[Second Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3261

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

220th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED OCTOBER 31, 2022

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  RENEE C. BURGESS

District 28 (Essex)

Senator  NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI

District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Codey, Durr, Gill and O'Scanlon

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Permits behavioral and mental health care providers to operate within homeless shelters.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As amended by the Senate on February 27, 2023.

  


An Act concerning homeless shelters and behavioral and mental health and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.  a.  As used in this section:

     "Behavioral health care" means procedures or services, other than primary health care services, which are provided by a health care practitioner to a patient for the treatment of a mental illness, emotional disorder, or drug or alcohol use disorder 1[that is of mild to moderate severity.  "Behavioral health care" shall not include procedures or services that are provided for the treatment of severe mental illness, severe emotional disorder, or severe drug or alcohol use disorder]1

     "Behavioral health care provider" means 1[a provider licensed or approved by the Department of Human Services to render behavioral health care services] a psychiatrist, psychiatric 2[advance] advanced2 practice nurse, psychologist, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, 2[or]2 any other mental health or substance use disorder treatment provider licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes1 2, a practitioner otherwise authorized to provide behavioral health care in the State, or a treatment provider who is licensed or otherwise authorized to provide behavioral health care in the State acting in the provider’s capacity as an employee or contractor for a facility licensed by the Department of Health to provide behavioral health care2.

     "Emergency shelter for the homeless" means a building or structure in which a public entity or a private, nonprofit organization provides shelter, or food and shelter, to individuals and families having neither a home nor the means to obtain a home or other temporary lodging.

     1["Mental health care professional" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker licensed pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.]1

     b.  A behavioral health care provider 1[and a mental health care professional]1 shall be authorized to 1[jointly or separately]1 provide behavioral 1[or mental]1 health care services to homeless persons within an emergency shelter for the homeless, 2[in a manner to be determined by the Commissioners of Community Affairs and Human Services, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the State Board of Psychological Examiners, and the State Board of Social Work Examiners] on the condition that:

     (1) the services are made available to all residents to whom such services are applicable;

     (2) the services are provided in an environment that ensures, to the extent feasible given the layout and structure of the shelter, ongoing visual and auditory privacy for individual or group counseling services;

     (3) in the case of residents not receiving behavioral health care and to the extent feasible given the layout and structure of the shelter, the privacy and the right not to be disturbed of such residents are protected; and

     (4) participation in any behavioral health care program is not made mandatory for any person residing within the shelter2

     A behavioral health care provider 1[or mental health care professional]1 may provide the services authorized pursuant to this section in response to emergencies, on a part-time or full-time basis, and within a temporary or permanent location within the emergency shelter for the homeless that is exclusively used by the behavioral health care provider 1[or mental health care professional]1 2[to provide such services within the shelter].  The shelter shall set forth a schedule designating the days and hours that the services may be provided.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the provision of behavioral health care, if necessary, on an emergency basis outside the designated days and hours.

     c.  The Commissioner of Human Services shall apply for such State plan amendments or waivers to provide behavioral health care, as described in this section, and secure federal financial participation for the associated State Medicaid expenditures under the federal Medicaid program2.

 

     2.  The 2[Commissioners of Community Affairs and Human Services, the State Board of Medical Examiners, the State Board of Psychological Examiners, and the State Board of Social Work Examiners] Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioners of Children and Families, Health, and Human Services, and the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety,2 shall jointly or separately adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

 

     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.