Requires Commissioner of Human Services to establish 24-hour, toll-free Mental Illness Resource Hotline and develop hotline connection system to ensure that callers are connected to other appropriate hotlines when needed.

A4702

ASSEMBLY, No. 4702

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 16, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Stanley and Assemblywoman Morales

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires Commissioner of Human Services to establish
24-hour, toll-free Mental Illness Resource Hotline and develop hotline
connection system to ensure that callers are connected to other appropriate
hotlines when needed.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning
the establishment of a Mental Illness
Resource Hotline and the connection of callers to other appropriate State-run
hotlines, and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.�� The Commissioner of
Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioners of Health, Community
Affairs, and Children and Families, shall establish and maintain, on a 24 hour
a day basis, a toll-free Mental Illness Resource telephone hotline service.� The
hotline service shall receive and respond to calls from persons who are experiencing,
or are seeking help for another individual who is experiencing, a non-emergency
mental health issue or non-emergency mental health crisis.�

���� (1)� Upon the receipt of a
non-emergency call pursuant to this section, hotline staff shall promptly identify,
and either refer or directly connect� the caller to, appropriate State and
local programs, services, health care and mental health care professionals, and
other resources that can be accessed by the caller and used to address,

mitigate,
and potentially eliminate the

non-emergency mental health issue or crisis, as the case may
be.� To the extent practicable, the

caller shall be referred to or
connected with programs, services, professionals, and other appropriate
resources that are available in the same county or region of the State in which
the person experiencing the mental health issue or crisis is a resident.�
Service referrals and connections made pursuant to this paragraph may be
facilitated through the use of telephone or digital communications, such as
text message, electronic mail, or Internet chat.�

���� (2)�� If a caller to the
Mental Illness Resource Hotline provides any information indicating that
suicide may result from the mental health issue or crisis that is the subject
of the call, hotline staff shall deem the call to be of an urgent and emergency
nature, and shall not provide the caller with referrals to resources, as
provided in this subsection.� Instead, hotline staff shall effectuate a warm
hand-off of the caller to staff at the New Jersey Suicide Prevention Hopeline
in order to ensure that the caller is provided with direct mental health
assistance on an emergency basis.� A warm hand-off performed under this
paragraph shall involve the use of phone conferencing technology.� The staff
member transferring the call shall:� (a) remain on the line and accessible to
the caller during the transfer of the call; (b) formally introduce the caller
to the staff member at the Suicide Prevention Hopeline who receives the
transferred call; and (c) summarize, for the receiving staff member, the
information that necessitated the transfer of the caller to the Suicide
Prevention Hopeline.� At no time during a warm hand-off conducted pursuant to
this paragraph shall a caller be placed on hold.
���

���� b.��� The Mental Illness
Resource Hotline, established pursuant to this section, shall be staffed by
licensed professional counselors, psychologists, psychoanalysts, and social
workers who have particular training and knowledge in the institutional and
community-based programs, services, and resources that are available throughout
the State to assist persons who are experiencing a non-emergency mental health issue
or crisis, and their families.� The commissioner shall ensure that the hotline
is staffed by persons with diverse ethnic backgrounds and includes persons who
speak both English and Spanish.� The commissioner shall further ensure that the
hotline either employs or contracts with translators and bi- or multi-lingual mental
health care professionals who can be made available to assist callers, upon
request, or when needed.

���� c.���� Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 1 of P.L.1991, c.524 (C.30:1-1.1), and any other law,
rule, or regulation to the contrary, the resource hotline established pursuant
to this section shall be operated separately and apart from the social services
information hotline established pursuant to subsection a. of section 1 of
P.L.1991, c.524 (C.30:1-1.1), the mental health and developmental disabilities
services hotline established pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of
P.L.1991, c.524 (C.30:1-1.1), and any community-based suicide hotlines
established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1985, c.195 (C.30:9A-13).�

���� d.��� (1)���� The commissioner
shall engage in a public awareness campaign, using all available media,
including television, radio, print, the Internet, and social media, to inform
the public about the availability and purpose of the Mental Illness Resource
Hotline.�

���� (2)�� The public awareness
campaign developed under this subsection shall include a component that is
specifically designed to inform children and young adults in elementary school,
high school, and institutions of higher education about the availability of the
hotline.� Posters, signs, and other promotional materials used in this
component of the public awareness campaign shall employ the use of language
that is understandable by, and appropriate to, children and young adults.

���� (3)�� Any promotional
materials that are used in the public awareness campaign shall be made
available in both English and Spanish.�

���� e.���� The Departments of
Human Services, Health, Children and Families, Community Affairs, Education,
and Law and Public Safety shall each prominently display the phone number for
the Mental Illness Resource Hotline on the departments� respective Internet
websites.

���� f.���� Staff at the Mental
Illness Resource Hotline shall comply with all applicable laws, rules, and
regulations related to the protection of individual and patient privacy and
confidentiality and shall engage in practices that ensure the security of all
collected information, consistent with those laws, rules, and regulations.�
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection to the contrary, the
administrator of the hotline shall collect and analyze appropriate and
depersonalized data on the nature and resolution of the calls

received
by the hotline in order to track the success of the hotline�s operations and
identify trends in mental health service needs and outcomes.
�

���� g.��� As used in this section:

���� �Commissioner� means the
Commissioner of Human Services.

���� �Health care professional�
means a physician, nurse, or other individual who is licensed by the State to
provide health care in the ordinary course of business or the practice of a
profession.

���� �Mental health care
professional� means a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, professional
counselor, social worker, or any other person who is licensed pursuant to Title
45 of the Revised Statutes and authorized to provide mental health services in
the State.

���� �Professional counselor� means
an individual who is licensed as a professional counselor, pursuant to
P.L.1993, c.340 (C.45:8B-34 et seq.), and whose
license remains in good standing.

���� �Psychologist� means an
individual who is licensed as a practicing psychologist, pursuant to
P.L.1966, c.282 (C.45:14B-1 et seq.), and whose
license remains in good standing.

���� �Psychoanalyst� means an
individual who is certified as a psychoanalyst, pursuant to P.L.2000, c.57
(C.45:14BB-1 et seq.), and whose certification remains in good standing.�

���� �Social worker� means an
individual who is certified as a social worker or licensed as a clinical social
worker, pursuant to P.L.1991, c.134 (C.45:15BB-1 et seq.), and whose license or
certification remains in good standing.

���� �Mental illness� means the
same as that term is defined by section 2 of P.L.1987, c.116 (C.30:4-27.2).�

���� 2.��� a.�� The Commissioner of
Human Services, in consultation and coordination with the Commissioner of
Health, shall develop a system that requires and enables the staff of any
health or human services-related hotline in the State, including, but not
limited to, the social services information hotline established pursuant to
subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.1991, c.524 (C.30:1-1.1), the mental health
and developmental disabilities services hotline established pursuant to
subsection c. of section 1 of P.L.1991, c.524 (C.30:1-1.1), the Mental Illness
Resource Hotline established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the community-based
suicide hotlines established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1985, c.195
(C.30:9A-13), the New Jersey Suicide Prevention Hopeline, and the NJ 2-1-1
hotline, to immediately connect callers to other appropriate State or federal
hotlines, as needed to address the callers� stated needs and issues.� The
hotline connection system designed pursuant to this section shall ensure, to
the greatest extent practicable, that :� (1) whenever a person calls a health
or human services-related hotline in the State that is inappropriate to their
needs, the hotline staff will immediately and directly transfer the caller to
another appropriate hotline, without ending the call; and (2) whenever a caller
to any hotline provides information indicating the intention or potential for
suicide, the hotline staff member receiving the call will immediately facilitate
the warm hand-off of the caller to the New Jersey Suicide Prevention Hopeline,
in accordance with the warm hand-off procedure outlined in paragraph (2) of
subsection a. of section 1 of this act.

���� b.��� The Commissioner of
Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall adopt
rules and regulations pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968,
c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the hotline connection
system required by this section.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would require the
Commissioner of Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioners of
Health, Community Affairs, and Children and Families, to establish and
maintain, on a 24 hour a day basis, a toll-free Mental Illness Resource
telephone hotline service.� The hotline would be operated separately and apart
from the State�s existing social services information hotline, the State�s
existing mental health and developmental disabilities services hotline, and any
community-based suicide hotlines.

���� The Mental Illness Resource
Hotline would be used to receive and respond to calls from persons who are
experiencing, or are seeking help for another individual who is experiencing, a
non-emergency mental health issue or non-emergency mental health crisis.�
Hotline staff would be required to promptly identify, and either refer or
directly connect callers to, appropriate State and local programs, services,
health care and mental health care professionals, and other resources that can
be accessed by the caller and used to address, mitigate, and potentially
eliminate the non-emergency mental health issue or crisis.� To the extent
practicable, each caller is to be referred to, or connected with, programs,
services, professionals, and other appropriate resources that are available in
the same county or region of the State in which the person experiencing the
mental health issue or crisis is a resident.�

���� If a caller to the Mental Illness Resource Hotline
provides any information indicating that suicide may result from the mental
health issue or crisis that is the subject of the call, hotline staff will be
required to deem the call to be of an urgent and emergency nature, and will be
prohibited from providing the caller with referrals to resources, as provided
by the bill.� Instead, hotline staff will be required to immediately effectuate
a warm hand-off of the caller to staff at the New Jersey Suicide Prevention
Hopeline in order to ensure that the caller is provided with direct mental
health assistance on an emergency basis.� A warm hand-off is to involve the use
of phone conferencing technology, and the bill requires the staff member
transferring the call to:� 1) remain on the line and accessible to the caller
during the transfer of the call; 2) formally introduce the caller to the staff
member at the Suicide Prevention Hopeline who receives the transferred call;
and 3) summarize, for the receiving staff member, the information that
necessitated the transfer of the caller to the Suicide Prevention Hopeline.� At
no time during a warm hand-off may a caller be placed on hold.

���� The bill would require the
Mental Illness Crisis Resource Hotline to be staffed by licensed or certified
professional counselors, psychologists, psychoanalysts, and social workers who
have particular training and knowledge in the institutional and community-based
programs, services, and other resources that are available throughout the State
to assist persons who are experiencing a non-emergency mental health issue or
crisis, and their families.� The hotline is to be staffed by persons with
diverse ethnic backgrounds, including persons who speak both English and
Spanish.� The commissioner will also be required to ensure that the hotline
either employs or contracts with translators and bi- or multi-lingual health
care professionals who can be made available to assist callers, upon request,
or when needed.

���� The commissioner will be
required to engage in a public awareness campaign, using all available media,
to inform the public about the availability and purpose of the Mental Illness
Resource Hotline.� The campaign is to include a component that is specifically
designed to inform children and young adults in elementary school, high school,
and institutions of higher education about the availability of the hotline.�
Posters, signs, and other promotional materials used in this component of the
public awareness campaign are to employ the use of language that is
understandable by, and appropriate to, children and young adults.� Any
promotional materials used in the public awareness campaign are to be made
available in both English and Spanish.�

���� The bill would require the
Departments of Human Services, Health, Children and Families, Community
Affairs, Education, and Law and Public Safety to each prominently display the
phone number for the Mental Illness Resource Hotline on the departments� respective
Internet websites.

���� The bill would additionally
require the Commissioner of Human Services, in consultation and coordination
with the Commissioner of Health, to develop a system that requires and enables
the staff of any health or human services-related hotline in the State
(including the Mental Illness Resource Hotline established under the bill) to
immediately connect callers to other appropriate State or federal hotlines, as
needed to address the callers� stated needs and issues.� The hotline connection
system is to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that:� 1) whenever a
person calls a health or human services-related hotline in the State that is
inappropriate to their needs, the hotline staff will immediately and directly
transfer the caller to another appropriate hotline, without ending the call;
and 2)
whenever a caller to
any hotline provides information indicating the intention or potential for
suicide, the hotline staff member receiving the call will immediately
facilitate the warm hand-off of the caller to the New Jersey Suicide Prevention
Hopeline, in accordance with the warm hand-off procedure outlined in the bill
.�
The establishment of this type of hotline connection system will prevent
instances where a person seeking help is denied assistance because the hotline
is not appropriate for the person�s needs.