Ahead of Mental Health Awareness Month, New Jersey’s Department of Human Services has launched an option for 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline callers to get in-person assistance through Mobile Crisis Outreach Response Teams, or MCORTs.

"It'll allow them to stay in their home, to stay employed and stay out of the hospital system," Mental Health Association CEO Bob Davison said. "It's also the type of program that, in the long run, I think, will cut costs to society."

A peer specialist and a bachelor's educated professional can physically respond to a call and even transport someone, while a licensed professional provides remote supervision.

"We want to go out there, de-escalate the situation and hopefully keep them in place and then make the appropriate referrals," Davison said.

If the caller is age 18 or over, facing a non-life-threatening issue and is open to further assistance, the MCORTs will show up without law enforcement.

"Usually when the police are contacted first, there's something significant going on," Davison said. "With this model, it's just people that are having some type of behavioral health crisis, whether it's anxiety, depression, substance abuse."

The program rollout started in early March, and so far, the system has had about 40 outreaches. Beginning Monday, the providers will begin offering 24-hour in-person assistance Monday through Friday.

The eventual goal is to cover the entire weekend as well, according to Davison.

It's not just providers from the Mental Health Association – others involved include Bridgeway Behavioral Health Services, CarePlus NJ, Collaborative Support Programs of NJ and Legacy Treatment Services.

Roughly 69,000 calls came into New Jersey's call centers last year, according to the New Jersey Department of Human Services.