What You Need To Know
Hackensack Meridian Health opened Carrier Clinic’s $40 million, 43,000-square-foot expansion project to further the treatment of children and adolescents and provide support services to their families, dramatically expanding care critically needed for children facing a mental health crisis.
The enhancement allows Carrier Clinic to serve a greater number of children by lowering the age of patients to 7 years old from the current minimum age of 12. This will better meet the growing demand for mental health care for youths, who are experiencing ever-increasing rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and other psychiatric conditions.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children 10 to 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even children younger than 10 are grappling with mental illness and suicidal thoughts. Nationwide, one-third of all Emergency Department visits at children’s hospitals are for suicide attempts. Many more experience acute anxiety, depression, and other conditions. Carrier alone has seen a nearly 30 percent increase in recent years in the number of youths admitted for treatment for mental illness or substance use disorder, or both.
The expansion features 52 inpatient beds for youths, The Cohen Community Resource & Education Center, innovative treatment models such as multi-sensory rooms, an academic teaching center and medical staff suite to expand the capacity to teach physicians and other mental health professionals.
The project was funded by state grants and private donations. State Senator Andrew Zwicker and Assemblyman Roy Freiman sponsored resolutions to secure a total of $10 million in state funds, approved by Governor Phil Murphy.
A $10 million grant was also provided by The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, led by philanthropist Alex Cohen, to create a family resource and training center. The Cohen Community Resource & Education Center is available to all Hackensack Meridian Health team members, patients and the community, and will offer access to clinicians for questions, guidance in navigating issues and reducing and preventing readmissions, while also serving as a hub for the community to engage in educational seminars and training, such as mental health first aid training related to mental illness and substance use disorders.
One of the driving forces behind this project is the recognition that addressing mental health in childhood is crucial for preventing adult mental health crises. A significant percentage of mental health conditions emerge early in life, with nearly one-third of cases appearing before age 14 and almost half before age 18. Early and appropriate intervention can dramatically improve a child's future quality of life.
The new facility will provide a state-of-the-art healing environment for more children and adolescents in crisis. The demand for inpatient mental health care for youth in New Jersey has outpaced available resources, a situation intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. This expansion will allow for the provision of specialized, focused care in a setting designed for prompt diagnosis and treatment by a skilled and compassionate team.
The expansion comes at a critical time, as youth mental health issues are on the rise. Recent data indicates that nearly one in three young people between the ages of 12 and 17 had a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral problem in 2022-2023. Furthermore, in 2023, two in five high schoolers reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Suicide remains a leading cause of death for adolescents, with one in five high school students reporting that they have seriously considered suicide.
The new facility will not only increase the capacity to help more children heal and save lives but will also provide vital support for their families. Recognizing that a child's mental illness affects the entire family, the expansion includes dedicated space for caregiver meetings and guidance on how to best support their children. This holistic approach addresses the needs of both the young patients and their support systems.
Currently, Carrier’s youth-focused services include an inpatient acute hospital unit, an intensive residential services program, a residential treatment center, psychiatric community homes, and the East Mountain School, a state-accredited school for 7th- through 12th-grade students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Psychiatric care for children and adolescents includes traditional treatment models as well as equine-assisted therapy, art therapy, music therapy, and horticultural therapy.
Carrier Clinic’s child and adolescent expansion is the latest in a series of important moves Hackensack Meridian Health has made in recent years to meet the growing mental health crisis among youths.
In recent years, Hackensack Meridian Health announced the launch of an Adolescent Clinician Training for Suicide Prevention for Nurses (ACTS) for HMH nursing professionals.
With a $100,000 grant from the Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children's Mental Health, and a partnership with The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, the HMH plan entailed training non-behavioral-health nurses to better assess, evaluate, and treat or refer suicidal patients with whom they come into contact.
HMH also helped create the New Jersey Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative, a program that allows pediatricians to consult with an on-call psychiatrist, and which has grown to more than 1,100 provider members. More than 30,000 referrals to mental health experts have been made through the collaborative since its inception.