NJ prisons enlist ‘peer companions’ in new strategy to stop suicides

NJ prisons enlist ‘peer companions’ in new strategy to stop suicides

New Jersey is piloting a program to prevent prison suicides that relies on incarcerated people to observe and report on their at-risk neighbors. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)New Jersey corrections officials are trying a new approach to reducing prison suicides: a buddy system. Department of Corrections officials launched a “peer companion” program last August that pairs incarcerated people with prisoners who are on suicide watch a…