseyans, reducing the barriers that prevent people from seeking or offering help and support, and building a stronger base of support and network of services for people with mental health challenges.

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Governor To Continue All Current School Based Youth Services Programs

Advocates across the state students, principals, superintendents, family members, providers and legislators realized success today as Governor Phil Murphy announced that all current School Based Youth Services Programs will continue to operate in the next fiscal year, which will begin July 1, 2023. At the same time, the Department of Children and Families will launch the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Network, or NJ4S, a hub and spoke model that will operate in 15 regions at the start of the school year in September 2023.

Word spread on Monday that a compromise had been reached. An nj.com article confirmed the compromise earlier today, and was followed by others, including this northjersey.com piece. As of this writing, no formal announcement has been made by the Governor, despite the expectation that it would be made today.

Some are already pushing back, as noted here at the top of a reprint of the NJ Spotlight op-ed printed earlier this week from three superintendents who have SBYSPs and argue for their continuance. The pushback centers on the fact that Governor Murphy has only promised to extend funding for one year. Stakeholders are looking to see the program permanently retained.

Find Treatment Near You

SAMSHA allows you to search for mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment facilities near you.

Rutgers: Covid Connect Rutgers Mental Health and Addiction Covid Connect provides assistance in finding treatment for mental health and/or substance abuse near you.

Life Coaching: Cindy Mazejy of Self Freedom Life coaching offers coaching services to help individuals:

• Set attainable goals
• Take manageable action steps
• Develop skills to face challenges and new beginnings

Cindy is a certified professional life coach with a Masters degree in Counseling and FIA and Robbins-Madanes Training coaching certifications. For more information and to contact Cindy, visit her website at

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Resources For Children And Families

These free, downloadable resources can help parents communicate with kids about Covid-19.

• Stayin Alive: Spread the Word, Not the Virus Summary of illness prevention & presentation and prep checklist
• Were Going to Be OK — Childrens book with tips & advice by Dr. Ebony Jade Hilton & Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb, illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin Webb
• Health Emergencies: Sesame Street– Various resources and information for children and parents related to Covid-19. Activities for children as well.

Resources For Living With Mental Illness

Those living with existing mental illness may find their conditions worsening during this time. These guides provide advice and information on where to reach out for help. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 9-1-1, text 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line, or call/text one of the lines listed here.

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Escalation And Engagement With Trained Specialists

Program participants are able to speak with a specialist or crisis counselor via phone or chat, allowing MHANJ to reach people in their moment of need. Through immediate response and direction, the NJ Hope and Healing Crisis Counseling Program supports development of improved mental outlook and resiliency to fight through this challenging environment.

Reaching New Jerseyans In A Time Of Crisis

To support the increased need for mental health support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NJ Hope and Healing Crisis Counseling Program was created. The Mental Health Association in New Jersey collaborated with the New Jersey Department of Human Services DivisionofMental Health and Addiction Services to offer the CCP through a grant. Through the program, individuals are given free access to emotional support from trained specialists. Referrals and expedient phone access to crisis counselors and a variety of virtual support groups are readily available.

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