Mental Health Care in Perth Amboy, NJ: A Local Guide

If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988 at any hour; help is available in Spanish. Perth Amboy's hospital crisis service, the Affiliated Emergency Service at Raritan Bay Medical Center, is at 732-324-5289. More numbers are on our crisis page.

Perth Amboy's hospital has a psychiatric emergency team on duty around the clock, inpatient psychiatric care, and a program for people with both a mental health condition and a substance use problem. For ongoing care, the city also has a community health center on Hobart Street that lists on-site behavioral health services and charges on a sliding fee, so an adult on a tight budget can start without leaving town.

In a crisis, you do not have to leave the city. For the slower problem, months of anxiety or depression that need a regular appointment, the routes are the health center on Hobart Street, a free counselor at the high school, a second community health center in Edison that charges by income and offers teletherapy, and the state lines that help you find a provider. If you can travel elsewhere in the county, our Middlesex County resource page lists more options.

Who to call in a crisis, in order

1. 911 if anyone is in immediate danger: a weapon, an overdose, someone who cannot be kept safe for the next hour.
2. 988, by call or text, if you or someone else is struggling and you need to talk to someone now. The Lifeline says its Spanish-language service is free, runs 24/7, and does not require you to speak English. To text in Spanish, send AYUDA to 988.
3. Crisis screening if someone may be a danger to themselves or others but is not in immediate danger, and you think they may need a hospital evaluation. In Perth Amboy that means Raritan Bay Medical Center, 530 New Brunswick Avenue, where the state lists an Affiliated Emergency Service at 732-324-5289. Middlesex County's designated screening center is Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, 671 Hoes Lane in Piscataway, at 732-235-5700. Both are on the state's screening list, updated September 14, 2026.

For a child or teen who is in crisis at home but not in immediate danger, call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 and follow the prompts for an urgent situation. PerformCare may send a mobile response team to your home within an hour of notification, and mobile response runs 24 hours a day. If it decides your child should be evaluated for hospitalization, it refers you to a screening center.

What the hospital on New Brunswick Avenue does

Hackensack Meridian Health runs Carrier Behavioral Health on the third floor of Raritan Bay Medical Center. Its listed phone is 732-324-5119, and the unit is listed as open 24 hours.

Here is what Hackensack Meridian says the program offers:

• Emergency crisis stabilization, 24 hours a day. Crisis counselors and psychiatric nurses evaluate adults and children who are having a psychiatric emergency, recommend treatment, and refer them to the right level of care. This service sits inside the emergency departments at Raritan Bay in Perth Amboy and at Old Bridge Medical Center, 1 Hospital Plaza, Old Bridge.
• Inpatient adult psychiatric treatment for voluntary and involuntary patients.
• A dual-diagnosis program for people with both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder.
• A geriatric inpatient program for older adults.
• ECT and dTMS, treatments for depression and other conditions that have not responded to other care. The information line is 732-324-5339.

What the page does not list is ongoing outpatient therapy. Raritan Bay handles the acute stretch, the night of the crisis and the days of an inpatient stay, and the follow-up may be somewhere else. Before someone is discharged, ask the unit's staff who will see them next, and get the name, address, and date in writing.

On insurance, Hackensack Meridian says it works with many plans but tells patients to confirm coverage with their own insurer, because coverage varies by plan.

Weekly therapy and low-cost care

Central Jersey Medical Center, 275 Hobart Street, is a federally qualified health center in Perth Amboy. It lists on-site behavioral and mental health services for problems including anxiety, depression, PTSD and trauma, grief, and substance use, with in-office and virtual appointments, and it has a sliding fee discount program. Call 732-376-9333, ask for a behavioral health appointment, and ask where you fall on the sliding fee.

The Jewish Renaissance Foundation runs several programs in Perth Amboy, including the high school counseling program and the family success center described below. Its health center in Edison is a second low-cost option. The JRF Community Health Center is a federally qualified health center, and its own website lists one location: 1931 Oak Tree Road, lower level, Edison. Call 732-482-9600.

The center lists mental health services as individual counseling for teens and adults, plus teletherapy. Teletherapy matters if getting to Edison is the hard part. Ask whether your first visit can be by video.

The center has a sliding fee program based on income and family size. Hours are Monday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For other ways to find a therapist, read how to find a therapist in Middlesex or Camden County, and if you are not sure whether you need therapy, a psychiatrist, or something more structured, see levels of mental health care explained. Online therapy is another option when travel is the barrier.

For Perth Amboy High School students

The Jewish Renaissance Foundation runs a School Based Youth Services Program, called The Base, at Perth Amboy High School, 300 Eagle Avenue. It is funded by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Services are free and confidential for students ages 14 to 19.

A full-time mental health counselor offers individual, group, and family sessions. Topics the program lists include anxiety and depression, family conflict, relationships, drugs and alcohol, abuse, and eating disorders. The Base can also refer students to outside agencies, including for more intensive mental health counseling. The program coordinator's line is 732-376-6030, ext. 23510.

If you are a parent, this is often the quickest door, because your teenager is already in the building. For a younger child, or for more on what to watch for, see our guide to child and teen mental health help in NJ.

If you want help in Spanish

Three of the services in this guide say plainly that they work in Spanish or in any language:

• 988 offers free 24/7 service in Spanish by phone, text, and chat.
• The JRF Community Health Center says it has translation services for all languages through a language line, and its website has an Español option.
• NJ FamilyCare has an Español option on its website and takes calls at 1-800-701-0710 (TTY 711).

For anyone else on this list, ask for an interpreter when you call. It is a normal request.

Paying with NJ FamilyCare or with no insurance

If you have NJ FamilyCare, New Jersey's public health insurance program, our NJ FamilyCare mental health guide explains what it covers for mental health and how to find a provider who takes your plan.

If you do not have coverage, two things are worth knowing. The JRF Community Health Center offers free, one-on-one help applying for NJ FamilyCare or enrolling in a marketplace plan. And NJ FamilyCare says that, since January 1, 2023, children under 19 can apply regardless of immigration status. All other requirements still apply.

If coverage is not possible right now, read therapy without insurance in NJ.

Help that is not therapy

Some of what wears a person down is not clinical: overdue rent, not enough food in the house, a family in crisis. Two offices in the city help with that side.

Bayside Family Success Center, 500 Dobranski Avenue, 732-638-5063, is run by the Jewish Renaissance Foundation. It offers parent education, life skills, housing help, and information and referrals, and there is no cost to take part. It is closed Sundays, and some Monday and Saturday hours apply only on select days, so call before you go.

The City of Perth Amboy's Office of Housing & Social Services, at the A.J. Community Center, 1 Olive Street, provides information and referral services for residents with social service or housing needs. Call 732-826-1690, ext. 4322.

If you simply do not know where to start, NJMentalHealthCares at 1-866-202-4357 offers free, confidential emotional support and referrals to services. It is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, and it is not a crisis line.

A plan for this week

For an adult who has NJ FamilyCare or no insurance, start in the city. Call Central Jersey Medical Center at 732-376-9333 and ask for a behavioral health appointment and where you fall on its sliding fee. If it cannot see you soon, call the JRF Community Health Center in Edison at 732-482-9600 and ask for two things on the same call: a mental health appointment, by video if getting to Edison is hard, and help with NJ FamilyCare.

For a teenager at Perth Amboy High School, the closer door is The Base at 732-376-6030, ext. 23510, or ask the school to connect you. For someone just discharged from Raritan Bay with no follow-up date on the calendar, call the unit at 732-324-5119 and ask who is handling follow-up care.

Whichever number you call, write Raritan Bay's crisis service, 732-324-5289, next to it. You may never need it, but you will not have to search for it at a bad moment.