Report: Fixes Needed in New Jersey's Mental Health System

An 18-year-old Burlington County teenager diagnosed with Asperger’s has lived in Ancora Psychiatric Hospital for more than a month, but her mother claims she doesn’t need to be there, the Courier Post reports.

The issue is part of a larger problem facing the state’s mental health system, which is insiders tell the Courier Post is broken.

The system suffers from few services for the young. New Jersey has taken a step in the right direction, moving long-term patients out of psychiatric homes into less restrictive environments, according to the report.

But insiders tell the Courier Post and fixing the system as whole is a “monumental task.”

Few doctors in the state who are board certified psychiatrists are accepting new patients, and costs are high due to a lack psychiatrists who accept insurance and Medicaid, according to the report.

About 70 percent of the children in the juvenile justice system suffer from mental health issues, and suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, age 10-24, according to the report.