Mental Health Care in Clementon and Pine Hill, NJ: A Local Guide

Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. For thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 at any hour. If someone may be a danger to themselves or others but is not in immediate danger, call Camden County's crisis screening line, run by Oaks Integrated Care: 856-428-4357 (856-428-HELP), 24 hours a day. Our crisis page has more numbers.

Clementon and Pine Hill share a border and a high school, and the high school shapes care for families here. The Clementon School District runs one school, from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. After eighth grade, the district says, Clementon students typically move on to Overbrook High School in Pine Hill, which the Pine Hill School District runs. A Clementon child changes school systems at ninth grade, and the adults who know that child change too. This guide follows that route, then covers care outside school.

Quick answer: Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. For thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 at any hour. If someone may be a danger to themselves or others but is not in immediate danger, call Camden County's crisis screening line, run by Oaks Integrated Care, at 856-428-4357, 24 hours a day. For a child or teen who is not in immediate danger, call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624, any hour; for a life-threatening emergency, PerformCare says to always dial 911. For ongoing care on NJ FamilyCare or without insurance, CAMcare's health center at 121 White Horse Pike in Clementon offers a sliding fee and lists mental health counseling among its children's services: 856-583-2400. Both school districts offer Care Solace, which finds providers, at 888-515-0595.

Through eighth grade: Clementon Elementary

Clementon Elementary School is at 4 Audubon Avenue; the district's number is 856-783-2300. Its Mental Health Resources page offers two things. The first is Care Solace, 888-515-0595. The district says it partnered with Care Solace to help families and staff find local mental health programs and counseling, 24 hours a day. Care Solace finds providers. It does not treat your child, and it is not a crisis line.

The second is a long list, in English and Spanish, of South Jersey counseling agencies and the insurance each takes. Treat it as a starting list: some entries are out of date, and its suicide line entry gives a ten-digit number, while the state's hotline page lists 988 for calls, texts and chat at any hour. Use 988, and call any agency on the list to confirm its address, ages and plans before you book.

For problems that show up in class, Clementon uses Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS), a team of school staff that writes an action plan with goals and a timeline. The district says the team meets monthly, plans run on a 60-day cycle, and parents are notified and invited. Questions go to 856-783-2300, ext. 1015. I&RS is a school plan, not therapy.

Ninth grade and up: Overbrook and the Pine Hill schools

Pine Hill children, and Clementon children from ninth grade, attend the Pine Hill School District. Its counseling department lists two district Mental Health Assistance Counselors. The district says they meet with students whose mental health has become a barrier in or outside the classroom, on topics including anxiety, stress, depression, self-esteem, anger and grief. Caregivers can request an appointment through a referral form on the counseling site, starting with the student's school counselor.

• Overbrook High School counseling, 1200 Turnerville Road, 856-767-8000. The high school's mental health assistance counselor is at ext. 3029.
• Pine Hill Middle School counseling, 1100 Turnerville Road, 856-210-0200. The district's second mental health counselor is at ext. 4163.

Before your teen meets one of these counselors, know where privacy ends. The district says students have confidentiality except for thoughts or attempts of suicide, abuse or neglect, harassment or bullying concerns, and threats of abuse against another person. Tell your teen that before they talk. The referral form is also not meant for emergencies. During school hours, the district says, ask for a school counselor directly; after hours, it lists PerformCare, the Oaks screening line and 911. If anyone is in immediate danger, 911 comes first.

Pine Hill offers Care Solace at the same number, 888-515-0595, and calls it a free resource for students, families and staff. If your child may need special education, the Child Study Team page says parents can request an evaluation in writing through their school's case manager; counseling is among its related services.

For Clementon families, the move to Overbrook is the point to plan around. Before ninth grade, ask the Clementon counselor what will be shared with Overbrook. Then call the Overbrook counseling office yourself in the first weeks of school. Do not assume an eighth-grade plan carries over on its own.

When a teen is in crisis after school hours

For a child or teen who is not in immediate danger, call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624, 24 hours a day. For a life-threatening emergency, PerformCare says to always dial 911. PerformCare says it may authorize a mobile response team to reach your home within one hour of notification, with up to eight weeks of stabilization services.

In Camden County, that team is Children's Mobile Response, run by Oaks. Oaks says it serves ages 5 to 21, and among the reasons it lists for a same-day home visit are anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm that does not need emergency treatment, and refusal to attend school.

If someone may be a danger to themselves or others but is not in immediate danger, the county screening line is 856-428-4357. Oaks says its screening center serves adults and youth around the clock and asks you to call before going; it lists the site at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, 2201 Chapel Avenue, Cherry Hill. An overdose, an attempt in progress, a weapon or a person who will not wake up is a 911 call, not a drive.

A teen who will not talk to a parent may text. 2NDFLOOR, 1-888-222-2228, New Jersey's youth helpline, says it offers free, anonymous and confidential support by text or phone, 24 hours a day. The state's hotline page adds that anonymity and confidentiality do not apply in life-threatening situations.

The police in both towns have a social services partner

In a June 2023 announcement, Volunteers of America Delaware Valley said its IMPACT specialists have been embedded in the Pine Hill Police Department since 2019, and that a newer program, IMPACT ARRIVE Together, sends specialists out with police to triage people in crisis on the scene, with tele-crisis evaluation through Oaks. The announcement names Clementon's police as a partner. Clementon's police site lists an "Impact Arrive Together" unit; when we checked, the page said it was being updated.

None of this changes the first number. In an emergency, call 911. For non-emergency questions, Pine Hill police are at 856-783-1549 and Clementon's 24-hour dispatch is 856-783-4808.

Paying for a child's care on NJ FamilyCare

The state lists children under 19 as eligible up to 355 percent of the federal poverty level, which it gives as $9,763 a month for a family of four, and says children can qualify regardless of immigration status. The NJ FamilyCare line is 1-800-701-0710 (TTY 711): Monday and Thursday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our NJ FamilyCare guide explains the health plans.

CAMcare Clementon, 121 White Horse Pike, is a community health center in the borough. Its children's page lists mental health counseling among its pediatric services. Its behavioral health staff are licensed clinical social workers and psychiatric nurse practitioners, offering brief consultations during medical visits and ongoing therapy. Its insurance page says no one is denied care because they cannot pay, offers a sliding fee based on income and family size, and lists Medicaid and plans including Horizon NJ Health, Aetna Better Health and United Healthcare Community Plan. It also lists Amerigroup, which NJ FamilyCare says is now called Wellpoint, and Well Care. If your card says Wellpoint or Fidelis Care, ask whether CAMcare takes it. One number, 856-583-2400, schedules every site.

CAMcare lists Clementon's hours as Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the first Saturday of the month, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; its home page adds Tuesdays until 8 p.m. and says walk-ins are welcome. Confirm the Tuesday hours, and ask whether a counselor works at the Clementon site.

Oaks Integrated Care offers outpatient counseling for children, adults and families. Its counseling areas include school-related concerns, bullying and self-injury. It bills Medicaid, Medicare, some private insurance and self-pay on a sliding scale. It also runs a Clinical High Risk program for ages 10 to 25 assessed to be at risk for psychosis. One Camden County office is 557 Williamstown Road, Sicklerville, 856-740-0589; the way in is the Access Center, 1-800-963-3377, weekdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oaks says there may be a waitlist for outpatient services, so ask about timing on the first call.

The birthdays that change the rules

Under New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 9:17A-4), a teen 16 or older who believes they need mental health care can consent on their own to temporary outpatient treatment, not including medication. At 18, Oaks' Mental Health Urgent Care, 2051 Springdale Road, Cherry Hill, 856-254-3800, becomes an option; it serves adults 18 and older, weekdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. At 19, a young adult moves from the children's NJ FamilyCare income limit to the much lower adult one, so check coverage before that birthday. The state also says new federal rules starting in fall 2026 will require some adults 19 to 64 to work, volunteer or go to school, and to renew every six months, to keep NJ FamilyCare.

Parents need backup too

The Camden County Family Support Organization, 856-662-2600, 1030 Kings Highway North, Suite 210, Cherry Hill, is run by parents and caregivers of children with emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges. Its advocates attend IEP and Child-Family Team meetings with you, and it runs family support groups across the county.

When you cannot tell what kind of help your child needs, NJMentalHealthCares, 1-866-202-4357, offers support and referrals from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. It is for finding care; a crisis belongs with the numbers at the top of this page. For the signs that something more than a bad stretch is going on, see our parent's guide.

After the first appointment

What to watch for in the first month. By the second or third visit, you should know how often your child will be seen, what the counselor is working on, and how you will hear about progress. Your teen may not want you in the room; ask the counselor how they will tell you about a safety concern. At home, watch sleep, school attendance, time alone, and whether your child goes back without a fight. A hard week is normal. A steady slide is not.

If the fit is wrong. Say so early. You can ask the same agency for a different counselor. If that does not work, Care Solace at 888-515-0595 can look for another provider, and the member services number on your child's insurance card can list others in the plan. Ask the first provider to send records to the next.

When to step up care. If weekly therapy is not holding, ask the counselor about more intensive outpatient care, or call PerformCare, which Clementon's resource list describes as the single point of access to a wide array of behavioral health services for youth and families in New Jersey. Our guide to levels of mental health care explains each step, from weekly therapy to day programs to inpatient care. If your child talks about suicide or self-harm, do not wait for the next appointment. Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. Otherwise call or text 988, or call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624, any hour.