Bringing Goals to Action
NJ Suicide Prevention
Activities 2012 - 2013
Presented by Al Glebocki
NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services
NJ DMHAS
Co-Chair DMHAS Suicide Prevention Committee
Al.Glebocki@dhs.state.nj.us
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Goal: Increase # of Lifeline Calls
Answered in NJ
MH and Addiction Service Emergency Hotlines in NJ (2012-13):
 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)
 2nd 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.
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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).
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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.
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NJ Hopeline Statistics 5/1/13 thru 7/25/13
Call Volume
-Calls presented: 3950 (15% on NJ Hopeline #)
-Calls answered: 3708
- 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%
15-18 yrs old = 8%
19-24 yrs old = 11%
25-64 yrs old = 30%
65+ yrs old = 2%
Unknown = 47%
Breakdown of Callers’ Gender:
Male = 40%
Female = 60%
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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 1st, 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.
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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 postSandy trauma. Our next meeting is scheduled for September.
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Coordination (Cont’d)
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 (654-6735) for the NJ Hopeline statewide suicide
prevention hotline. NJ Transit plans to place a NJ Hopeline
poster at every NJ Transit station in NJ.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 2012.
CONGRATUATIONS TO MHA-NJ AND THE MANY MH
CONSUMERS WHO EARNED THIS REWARD WITH THER
DEDICATED WORK WITH THE PEER RECOVERY WARMLINE.
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