FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARLTON, NEW JERSEY (May 22, 2023) – Legacy Treatment Services Announced as Burlington County Facilitator for New Statewide Network of Supports for Students and Families
Legacy Treatment Services, a nonprofit behavioral health organization headquartered in Marlton and operating more than 70 programs across 17 counties in New Jersey, has been selected by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) as the Burlington County facilitator for the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S).
15 resource centers, of which Legacy Treatment Services is one, are being established throughout the state and are planned to deliver services at settings where youth and families are most comfortable. These resource centers will be integrated with other formal support systems serving youth and families such as the NJ Children's System of Care, Pediatric Psychiatric Collaborative and the Family Success Center network. As part of its role, Legacy will be serving as a link to programs and resources throughout Burlington County.
An Advisory Committee consisting of students, parents, community leaders, educators and service providers will support each center and share its knowledge of existing youth and family support services in the region, while helping to develop key referral relationships and partnerships with child and family systems at the local level.
The impetus for NJ4S is the recently reported rise of mental health issues in children and young adults within the last few years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in four young adults in the United States has been treated for mental health issues from 2020 to 2021. During this period, and even continuing into early 2023, experiences of violence, mental health, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth have worsened significantly (Youth Risk Behavior Survey). Based on this data, DCF in New Jersey recommended increased access for children and youth to needed services by improving school-based services and connecting youth and families to community-based sources of care.
No referrals will be required for any of these supports or services, which will be "pushed out" to locations in the community such as schools, community centers and other places identified through information center advisory committee input.
NJ4S is a new addition to an existing landscape of services addressing youth and family mental health and well-being and is not intended to replace existing programs and services or disrupt established relationships between schools and community services.
Legacy Treatment Services touches the lives of 20,000 vulnerable children, adolescents and adults each year and offers a full continuum of care which includes the following Areas of Impact: Families & Children, Community-Based Support, Youth Services, and Mental Health & Substance Use Treatment. Legacy's programming aims to change the behavioral health and social service outcomes for people of all ages, from surviving to thriving. For more information, contact Marla Meyers at 609-288-3079 or mmeyers@legacytreatment.org.