March 12, 2019 –

Sayreville–Anna Kline, program director for Preferred Behavioral Health Group (PBHG), was presented with the Crisis Intervention Team Behavioral Health Care Provider of the Year award on February 28. Ms. Kline was nominated by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and members of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). The CIT program is an intensive 1-week program designed to help keep individuals with mental illness out of jail and into treatment. Anna is one of the leaders for the Ocean County CIT and also serves as the director of our Integrated Case Management and Justice Involved Services’ programs. The 40 hour training is run two times a year.

The CIT program in an international model of collaboration between the community’s law enforcement system and the mental health system, with the goal of providing knowledge about mental illness, crisis resolution skills and access to community based services. In New Jersey, the CIT Center of Excellence was established in 2007 and assists counties in developing their own CIT programs.

Ms. Kline has over 27 years of experience working in the mental health field in Ocean County, and has worked with law enforcement throughout her entire career, including serving as a Critical Incident Debriefer with the Ocean County Emergency Response Team. She has been a member of the PBHG staff for 18 years, and also chairs the Ocean County Law Enforcement training collaborative.

“I feel very rewarded to represent PBHG in this very important acknowledgement of our contributions to an extremely critical initiative in community education, training law enforcement, and promoting better outcomes for the individuals we serve,” said Ms. Kline.

Caption: Anna Kline receives the Behavioral Health Care Provider of the Year from Ed Dobleman, Director of the Crisis Intervention Team of New Jersey.