Mental Health Care in Pennsauken, 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. Camden County's crisis screening line, run by Oaks Integrated Care, is 856-428-4357 (856-428-HELP), 24 hours a day. More numbers are on our crisis page.

Ask where to get mental health care in Pennsauken and the usual answer is Cherry Hill or Camden. Some of that is right. Oaks lists its county crisis screening and urgent care in Cherry Hill, and several low-cost clinics are in Camden. But two outpatient programs operate inside the township, one of them in the same McClellan Avenue building as its agency's main office. The school district and the township also publish help for students and older residents that is easy to miss.

Both in-town programs serve adults, and one also takes teens from 16. For a younger child, the way in is the school. For a crisis, it is a phone call to a county service based in Cherry Hill.

Outpatient care inside the township

South Jersey Behavioral Health Resources, McClellan Avenue

South Jersey Behavioral Health Resources (SJBHR) lists its main office at 2500 McClellan Avenue, Suite 300, in Pennsauken. Its adult outpatient program runs out of Suite 405 in the same building.

This is the in-town option for an adult who needs more than a weekly therapy appointment. The program is called Intensive Outpatient Treatment Support Services. SJBHR describes it as more frequent than traditional outpatient care, with a focus on short-term stabilization. It mixes individual and group therapy with medication monitoring and case management. After the intake visit, therapy and medication appointments can be done by tele-service.

• Services listed: clinical assessment, psychiatric evaluation, individual, family and group therapy, medication monitoring and education, and referrals to other services you may need.
• Hours at the Pennsauken site: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday. SJBHR says weekend hours vary.
• To start: call 856-361-2700, or toll-free 1-800-220-8081, during those hours.
• Paying: SJBHR's outpatient page does not list the insurance it takes. Ask on the intake call.

If you are not sure whether "intensive outpatient" is more than you need, our explainer on levels of care walks through the difference between weekly therapy and a more structured program.

The Work Group Counseling Center, Marlton Pike

The Work Group, a Pennsauken organization, runs a counseling center at 3720 Marlton Pike. The main number is 856-486-7390.

The counseling center sees clients 16 and older for substance use, mood, anxiety, stress, trauma, and work, family or relationship problems. The Work Group says it can also provide medication evaluation and monitoring, family and couples counseling, prevention groups and aftercare. Its website does not list fees or insurance, so ask when you call.

The age floor is the useful detail. A 16- or 17-year-old who has outgrown a children's program can be seen here. And because substance use sits on the same list as depression, anxiety and trauma, this is the in-town call when drinking or drug use is part of what is going on.

When it is getting worse

If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Do not stop to work out which service fits.

For thoughts of suicide, or a crisis where nobody is in immediate danger, call or text 988 at any hour.

When someone may be a danger to themselves or others and needs to be evaluated, the county service is crisis screening. Oaks Integrated Care holds that designation for Camden County and says it screens adults and youth in a psychiatric emergency 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The screening site on Oaks' locations page is at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital, 2201 Chapel Avenue, Cherry Hill. Call 856-428-4357 first. Oaks asks for that call, and the answer may be that you do not need to come in.

Oaks runs two other services a Pennsauken family may not know to ask for. Its Mental Health Urgent Care, at 2051 Springdale Road in Cherry Hill (856-254-3800), is for adults 18 and older in Camden County who need help soon but not a hospital, and Oaks wants people to try it before a screening center or an emergency room. Hours, cost and what a visit involves are in our Cherry Hill guide. And through Adult Mobile Outreach, a family member, friend, employer or medical professional can ask Oaks to send a clinician to an adult who is getting worse and will not or cannot come in. That request also starts at 856-428-4357.

Kids and teens

Start with the school. Pennsauken Public Schools' student services page lists mental health counselors assigned to Pennsauken High School, the Park Avenue Campus, and all of the elementary schools, alongside its guidance counselors. The district also offers Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS) in each building that serves general education students, for students having learning, behavior or health difficulties. Your child's principal is the way in. The student services office number on that page is 856-662-8500, ext. 5246.

If a child is in crisis at home and nobody is in immediate danger, the district's own crisis contact list points to Crisis Mobile Response through PerformCare, 1-877-652-7624. The state lists that line as open 24 hours a day, every day.

A teen or young adult who wants to talk to someone, but is not in crisis, can call 2NDFLOOR at 1-888-222-2228. The state lists it as a 24/7 youth helpline for young people in New Jersey, and the district's page lists it for ages 10 to 24.

For ongoing therapy for a child under 16, neither in-town program fits. SJBHR runs a children's outpatient program for ages 5 to 17, but at its Camden office, 400 Market Street, not in Pennsauken. Intake is the same number, 856-361-2700. Our parent's guide covers warning signs and how the state's children's system works.

Help in Spanish

988 offers service in Spanish. The Lifeline's Spanish-language page says it is free, confidential and available 24/7, every day of the year.

For in-person help, Healthy Families & Communities, which used to be the Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey, publishes its notices in both languages and includes mental health treatment and navigation among its services. Call 856-541-6985 before going anywhere. Its Westfield Avenue site closed after a fire, and services now run from 35–47 S. 29th Street and 2850 Federal Street in Camden.

Camden County's Office of Hispanic Affairs takes calls in Spanish at 856-225-5312. It is a general constituent help line at the county courthouse, not a clinic.

None of the Pennsauken programs above says on its website that it offers therapy in Spanish. If that matters to you, ask on the first call whether a Spanish-speaking clinician is available, and how long the wait is for one.

Older adults

Pennsauken Township has two senior services coordinators whose job includes connecting older residents with outside resources and answering questions. The township lists them at 856-665-1000, ext. 1102 or ext. 1200; the township office is at 2400 Merchantville Avenue. They are not counselors. They are a reasonable first call if an older parent is isolated, grieving or struggling, and you do not know what is available.

If you do not know where to start

NJMentalHealthCares, at 1-866-202-4357, is the state's free information and referral line. Trained staff give emotional support and connect callers to services. It is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. It is not a crisis line.

If cost is the obstacle, the low-cost health centers in Camden City are covered in our Camden City guide. Read therapy without insurance and our NJ FamilyCare guide before you rule anything out. Programs elsewhere in the county are on our Camden County resource page.

Where the township's own options stop

Pennsauken's two programs cover a narrower group than their addresses suggest. Both serve adults, one takes teens from 16, neither lists the insurance it accepts, and neither says it offers therapy in Spanish. Crisis screening and the walk-in urgent care are in Cherry Hill. So most Pennsauken families end up with a mix: an in-town program for an adult or older teen, and a trip out of town for a younger child, a crisis evaluation, or in-person care in Spanish.

SJBHR is the clearest example. Its adult program runs in Suite 405 on McClellan Avenue and also at 400 Market Street in Camden. Its children's program is only at 400 Market Street. The intake number, 856-361-2700, is the same for both, so when you call for a child, confirm which building the first appointment is in before you hang up.