Mental health crisis resources in New Jersey

If someone is in immediate physical danger, call 911. For thoughts of suicide, a mental health or substance use crisis, or emotional distress you cannot manage alone, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. These work at any hour, anywhere in New Jersey.

This page explains how New Jersey's crisis system fits together, lists the 24-hour psychiatric screening hotline for every county, and names the statewide lines confirmed on official pages on October 19, 2026. One limit applies throughout: a psychiatric practice that treats ADHD, including Dr. Shershow's, is an outpatient office. It is not staffed for emergencies, so do not wait for a callback in a crisis.

988: the first call

The state Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) describes 988 as 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors for thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crises, and emotional distress. People can also contact 988 when they are worried about someone else. You do not need to be sure things are "bad enough."

• Call: your call is routed to a local 988 Lifeline center. Press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line or 2 for Spanish.
• Text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
• Languages: call, chat and text are available in English and Spanish, and calls have interpreters in more than 240 languages.
• Deaf and hard of hearing: NAMI New Jersey notes that TTY users can use their preferred relay service or dial 711, then 988.

DMHAS says New Jersey currently has four Lifeline centers responding to contacts that come through 988.

Mobile crisis teams for adults

Sometimes a phone call is not enough and a hospital is more than the situation needs. For that gap, DMHAS runs the NJ 988 Mobile Crisis Outreach Response Team (MCORT) program. According to DMHAS:

• Teams respond 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to adults 18 or older in non-life-threatening mental health, substance use or suicidal crises in the community.
• Each team is two people in the field, a trained peer support specialist and a bachelor's-level professional, supervised remotely by a master's-level clinician.
• They de-escalate the crisis, link the person to ongoing services and follow up.
• Only 988 centers can request a dispatch. To get a team, call 988 and ask.

County psychiatric emergency screening services

New Jersey's involuntary commitment law, N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.1 and following, builds the adult emergency system around designated screening services. Under N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.4, DMHAS designates a screening service for each geographic area, which is usually a county. The rules that put the law into practice (N.J.A.C. 10:31) say:

• Screening services provide screening and crisis stabilization 24 hours a day in every part of the state, at the screening site or wherever the person is.
• Each must be able to send mobile screening outreach into the community 24 hours a day.
• Staff may hold a person for up to 24 hours from arrival for emergency treatment, medical clearance and assessment (citing N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.5(a)).
• All stabilization options must be fully explored before involuntary commitment is considered. These include family and friends, community referrals, crisis counseling, outpatient medication monitoring, crisis housing and voluntary admission.
• Involuntary commitment requires a certified screener's finding that the person has a mental illness, is dangerous to self, others or property because of it, and is unwilling to accept appropriate treatment voluntarily, followed by a psychiatrist's evaluation.

In plain terms, the rules point screening staff toward the least restrictive option that is safe. DMHAS says these services can be reached directly by the person in crisis or by someone concerned about them.

24-hour screening hotlines by county

From the DMHAS list updated October 8, 2026. Each county's primary screening service is shown. Some counties also have affiliated emergency services at other hospitals, noted where they exist.

Numbers change. The DMHAS list is linked under Sources; save your county's number from it.

Help that is not an emergency room

• Early Intervention Support Services (EISS): county-based, short-term services for adults in significant emotional or psychiatric distress who need prompt help. NAMI New Jersey describes them as an alternative to hospital emergency rooms, with no appointment needed for the first visit and no charge.
• Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs): required to serve anyone who asks for mental health or substance use care, regardless of ability to pay, where they live or age, according to NAMI New Jersey's summary.
• Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Centers: DMHAS says these walk-in centers are still in development as of October 2026.

Statewide lines

• NJ MentalHealthCares: 866-202-HELP (4357), 8 am to 8 pm, seven days a week. Free, confidential emotional support, information and referral, run by the Mental Health Association in New Jersey.
• Peer Recovery Warmline: 877-292-5588, weekdays 8 am to 10 pm, weekends 5 to 10 pm. Peer-run telephone support for people living with mental health conditions.
• ReachNJ: 1-844-732-2465, 24/7, for substance use. The state says each call is answered by a live person within 30 seconds and callers are served regardless of insurance or ability to pay.
• NJ Hopeline: 1-855-654-6735. The state health department lists it as New Jersey's in-state peer support and suicide prevention line, staffed 24/7, and the Legislature described it in 2025 as operated by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care with the Department of Human Services. The state health department page was last reviewed in 2017, and this guide could not load the Hopeline's own site, so 988 is the safer first call.
• Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741, 24/7.
• 2NDFLOOR: 888-222-2228, 24/7, a helpline for youth and young adults in New Jersey.

Which number to use

What crisis lines do not do

988, the screening services and the helplines do not evaluate for ADHD or prescribe ADHD medication, and they cannot replace a lapsed prescription. A pharmacy shortage is a matter for the prescriber and pharmacy. Ongoing low mood, heavy drinking or drug use alongside ADHD deserves attention before it becomes a crisis; see ADHD and substance use in New Jersey and ADHD and depression in adults.

Steps to take today

1. Save 988 and your county's screening hotline in your phone.
2. Write down your medications, your prescriber and your pharmacy, and keep the note where someone could find it.
3. Tell one trusted person where that note is.
4. Ask your own clinician what they want you to do after hours.

For peer support that is not crisis care, see adult ADHD support groups in New Jersey. New York's equivalents are in crisis lines in New York. For non-urgent questions about becoming a patient, use the new patients or contact page. Neither is monitored for emergencies.