STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKnight
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program in Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services; appropriates $500,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee with technical review.
An Act concerning services for adults with autism, supplementing chapter 65 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services at Rutgers, The State University, the Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program, the purpose of which shall be to recruit and train individuals to serve adults who have autism and drive innovations to improve the quality of life for adults who have autism in New Jersey.
b. Subject to the provisions of subsection c. of this section, the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services at Rutgers, The State University shall have the discretion to determine the scope and details of the program, including whether to establish the program on a full-year basis, on a semester basis, as a summer program, or for an alternate duration. The Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services may additionally establish different iterations of the program for undergraduate students and graduate students, as well as for part-time and full-time students.
c. At a minimum, the program shall seek to enroll at least eight to 10 students per year and provide at least 20 to 40 hours of intensive training to program enrollees per week, subject to the following requirements:
(1) The program shall seek to recruit students enrolled in baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs across a range of disciplines, including, but not limited to, psychology, medicine, law, education, social work, computer science, business, and the arts;
(2) In recruiting students, the program shall seek to select students who demonstrate a commitment to a future career supporting adults with autism; and
(3) The training provided under the program shall include, at a minimum: intensive hands-on training alongside senior clinical staff at the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services; academic coursework to supplement the hands-on clinical training; opportunities to work alongside senior faculty to develop new research concerning best practices to encourage successful outcomes for adults with autism; and the completion of an innovative capstone project related to ensuring improved outcomes in the overall quality of life for adults who have autism.
2. There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services at
Rutgers, The State University,
the sum of $500,000 to support the establishment and implementation of the
Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program
established pursuant to section 1 of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.