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.

By: Dana DiFilippo

Outlets: New Jersey Monitor

Published: March 5, 2026

Words: 861

Last Updated: 5 days, 18 hours ago

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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 and tasks them with “supportive observation and interaction,” department spokesman Christopher Greeder said.

The program is modeled after a federal Bureau of Prisons program now in place in California and Colorado, Greeder said. Peers …

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