The New Jersey Pediatric Psychiatric Collaborative, a partnership between primary care doctors and mental health providers, is now set to be able to offer more preventive resources to keep children out of emergency rooms across the state.
Earlier this year, lawmakers added $12 million in funding for the effort. On Thursday, legislative leaders and others gathered at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune to highlight that money and stress the need for more mental health support for young people on the first day of Youth Suicide Prevention Week.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey was among a number of states that saw an increase in adolescent suicide, according to an April 2022 research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics.