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(TRENTON) – Commissioner Sarah Adelman today announced Human Services has awarded a contract to develop evidence-based, community crisis prevention and intervention services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health needs.
Human Services’ Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) awarded a $3.2 million in contract to create a new START Model program. The contract was awarded to the Young Adult Institute, or YAI. The program is projected to begin in spring 2025. The program will be active in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Salem counties.
START – which stands for Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Resources, and Treatment – provides community-based crisis prevention and intervention services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health needs. This model will expand community capacity to provide an integrated response to adults at risk of or experiencing a behavioral health crisis, their families, and those who support them, and to foster cross-systems relationships that support the health and wellbeing of each person served. The program focuses on reducing emergency room visits, hospitals admissions, caregiver burnout, and calls to law enforcement as well as building community capacity to successfully support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health needs.