Bringing Goals to Action NJ Suicide Prevention Activities Presented by Al Glebocki NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services NJ DMHAS Co-Chair DMHAS Suicide Prevention Committee 1

Goal: Increase # of Lifeline Calls Answered in NJ MH and Addiction Service Emergency Hotlines in NJ ( ): 23 Screening Service Provider Hotlines (minimum of 1 per county) 5 NJ Lifeline Crisis Centers ( CONTACT We Care, CONTACT of Mercer County, CONTACT of Burlington County, Mental Health Assoc. in NJ, and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care) 2 nd FLOOR– a NJ Youth Helpline and Suicide Prevention call line NJ 211 Addictions Hotline COP 2 COP Helpline for NJ Law Enforcement Officers and their Families VET 2 VET 24/7 Helpline for NJ Veterans and their Families\ MOM 2 MOM 24/7 Helpline provides peer support, telephone assessments, and access to a network of referral services & support groups for mothers of children with special needs. 2

Develop a Statewide Suicide Prevention 24/7 Hotline service to Increase Receipt of NJ Lifeline Calls Within the State and Improve the Coordination of Suicide Prevention Efforts for Youth & Adults in NJ  Through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, identify one NJ provider agency to develop a 24/7 state-wide hotline service for callers of any age (youth & adult).  The service should include a capability to handle text messaging, chat and social media contacts.  Calls will be answered by a combination of trained volunteers, paid clinical and peer positions, and include a minimum of one clinician supervisor per work shift.  The service will include a capability to provide follow up calls and the ability to “warm transfer” emergency calls to emergency service providers.  Following an intensive comparative proposal review, a contract was awarded to Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care to develop this new service.  This 24/7 service, now known as the NJ Hopeline, began operations on May 1, 2013, with promising outcomes. 3

NJ Hopeline Statistics 5/1/13 thru 7/25/13 Call Volume -Calls presented: 3950 (15% on NJ Hopeline #) -Calls answered: Average answer time: 10 seconds - Abandonment Rate: 6.7% of those routed by Lifeline; 2.3% of those that dial the NJ Hopeline # -Number of unique individual callers: 2048 (note: some people called more than one time) Priority/Risk -Emergencies: 151 of calls answered were emergencies (7.3% of unique callers) *50 (33%) of those emergencies were suicides in progress *All 50 were connected to Emergency Services -Urgent: 231 calls were Urgent (11.3% of unique callers) -Routine/Not at Risk: 81.4% of all unique callers Caller Demographics Breakdown by Callers’ Ages: 0-14 yrs old = 3% yrs old = 8% yrs old = 11% yrs old = 30% 65+ yrs old = 2% Unknown = 47% Breakdown of Callers’ Gender: Male = 40% Female = 60% 4

Goal: Improve the Coordination of Suicide Prevention Efforts for Youth and Adults in NJ Lifeline Prior to the start up of the Rutgers UBHC NJ Hopeline service, Lifeline staff worked with all 5 NJ Lifeline Crisis Centers to realign the phone catchment areas for each Center. The goal was to provide improved access for NJ callers and to better match the resources available within each Crisis Center. Starting May 1 st, the Hopeline service would provide statewide backup for the NJ Lifeline system 24/7 and would be the only Crisis Center open for calls during the late night and early morning hours. NJ Lifeline Crisis Centers also agreed to meet as a group several times a year and to make training opportunities within their agencies available to staff and volunteers throughout the NJ Lifeline system. 5

Coordination (Cont’d) Meetings with NJDOH & NJ ME Office By state law, the NJ Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for collecting data on suicide deaths and completions throughout the state. The DOH is also the entity that represents NJ as a member of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) coordinated by the CDC. In order to better coordinate our suicide prevention and monitoring activities, we mutually agreed to meet on a regular quarterly basis. We also agreed to invite a representative from the NJ Medical Examiner’s (ME) office to join our meetings. Topics of discussion have included sharing of data re: both suicides and drug overdose deaths and identifying and monitoring of events that may have been related to post- Sandy trauma. Our next meeting is scheduled for September. 6

NJ DHS - NJ DOT – NJ Transit In June 2013, the Commissioners of the NJ Department of Human Services and the NJ Department of Transportation and the Executive Director of NJ Transit met at the Trenton Rail Transportation Center to publicly announce a collaborative effort to prevent suicides by train throughout the state. NJ Transit also unveiled a new poster that listed the call # 855-NJ HOPELine ( ) for the NJ Hopeline statewide suicide prevention hotline. NJ Transit plans to place a NJ Hopeline poster at every NJ Transit station in NJ. 7 Coordination (Cont’d)

DCF – NJYSPAC Following the release of the NJ Youth Suicide Prevention Plan in 2011, by the Dept of Children and Families (DCF), we at DMHAS began to review our own MH and Addictions service systems in relation to the recommendations included in the “Plan”. The Youth Plan contains goals and objectives to improve suicide prevention efforts for youth through the age of 24. The NJ Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council (NJYSPAC) is located within DCF and is a “legal” entity whose members are appointed by the Legislature and the Governor. The Council also includes members who represent the DCF, the Dept of Human Services (DHS), and several other NJ Departments. The Council meets monthly and is actively involved in development and implementation of the Youth Plan. 8

Coordination (Cont’d) ICRC-S – NJYSPAC At a recent NJYSPAC meeting the possibility of developing research promoting public health approaches that will reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with suicide and attempted suicide was discussed. The Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention (ICRC-S), which is a CDC-funded initiative located at the University of Rochester, has expressed an interest in assisting with such research. The DMHAS appointed “Injury Control Officer” who recently attended a Research Training Institute at the University would relay any recommendations from the Council re: a research project to the ICRC-S. Several Council members indicated a willingness to further explore this opportunity at future meetings. 9

Coordination (Cont’d) Safe Messaging – NJYSPAC Another issue that was recently discussed with the NJYSPAC was the issue of “Safe Messaging”, that is, identifying messages and/or marketing materials that may rouse activity (i.e. suicidal behaviors) that a program or other entity was actually trying to prevent. This issue was just recently discussed in more detail at a national conference in Washington in August. Hopefully, issues and concerns identified at this conference will be shared so that we might alert agencies and programs statewide re: what principals we should utilize and/or avoid to ensure that messages we develop and share are in fact Safe Messages. 10

Last But Not Least: A Recent Award Presented to a NJ Peer Operated Program The Mental Health Association in NJ’s Peer Recovery WarmLine is a state-wide, toll-free, phone line operated 365 days per year by the Mental Health Association in NJ to assist individuals during times of need or concern, to continue to further their mental health wellness and recovery. All calls are answered by trained, supportive mental health consumers with the goal of getting to know the caller – how they view themselves, understand their situation, and see the world around them. The WarmLine received national recognition in 2012 as a recipient of the Innovative Program of the Year from Mental Health America. The Peer Recovery WarmLine answered 12,265 calls in CONGRATUATIONS TO MHA-NJ AND THE MANY MH CONSUMERS WHO EARNED THIS REWARD WITH THER DEDICATED WORK WITH THE PEER RECOVERY WARMLINE. 11