Rutgers alumna gives $30 million gift to improve mental health care
The new center is expected to help address residential treatment shortages.
A Rutgers University alumna has pledged $30 million – one of the largest gifts ever to the New Jersey college – to help create the Rutgers Initiative for Youth Behavioral Health and Well-Being, officials announced Tuesday.
The gift from Marlene Brandt, Class of 1980, will help create a new Institute for Social Emotional Wellness at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, as well as a new mental health treatment center to help address the shortage of inpatient mental health services for young people in the Garden State.
“One in five adolescents has had or will have a serious mental health disorder, and only a quarter of them receive treatment,” said Frank Ghinassi, president and CEO of Rutgers’ Behavioral Health Care. “The new center will be a breakthrough in providing services – some of them not readily available in the past – to young people in the region.”
The new Treatment Center and Residence, led by University Behavioral Health Care, will diagnose and treat adolescents and young adults for drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, and trauma. It will be on the New Brunswick campus and is expected to serve young people primarily from New Jersey and the Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas.
“There is increasing awareness and acceptance of the treatment of mental health issues,” Brandt said. “Now is the optimal time to establish a facility that will harness the knowledge and skills of professionals who can address the needs of this particularly vulnerable segment of our population.”
The university will seek to raise an additional $20 million to fund the initiative, which includes construction of the new center and residence. The center’s team of practitioners is expected to also research effective treatment of mental health and development disorders.