Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WILLIAM W. SPEARMAN
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman McKnight, Assemblymen Conaway and Atkins
SYNOPSIS
Requires Division of Children’s System of Care to establish goals for prioritizing certain services to homeless children.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the Division of Children’s System of Care and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Division of Children’s System of Care in the Department of Children and Families shall establish divisional and treatment-specific goals related to the provision of behavioral health care, substance use services, or disability services, as appropriate which may incorporate treatment service redesign initiatives and quality of clinical care and service delivery objectives. In establishing these goals, the division shall prioritize the needs of homeless children and adolescents who are eligible to receive behavioral health care, substance use services, or disability services.
b. The division shall adopt policies and programs to accomplish the goals established pursuant to this act.
c. Within 12 months following the effective date of this act, the division shall submit a written report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature that:
(1) measures the division’s progress in achieving the goals established pursuant to subsection a. of this section;
(2) identifies barriers to the achievement of the goals; and
(3) makes recommendations for legislative or regulatory action to address barriers to the achievement of the goals.
2. The Division of Children’s System of Care shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Division of Children’s System of Care in the Department of Children and Families to establish divisional and treatment-specific goals related to the provision of behavioral health care, substance use services, or disability services, as appropriate which may incorporate treatment service redesign initiatives and quality of clinical care and service delivery objectives. In establishing the goals, the division is to prioritize the needs of homeless children and adolescents who are eligible to receive behavioral health care, substance use services, or disability services.
Under the bill’s provisions, the division is to (1) adopt policies and programs to accomplish the goals established pursuant to the bill; and (2) submit a written report to the Governor and the Legislature, within one year of the bill’s enactment, containing certain information on the establishment and achievement of the goals as outlined in the bill.