Full Notification

As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to an end, the Leonia Police Department is proud to announce a new partnership to provide mental health support and services to our community.  Care Plus NJ and Leonia Police Department are partnering in the Alternative Response to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation (ARRIVE) Together Program. The ARRIVE Together Program began as a pilot program between the Office of the Attorney General and the NJ State Police in 2021 and has since been expanded to include every county in NJ. New Jersey was the first state to have a statewide law enforcement and mental health alternative response program. 

The goals of the ARRIVE Together Program include:

• Safer outcomes for our most vulnerable residents. Having a mental health specialist address behavioral health concerns leads to fewer arrests, fewer uses of force, and fewer injuries for residents and officers.

• The program increases the utilization of mental health resources. Mental health specialists in Leonia are contacting residents in need of mental health support and are assisting with providing resources.

• By increasing mental health services, the program keeps residents in Leonia. Mental health screeners are now available to evaluate individuals before they are transported to an emergency room and connect them with services outside of a hospital.

• The ARRIVE Together Program is improving trust between law enforcement and the community. The program helps eliminate the stigma of when individuals in crisis reach out for help by connecting them to care and resources rather than the criminal justice system.

Care Plus NJ has provided mental health professionals to Leonia with office hours every Wednesday from 10AM to 6PM at Leonia Police Department. Leonia officers refer cases to the mental health professionals to follow up with residents in need of services. Our current Care Plus NJ professionals are A. Alex Hache and Gail Bushman. They can be reached at (201) 658-1713 for non-emergent matters.  In case of a mental health emergency, call 9-1-1 or the Psychiatric Emergency Screening Program at (201) 262-HELP (4357). 

This program is funded through a grant from the Office of the Attorney General and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and we thank them for their support.