CarePlus NJ Awarded $600,000 Grant to Expand Trauma Treatment Center for Youth and Families in Northern NJ

Paramus, N.J. (October 10, 2023) – Care Plus NJ, Inc. (“CarePlus NJ”), a pioneer in integrated primary and behavioral health services for adults and children, announces it has been awarded a five-year grant totaling $600,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand their Community Treatment and Service Center (CTS), from Bergen County to Passaic and Essex counties.

Building upon its current CTS Center framework in Bergen County, CarePlus NJ will continue to increase access to effective, evidence-based, and culturally and linguistically appropriate trauma treatment and service systems for 900 youth aged (7-17) and their families in Bergen, Passaic and Essex counties, who experience traumatic events.

CarePlus will increase access to effective evidence-based and trauma-focused treatment and services by screening 2,100 youth over the five-year period. Through the screening process, CarePlus will provide assessment, care management and evidence-based therapies to underserved and under-resourced English- and Spanish-speaking children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events. Additionally, to improve the quality of trauma treatment and services for youth in these communities, 70 CarePlus clinicians and supervisors will undergo specialized training, in areas such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and the Attachment Regulation Competency (ARC) framework. 

CarePlus will serve as a community leader on youth trauma issues partnering with 125 youth-serving organizations through collaboration, coordination, and sharing resources to help identify, support, and connect youth to services. Throughout the project period, the CTS team will conduct 250 hours of outreach and community education to help community partners understand trauma, its impact on youth development, and available CarePlus resources as well as continue to offer trainings to help educate schools, child welfare, child protective services, juvenile justice, behavioral health, schools, grassroots entities, religious institutions and others to understand trauma, its impact on youth development, and available resources.

“We must be proactive to combat the serious and ongoing crisis in children’s mental health,” said Jen Velten, Director of Trauma Services. “According to the 2022 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, around 20% of children 3-17 in the United States have a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder. With this grant, we will increase access to effective, evidence-based, and culturally and linguistically appropriate trauma treatment and services for English and Spanish-speaking children and their families in Bergen, Passaic and Essex counties who need it.”

For more information, or to make a referral, please contact Admissions at 201-986-5000.

About CarePlus NJ

For more than 40 years, Care Plus NJ, Inc. (“CarePlus NJ”) has been a pioneer in integrated primary and behavioral health services for adults and children in northern New Jersey. Based in Paramus, New Jersey, CarePlus NJ is committed to providing the most comprehensive integrated treatment options through 80 programs designed to meet the full spectrum of health and wellness needs for adults and children in the communities it serves. Specializing in acute care, CarePlus NJ provides immediate, high-quality health services and support programs for individuals in crisis. Nationally ranked for excellence in customer satisfaction by the Mental Health Corporations of America, CarePlus NJ is mission driven ensuring that anyone who needs it has access to specialized care. To learn more about CarePlus NJ and its wide range of programs and services, visit https://www.careplusnj.org/.