LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
ASSEMBLY, No. 4365
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: OCTOBER 22, 2025
SUMMARY
|
Synopsis: |
Establishes Council for Community Recovery and Family Success; appropriates $4.0 million. |
|
Type of Impact: |
Time-limited State expenditure increase; potential increase in State revenues. |
|
Agencies Affected: |
Council for Community Recovery and Family Success; Department of Community Affairs. |
|
Office of Legislative Services Estimate |
|||
|
Fiscal Impact |
Year 1 |
Years 2 and 3 |
|
|
State Expenditure Increase |
Up to $4.0 million |
Indeterminate |
|
|
Potential State Revenue Increase |
$0 |
Indeterminate |
|
|
|
|
||
· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that State expenditures will increase over approximately three years to establish the Council for Community Recovery and Family Success, and support the council’s work to develop and implement a Statewide initiative to provide appropriate preventive services to ensure the health and well-being of the State’s children and families.
· The bill appropriates $4.0 million to the Council for Community Recovery and Family Success to implement the provisions of the bill. If the full amount is not expended in the year of appropriation, the residual amount will be spent in subsequent fiscal years until the full $4.0 million is exhausted.
· Because funding for both the council and its preventive services initiative are dependent upon the annual appropriations process, the OLS lacks the informational basis to provide a precise estimate of State costs in future fiscal years. However, the OLS concludes that State costs in the second and third years may potentially be higher than $4.0 million, based on the scope and complexity of the council’s activities to implement the Statewide initiative.
· To the extent that Executive branch departments that provide services to the State’s children and families, such as the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Human Services, already deliver preventive services intended to foster the wellbeing of families and children, State costs may be somewhat mitigated.
· To the extent that the council recommends that various child and family-serving Executive branch departments adopt prevention-focused programs and services for which federal Family First Prevention Services Act or Medicaid cost reimbursements are available, State revenues may potentially increase, albeit by an indeterminate amount.
BILL DESCRIPTION
The bill establishes the Council for Community Recovery and Family Success in, but not of, the Department of Community Affairs to develop strategies to promote the well-being of infants, children, youth, and families, and encourage family success. The council will consist of 25 members, comprising representatives from State government, county and municipal government, underserved communities, direct service providers, and parents who have experience receiving family services in New Jersey. Council members may be reimbursed for travel and other expenses necessary to fulfill their duties, within the limits of funds made available to the council for these purposes. The council, moreover, is authorized to utilize contracted professional staffing and support services, as necessary, to fulfill its duties under the bill.
The council will develop and manage implementation of a Statewide initiative concerning the social and economic well-being of infants, children, youth, and families, and the provision of age and developmentally appropriate services through an integrated service planning and delivery system.
To implement the initiative, the council will advocate for a State Bill of Rights for Infants, Children, Youth, and Families, which will provide the initiative’s framework; develop policies and financial priorities to promote family success; recommend policies to improve the efficacy of existing State and community-based services and programs; conduct comprehensive programmatic reviews and cost-benefit analyses of the budgets of family-serving Executive branch departments and community-based organizations; explore strategies to leverage public and private funding for preventive services; and establish community recovery and family success councils in each county.
Subject to the availability of funds, the council will implement the Statewide initiative over the course of the next three fiscal years.
The council will submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature that will recommend legislative and administrative actions on the use of public and private resources to support family success initiatives and preventive services.
The bill appropriates $4.0 million from the General Fund to the council to implement the provisions of the bill, provides that the council may use any unexpended appropriations in the succeeding fiscal year, and authorizes the council to invest unexpended appropriations and to use dividends and interest earned on these investments to implement the bill’s provisions.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS concludes that State costs will increase over approximately three years following the bill’s enactment to: 1) establish the Council for Community Recovery and Family Success; 2) provide for the council’s administrative costs, which may include contracted professional staffing and support services, as necessary; and 3) support the council’s costs to develop and manage implementation of a Statewide initiative to provide appropriate preventive services to ensure the health and well-being of the State’s children and families, which will include comprehensive programmatic reviews and cost-benefit analyses of the budgets of family-serving Executive branch departments.
The bill appropriates $4.0 million to the Council for Community Recovery and Family Success to implement the provisions of the bill. If the full amount is not expended in the year of appropriation, the residual amount will be spent in subsequent fiscal years until the full $4.0 million is exhausted. Because funding for both the council and its preventive services initiative are dependent upon the annual appropriations process, the OLS lacks the informational basis to provide a precise estimate of State costs in future fiscal years. However, the OLS concludes that State costs in the second and third years may potentially be higher than $4.0 million, based on the scope and complexity of the council’s activities to implement the Statewide initiative.
To the extent that Executive branch departments that provide services to the State’s children and families, such as the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Human Services, already deliver preventive services intended to foster the wellbeing of families and children, State costs under the bill may be somewhat mitigated. For example, pursuant to the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, the Department of Children and Families has already implemented, or is currently in the process of implementing, several prevention-focused programs for families who are involved with the child welfare system. In response to FY 2026 OLS Discussion Points, the department indicated it was informed at the end of calendar year 2024 that the federal government approved the State’s Family First Plan, which will allow the State to receive federal reimbursements for State expenditures on preventive services for families involved with the child welfare system. However, the department was not provided with a copy of that approval nor a date by which the approval will be sent.
To the extent that the council recommends that various family-serving Executive branch departments adopt prevention-focused programs and services for which federal Family First Prevention Services Act or Medicaid cost reimbursements are available, State revenues may potentially increase, albeit by an indeterminate amount.
|
Section: |
Human Services |
|
Analyst: |
Senior Fiscal Analyst |
|
Approved: |
Thomas Koenig Legislative Budget and Finance Officer |
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).