SENATE HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND SENIOR CITIZENS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2284

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 9, 2024

      The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 2284.

      As amended by the committee, this bill codifies into statute the establishment of the Office of Resilience (office) in the Department of Children and Families (department).  The office is to be directed by an executive director, who is to report directly to the Commissioner of Children and Families.

      Under the direction of the executive director, the office is to be responsible for hosting, coordinating, and facilitating Statewide initiatives related to raising awareness of, and creating opportunities to prevent and mitigate, ACEs through training, grassroots, community-led efforts, and by developing a community-informed virtual hub that provides technical assistance and strategic support for non-governmental organizations with missions promoting PCEs and trauma-informed and healing-centered services for young people in the State of New Jersey.

      As used in this bill: “adverse childhood experiences” or “ACEs” means traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, substance use disorder, or parental separation, that occur before the age of 18; “healing-centered engagement” or “HCE” means a holistic approach to treating trauma that incorporates culture, spirituality, civic action, and collective healing; “positive childhood experiences” or “PCEs” means uplifting experiences that build a sense of belonging and connection and that occur before the age of 18; and “trauma informed care” or “TIC” means a strength-based approach to service delivery that: considers recognizing a person’s past trauma and resulting coping mechanism; is grounded in an understanding of, and the responsiveness to, the impact of trauma; emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both treatment providers and survivors of trauma; and creates opportunities for trauma survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.

      Specifically, the office is to: (1) develop and share trauma-informed and healing-centered strategies with other State departments and community-based stakeholders to reduce exposure to, and mitigate the effects of, ACEs in the State of New Jersey by supporting collaboration with early childhood organizations and early childhood providers to encourage the development of a Statewide multi-generational support system that promotes PCEs and assists in the healing of primary and secondary trauma in adults (2) in partnership with public and private partners, establish and promote a public awareness campaign to educate the public about ACEs and TIC; (3) utilize evidence-based and evidence-informed tools for promoting resilience and empowering individuals who have faced trauma and adversity, and in promoting PCEs; (4) collaborate with public institutions that conduct research on child welfare, child health, and child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology in order to: publish research-based educational programming for community leaders, parents, and students; establish protocols that consider adverse childhood experiences as a metric in order to inform department policies concerning family reunification and visitation; and publish data concerning positive and adverse childhood experiences in New Jersey youth; (5) establish and maintain a community-informed virtual hub, which will be responsible for coordinating State efforts to prevent, treat, and heal from ACEs and inform State policies and budgets related to PACEs; (6) develop, and update as needed, a Statewide action plan that outlines the steps toward making New Jersey a trauma-informed and healing-centered State; and (7) provide periodic reports to the Governor, and issue an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding its activities.

      This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments make various changes to the bill to clarify that the bill will be codifying into statute the establishment of the Office of Resilience (office) in the Department of Children and Families (department).

      The committee amendments revise the findings and declarations section of the bill to provide more information about positive and adverse childhood experiences and early childhood.

      The committee amendments revise the bill’s definitions of “adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)” and “trauma informed care” and establish definitions for “healing-centered engagement (HCE),” “positive childhood experiences (PCEs),” and “positive and adverse childhood experiences.”  The bill replaces the term “health-centered” used throughout the bill with “healing-centered.”

      The committee amendments provide that the office will be responsible for hosting, coordinating, and facilitating Statewide initiatives related to raising awareness of, and creating opportunities to prevent and mitigate, ACEs through training, grassroots, community-led efforts, and by developing a community-informed virtual hub.  As introduced, the bill provided that the office would be responsible for raising awareness of, and creating opportunities to eradicate, ACEs through grassroots, community-led efforts.

      The committee amended the bill to require the office to:

· collaborate with public institutions that conduct research on child welfare, child health, and child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology in order to: publish research-based educational programming for community leaders, parents, and students; establish protocols that consider adverse childhood experiences as a metric in order to inform department policies concerning family reunification and visitation; and publish data concerning positive and adverse childhood experiences in New Jersey youth;

· establish and maintain a community-informed virtual hub, which will be responsible for coordinating State efforts to prevent, treat, and heal from ACEs and inform State policies and budgets related to PACEs; and

· develop, and update as needed, a Statewide action plan that outlines the steps toward making New Jersey a trauma-informed and healing-centered State.

      The committee amendments make technical changes to the bill concerning style and usage.