Mental Health Care in Piscataway, NJ: A Local Guide

Two Rutgers mental health services sit next door to each other on Hoes Lane in Piscataway, and they do different jobs. One is Middlesex County's psychiatric emergency screening service, answering 24 hours a day. The other is a walk-in program for adults in crisis who do not need a hospital, which Rutgers says serves people regardless of insurance or ability to pay. What separates them is whether the person can safely stay at home. Knowing that before a bad night is most of what decides where you go.

The other resource specific to Piscataway is inside the high school. The public schools run their own mental health clinic there, and it sees students from kindergarten on. Programs elsewhere in the county are on our Middlesex County resource page.

Hoes Lane: two doors, two different jobs

Call 911 first if anyone is in immediate danger: a weapon, an overdose, a medical emergency, or someone about to act on a threat to hurt themselves or someone else. If you need to talk to someone now and nobody is in immediate danger, call or text 988.

The two Hoes Lane services cover the ground between those calls: nobody is in immediate danger, but a conversation on the phone is not going to be enough.

The county screening service, 671 Hoes Lane

The state designates one primary psychiatric emergency screening service for each county. For Middlesex, it is Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care at 671 Hoes Lane, Piscataway. The 24-hour number is 732-235-5700. The state also lists an affiliated emergency service at Raritan Bay Medical Center, 530 New Brunswick Avenue, Perth Amboy, 732-324-5289.

Rutgers says its Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Certified mental health screeners work with psychiatric staff to assess what a person needs and connect them to treatment and follow-up care. Rutgers describes the service as available to adults in Middlesex and Essex counties, and says its team also does assessments out in the community.

Screening is for someone who may be a danger to themselves or others, or who is too unwell to stay safe at home, but who is not in immediate danger. Rutgers does not post walk-in instructions for the Middlesex screening service on its website, so call 732-235-5700 before you go. The person on the phone can tell you whether to come in and where. Our crisis page explains what screening involves.

Early Intervention Support Services, 667 Hoes Lane West

Next door is a program for the night that feels like a crisis but is not an emergency. Rutgers' Early Intervention Support Services (EISS) offers short-term, intensive treatment for adults with acute mental health symptoms who can be safely treated as outpatients, and presents it as an alternative to an emergency department visit or a psychiatric hospital stay. Call 732-235-4422 to schedule.

Rutgers' Middlesex brochure says EISS is funded by a state grant, so services are provided regardless of a person's ability to pay or insurance. The team is advanced practice nurses, master's-level clinicians, case managers and peer support specialists. The brochure also gives:

• Walk-in hours, no appointment needed: Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The team also provides crisis intervention and support 24 hours a day, every day.
• Who qualifies: Middlesex County residents 18 and older with acute mental health symptoms who can be safely served in an outpatient setting. People already enrolled in PACT or RIST are not eligible.
• How long: up to 30 days for people who qualify.

The EISS page says services are available in Spanish and posts a Spanish-language brochure.

If you are panicking, not sleeping, or frightened by your own thoughts, and nobody is in immediate danger, EISS is worth calling before an emergency room. If things get worse, the screening line above is still there, day or night.

For a child in crisis

Rutgers describes its screening service as available to adults. For a child or teen, call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 first. It is New Jersey's line for Children's Mobile Response, and PerformCare says that if a child should be evaluated for hospitalization, it refers the family to a local screening center. Rutgers lists the same number for its Children's Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, which cover Middlesex County. Rutgers says the service offers support 24/7, that a response team can come to the family's home, and that families may then receive stabilization services for up to eight weeks.

The Haven, inside Piscataway High School

The Board of Education set up The Haven, an outpatient mental health clinic for the district, in 2009 in partnership with the Rutgers University Center for Applied Psychology. Its staff includes supervising psychologists, doctoral-level interns and counselors.

The Haven serves Piscataway public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It offers individual, group and family counseling, crisis intervention, and consultation with parents and school staff. Its listed focus areas include stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, depression, identity, relationships, ADHD and behavior.

How it works depends on your child's grade.

Grades K through 8. A school counselor, Child Study Team case manager, teacher, administrator or parent can make the referral. Sessions are usually in the evening, Monday through Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m., with one counselor assigned to the child and family for weekly one-hour sessions.

Grades 9 through 12. Students can refer themselves. Sessions happen during the school day, scheduled around electives, homeroom, lunch and study halls rather than core classes, unless a student is in crisis. High school students can also walk in during school hours without an appointment. Weekly groups typically include an LGBTQ group, a stress management group and a social skills group.

On consent, The Haven's page says New Jersey law lets students 14 and older consent to services on their own. Current state law sets that age at 16. Under N.J.S.A. 9:17A-4, a minor 16 or older can consent to temporary outpatient mental health treatment, not including medication. A bill to lower the age to 14 was introduced in January 2026 and has not become law. If your child is under 16, ask The Haven how it handles parental consent and how it will keep you informed.

The Haven is in the East Wing of Piscataway High School, 100 Behmer Road, Room B147. Enter through Door 30. Call 732-981-0700, extension 2250, or email [email protected]. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Neither page mentions fees or insurance, so ask when you call.

The Haven says it may refer a student to outside providers when that fits better. For what comes after, see our guide to teen and child mental health help in NJ and our explainer on levels of care.

Rutgers students on Busch and Livingston

If you live or take classes on Busch or Livingston, know that Rutgers Student Health lists no open counseling site on those campuses. Its Busch site, CAPS Next Step at 185 Bevier Road, is listed as closed. The main CAPS office is at 17 Senior Street on the College Avenue campus in New Brunswick, phone 848-932-7884, and CAPS says it is offering both in-person and remote counseling.

The Busch Livingston Health Center, 110 Hospital Road, Piscataway, phone 848-932-7402, is a medical health center. It is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., during the fall 2026 semester. Our New Brunswick guide covers who can use CAPS, what it costs and how to reach the after-hours counselor.

Ongoing care for adults

EISS lasts up to 30 days, and screening is built to stabilize a crisis and connect a person to ongoing treatment. For weekly therapy or medication management through Rutgers, call the UBHC Access Center at 1-800-969-5300 and ask which site has openings for what you need. UBHC does not publish street addresses for its outpatient offices. It lists its Edison, Monmouth Junction and New Brunswick sites as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.

If cost is the obstacle, the Rutgers psychology training clinic is on the Busch campus at 152 Frelinghuysen Road. Our New Brunswick guide covers its fees and specialty clinics. One practical detail: the clinic tells community clients to arrive at least 20 minutes early for a first appointment to pick up a university parking permit, unless one was mailed in advance, so they do not get ticketed. Call 848-445-6111 to ask about an intake.

For more ways to pay, see therapy without insurance in NJ and NJ FamilyCare mental health coverage.

When you cannot tell which door

In the moment, a screening night and an EISS night can look alike. Go back to the question from the top. If the person may be a danger to themselves or others, or is too unwell to stay safe at home, that is the screening line, 732-235-5700, at any hour. If they can safely stay home but need help before a regular appointment would come, that is EISS, and the walk-in hours are above. If you still cannot decide, call the screening line first. It answers around the clock, and the person on the phone can tell you whether to come in and where. Anyone in immediate danger is a 911 call, not either of these.

For a child, the first call is PerformCare, 1-877-652-7624, not either Hoes Lane line.

If you have a teenager at Piscataway High, tell them tonight that The Haven takes walk-ins during school hours and that they can refer themselves. Knowing the door exists is what lets them use it on a bad day.