The Ocean Mental Health Services mission is to offer a comprehensive continuum of mental health services that promotes full participation in community life. One way this is accomplished is by ensuring all segments of the population have access to services. With this in mind we have improved our service delivery for people who are deaf and hard of hearing in Ocean County.
We are offing our expanded service in collaboration with St. Joseph Medical Center of Patterson. Together we are providing an array of outpatient services to people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and who may have had difficulty accessing services in the past. Outpatient therapy will be provided by Mary Jane Green, LCSW of St. Joseph’s. When a client needs medication, they must be seen by a Psychiatrist or an APN to be evaluated and to receive a prescription. In addition, when medication is prescribed a client must continue to follow-up with the Psychiatrist or APN on a regular basis for to review medication compliance, dosage, effectiveness, side effects, and more. Mary Jane will attend these appointments to provide translation services at no additional cost.
The program is available through a grant provided by the New Jersey State Division of Mental Health Services. “The need for translation adds another layer of costs that could not be absorbed without a grant or without the support of our community,” says Director of Adult Clinical Services, Stan Evanowski. “Through collaborations like these, with St. Joseph’s, through continued support from the State, the County, foundations and community members, we can continue to provide valuable services to our community. We must continue to expand services and respond to the needs of Ocean County, but to do so we need to stay creative and we need continued community support.”
This new service is currently available at our Ocean Mental Health Services Manahawkin location on Tuesdays. For more information or to make an appointment please call St. Joseph Medical Center in Patterson at 973-977-6690-Voice, 973-968-6567-VP, 973-977-2294-TTY.
For more information on how to support Ocean Mental Health Services please get involved today!