MISSION AND PURPOSE
Newark’s Local Information Network Communication System (LINCS) is part of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS)’s statewide public health notification communication network. One of 22 strategically positioned local health departments located throughout the state, Newark LINCS works at the community level to protect the public's health.

The possibility of terrorist attacks within the United States has become an issue of great public concern. Health care facilities play a vital role in the detection of and response to biological, chemical, or radiological emergencies. The City of Newark 's mission is to develop a plan to ensure that all the necessary expertise, communications, and personnel are present and able to respond to any mass casualty type incident, regardless of whether the incident is accidental or manmade in nature and cause.

In keeping with this mission, Newark has assembled a workforce of public health professionals from the Newark Department of Child and Family Wellbeing to provide specialized skills to plan, coordinate, implement, and maintain the necessary operations to manage the Newark LINCS and the Health Alert Network (HAN) system, currently under development.

HAN is a nationwide information and communications system that will link together local, state, and federal health agencies to protect communities from bio-terrorism and other public health threats such as infectious disease outbreaks. When fully deployed, HAN will link local health departments to one another, to other agencies critical to preparedness and response, to state health departments, and to other federal agencies and community residents.