The mission of the Disaster and Terrorism Branch (DTB) is to prepare, train, and provide disaster behavioral health support services to help response workers and the public manage emotional stress during and after a disaster, public health emergency or community incident that overwhelms local resources.

The DTB Director is responsible for activating the state's mental health disaster response plan in coordination with the NJDHS Office of Emergency Management and the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management, during federally and locally declared disasters and other impactful events.

In 2007, DTB began the Disaster Response Crisis Counselor (DRCC) Certification Program, the first of its kind in the country.   DRCC’s are trained and background-checked volunteers who are deployed to shelters, reception centers, Family Assistance Centers and other designated areas to provide support and assistance. They work in collaboration with the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Community Emergency Response Teams, and Medical Reserve Corps. The counselors have been previously trained under the FEMA Crisis Counseling Program model and passed the required background check. Currently there are over 500 Disaster Crisis Counselors statewide. As part of the certification program, a wide array of courses has been developed. 

DTB is home to a multi-disciplinary Training and Technical Assistance Group (TTAG) which has the capacity to provide on-demand training for mental health and substance use disorder professionals, state response partners, law enforcement and community members in the wake of natural or manmade disasters or community crises.  The intent of this training is to further increase the state's capacity to address the psychosocial needs of the community local or statewide crises.

The DTB staff provide a range of training and technical assistance to partner agencies and communities addressing the behavioral aspects of such threats as:

• Community Response to Mass Violence (shooting, bombing, vehicle attacks, etc.)
• Active Shooter/Active Assailant
• CBRNE/Radiation Emergencies
• Collective Violence, Civil Unrest and Crowd Behavior
• Public Health emergency topics, such as Ebola, COVID, Zika, pandemic influenza, flu, etc.
• Vehicular Terrorist Attacks

 DTB provides the following services directly:

• Post-event individual and group crisis counseling
• Psychological First Aid
• Disaster and event specific psychoeducational materials and information
• Self-care and wellness programming for limited groups
• Consultation and training

DTB also serves on the NJ State Treat Assessment Team in coordination with the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, FBI, Secret Service, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Education, and the NJ State Police. This team is responsible for threat assessment and management throughout New Jersey to prevent incidents of mass violence.

This office is responsible for all of the Division’s fiscal operations including oversight of the Accounting and Procurement unit, Contract Administration Unit, Auditing and Revenue Unit, and Budget and Grants.  Oversight responsibilities include: 

• Preparation of the budget request
• Preparation and monitoring of community spending plans
• Administering third party contracting system
• Administering reimbursement of county hospitals
• Administering fiscal aspects of federal and other grants
• Developing initiatives to maximize non-State support of services
• Developing various Federal claims
• Administering internal control self-assessment process
• Developing and maintaining Division cost allocation plan
• Various procurement and accounting functions
• Audits

The legal office supports Division staff in functioning within the regulations and the law, specifically undertaking to:

• Explain, advise and assist with legal requirements for treatment and programs
• Assist the Attorney General’s staff with legal requests
• Negotiate and draft legislative initiatives, draft or coordinate the production of comments on proposed legislation
• Provide advice to the executive staff on new federal and state legal requirements and standards
• Coordinate representation of employees in tort claims against the State
• Advise and assist community providers in complying with licensing requirements both from addictions and from the perspective of mental health community providers
• Create necessary regulations for both addictions and mental health and align both with the new integrated clinical functions and legal requirements
• Review potential conflicts of interest and compliance with ethics laws     

The medical director's office oversees the following:

•    Provides clinical support and oversight for the Division in regard to mental health and addiction services in the State, including setting clinical standards for policy implementation
•    Provides clinical support in regard to mental health and addiction services for the Department's sister division, the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (Medicaid), as needed
•    Works to ensure that co-occurring services and treatment for those with mental health and addictive disorders, including gambling disorders, are made available at all service levels
•    Oversees clinical services for older adults and the PASRR process, which is a Federal review requirement to determine whether individuals’ mental health needs can be met in a nursing facility
•    Assists the Division’s initiatives to integrate behavioral health and primary care services and oversees integrated service programs, including the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) and provides input on regulatory standards for integrated programs.
•    Provides oversight, training, and support for peer specialists through the Office of Advocacy and Peer Services and the Division's Ombudsman.
•    Oversees Opioid Treatment Programs (methadone clinics) and assists with Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) initiatives and training though the State Opioid Treatment Authority (SOTA)
•    Coordinates overdose prevention programs and naloxone distribution
•    Oversees the Division's suicide prevention plan initiatives
•    Serves as a certified Continuing Medical Education (CME) provider and education provider through NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professions
•    Reviews and comments on pending legislation that is applicable to behavioral health.
•    Participate in setting performance standards for division programming when applicable.

This office provides oversight, expertise and support over predominantly community-based, specialty services that are focused on supporting an individual’s community tenure through the provision of treatment and recovery support, including: 

• Acute Care Services
• Designated Screening Services and Affiliated Emergency Services
• Early Intervention and Support Services
• Intensive Outpatient Treatment and Support Services
• Intensive Treatment Recovery Service
• Involuntary Outpatient Commitment
• Short Term Care Facilities
• Community Support Services
• Housing and Residential Services
• Program for the Transition of Homelessness
• Programs for Assertive Community Treatment 
• Intoxicated Driving Program/Intoxicated Driving Resource Centers (IDP/IDRC)
• Recovery Court
• Intensive Family Support Services
• Justice Involved Services
• Multicultural Services
• Trauma Informed Care
• Supported Education and Supported Employment
• Veteran’s Services
• Workforce Development
• Maternal Child Health Initiatives
• Women’s Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs
• Family Support Centers (Substance Use)

The Office of Community Services (OCS) is comprised of three Regional Offices that are primarily responsible for oversight of the operation of the adult community behavioral health system of care

•          Central Regional Office-Middlesex, Mercer and Burlington Counties
•     Northern Regional Office-Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Bergen, Sussex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties
•     Southern Regional Office-Camden, Gloucester, Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, Monmouth and Ocean Counties
•     Oversight of all community mental health agency contracts and oversee the implementation of the contracts to ensure that service commitments are met and that agencies are compliant with DHS/DMHAS program standards, State and Federal statutes, as well as other applicable rules and regulations, policies, procedures, and protocols
•     Oversight over the operation of New Jersey's 988 hotline
•     Monitor agency operations to ensure that Services are delivered within the context of a recovery oriented and culturally competent system
•     Represent the Division at statewide, county and local forums where information sharing, technical assistance and State input for problem solving, program design, advocacy for consumer and families as well as data collection and analysis is required
•     Available to assist consumers and families if there is dissatisfaction with services or difficulty in accessing or navigating the behavioral health system of care
•     Oversee the statewide services for Integrated Care Management Services (ICMS)

The Planning, Research, Evaluation Prevention and Olmstead office overseas:

•     Promotes the use of data-driven information to guide policy, planning and decision making
•     Works in collaboration with all units in the Division as well as other State departments, the provider community, stakeholders, consumers and families to support data driven policies and practices to improve access and quality care
•     Conducts needs assessments and treatment demand estimates, statistical analysis, research and evaluation for Division projects, provides oversight of external research projects with vendors, performs data analysis/management for initiatives, develops data dashboards, maximizes the utilization of Division data by creating consumer and management reports, and develops/disseminates public information
•     Conducts large-scale population surveys such as the Middle School Survey of Risk and Protective Factors and the NJ Household Survey of Drug Use and Health
•     Plans and designs new statewide services based on defined needs
•     Monitors program performance, the implementation of EBPs and promising practices, and the outcomes of the promising practices, as well as the production of the major planning documents for the Division that need to be submitted to external sources (i.e. grants, annual reports, surveys, etc.)
•     Oversees all Division substance use and mental health prevention services from youth to older adults
•     Manages a variety of substance use recovery support services
•     Manages, prepares funding allocations and monitors county substance use planning for NJ’s 21 counties
•     Applies for federal grants
•     Oversees management and reporting for the federal Mental Health Block Grant (MHBG) and Substance Use Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Services (SUPTRS) Block Grant and a variety of federal discretionary grants
•     Facilitates monitoring compliance with grant reporting and deliverables, State and Federal requirements, and contract commitments 
•     Develops processes to ensure continued monitoring and compliance with the Olmstead Settlement Agreement reporting requirements 
• Manages a variety of data systems such as the Prevention Outcomes Monitoring System (POMS), Quarterly Contract Monitoring Report (QCMR), Unified Services Transaction Form (USTF+), Bed Enrollment Data System (BEDS), and Systems Review Committee (SRC)
• Develops data collection systems for special program initiatives    

   

The Office of Information Systems manages, secures, and maintains the digital infrastructure, applications, data and hardware for the effective delivery of vital IT services for the Division, which include but are not limited to:

• Systems Development and Data Management. Developing, testing and implementing software applications and managing databases.
• Strategic IT Planning. Aligning IT initiatives with agency goals, managing IT budgets, and overseeing vendor contracts.
• Data Security & Privacy. Implementing security protocols to safeguard citizen information and ensuring compliance with privacy policies.
• Regulatory Compliance. Ensuring all technology assets meet federal, state, and local laws, including HIPAA and 42 CFR guidelines.
• Infrastructure Maintenance. Maintaining servers, networks and telecommunications, including phone systems and video conferencing.
• End User Support and Helpdesk. Providing technical support for employees, troubleshooting computer hardware/software, and managing IT inventories.
• User Training. Educating division staff on new systems, cybersecurity best practices, and software tools.