A school-based model built to bring care where students already are is now being recognized as an innovative approach to care.
Care Plus NJ has been named a 2026 NJBIZ Health Care Hero in the Innovation category for its School-Based Access to Care (SBAC) model, launched through The Lion’s HUB at Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology. The recognition highlights how the program is redefining where and how behavioral health services are delivered to young people and families across New Jersey.
The NJBIZ Healthcare Hero Awards recognize outstanding leaders and organizations advancing health care in New Jersey. Being honored in the Innovation category reflects what The Lion’s HUB represents: a fundamentally different approach to delivering care that removes structural obstacles and meets young people where they are.
Rethinking Where Care Happens
The Lion’s HUB was built on a straightforward premise: when care is embedded in the environments where students already spend their time, the obstacles that keep families from seeking help largely disappear. No appointment. No referral. No wait.
The SBAC model places a multidisciplinary team of master’s level licensed clinicians and bachelor’s level care coordinators directly inside Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology, where they provide access to screening, counseling, crisis intervention, and family support services on-site. More than 70 percent of students in New Jersey report experiencing behavioral health challenges. Yet cost, transportation, insurance status, and the stigma surrounding behavioral health care continue to prevent too many young people from getting support in time.
The Lion’s HUB addresses each of those obstacles directly. Services are voluntary, parent-informed, confidential, and available regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, to students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Care also extends to families, teachers, and school personnel, creating a community centric approach to behavioral wellness.
The CCBHC Model, Brought Into the School
The innovation behind The Lion’s HUB is rooted in Care Plus NJ’s role as one of New Jersey’s first Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). The CCBHC model is a federally recognized, evidence-based framework that integrates behavioral health, substance use treatment, and primary care within a single accountable structure. Its defining purpose is to ensure care is available when and where it is needed, regardless of diagnosis, insurance status, or ability to pay.
The SBAC model applies that same integrated framework to the school setting. When a student needs services beyond what the HUB can provide on-site, Care Plus NJ’s continuum is already in place. Students and families can be connected seamlessly to outpatient care, medication management, peer support, and crisis services without navigating separate systems or starting over with a new provider. That coordination capacity is what makes the model both effective and replicable.
Earlier Identification. Faster Access. Stronger Outcomes.
By placing behavioral health services inside the school day, the SBAC model supports earlier identification of needs before they escalate into crisis. Clinicians who are physically present in the school environment can identify concerns more quickly, build trust with students over time, and engage families who might not have sought care through traditional outpatient channels.
The result is a proactive model that supports prevention alongside treatment, improves engagement in care, reduces truant behavior, and reduces the likelihood that behavioral health and substance use concerns go unaddressed until they require more intensive intervention.
A Partnership That Bridges Education and Health Care
The collaboration between Care Plus NJ and Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology, the city’s longest-standing charter school, demonstrates what is possible when education and health care systems work together. The partnership creates a seamless bridge between two institutions that share a commitment to student and family well-being.
Services are available not only to students, but also to families and school personnel, supported by evening hours to accommodate working families. The HUB’s design reflects the principle that effective behavioral health care rarely happens in isolation. It grows through relationships with the institutions that already anchor community life.
A Blueprint for What Comes Next
Governor Sherrill has identified youth behavioral health as a priority in her first budget, a recognition that reflects what communities across New Jersey are experiencing firsthand. Demand for available, high-quality behavioral health services for young people has never been greater, and the systems to deliver that care need to be built for the places where young people are, not just the places where care has traditionally been offered.
The NJBIZ Healthcare Hero recognition is a meaningful affirmation of what is possible when innovation is grounded in real community need. The Lion’s HUB opened because two organizations recognized an opportunity to do something meaningful for students and families in Paterson. The goal now is to ensure that opportunity extends to many more communities across New Jersey.
Learn More
For more information about Care Plus NJ’s school-based CCBHC partnership programs, contact John Paul Simon, Senior Director of Clinical Interventions in Schools, at JohnP@careplusnj.org.
To inquire about services through The Lion’s HUB, families are encouraged to contact the PCSST school counseling office.
