Link 2 Care Program

Police officers frequently encounter individuals who appear to have untreated mental-health issues or could benefit from mental-health or special-needs resources. To avoid regular and ongoing police contact, the commission of crime, and any further decompensation, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the leadership of Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, created a countywide program called the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Link 2 Care Referral and Follow-Up Program. Through Link 2 Care, Monmouth County police officers can refer individuals before a crisis to a team of mental health specialists from CPC Integrated Health and the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County (MHA) for case review, treatment, and management. For those individuals with substance-use issues who overdosed and/or are at a risk of an overdose, referrals will be sent to Hope Sheds Light to provide certified peer recovery services and linkage to treatment.

To start the referral process, the referring officer, with their supervisor’s approval, will fill out the attached Link 2 Care Referral Form and email the form to Link2Care@mcponj.org. The referral criteria are based on frequent and ongoing police contact, increased risk or ongoing risk of imminent danger, high probability that law enforcement may have to use force or take other measures, and whether an individual is decompensated or unstable in the community. Referring officers should provide a summary of pertinent incidents involving law enforcement and measures previously taken to assist the individual. When possible, the individual’s current mental-health case worker and emergency contact should be included. The referring officer should provide the individual with a Link 2 Care Resource Card and advise them that the Link to Care Team will reach out to them.

Mental-health specialists from CPC and MHA will receive the mental-health or special-needs referrals and contact the individual to set up an intake and collaborative treatment plan. The Link 2 Care mental-health specialists will also conduct case reviews, perform case management services, and work collaboratively with Monmouth County’s ARRIVE Together Team to organize follow-up care with RWJ Barnabas Health's Monmouth Medical Center, which will participate in co-responding to behavioral crisis calls with selected police departments in Monmouth County. Certified peer recovery specialists from Hope Sheds Light will receive the substance use referrals and will contact the individual to educate them on the risk of overdose, motivate them to seek treatment, and provide them with 24/7 peer recovery support and resources.

If you have any questions about MCPO’s Link 2 Care Referral and Follow-Up Program, please reach out to Assistant Prosecutor Lindsay Ashwal at lashwal@mcponj.org or Captain Andrea Tozzi at atozzi@mcponj.org.

Link 2 Care is funded by the ARRIVE Together program started by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.