Sponsored by:
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Require DHS and DCF to employ, or contract with, Director of Medical Services; appropriates $480,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on December 19, 2024, with amendments.
An Act concerning abuse, neglect, or exploitation investigations, supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Departments of Human Services and Children and Families shall each create the new position of 1Director of Medical Services1, 1[and hire] which at the discretion of the department may be1 a full-time, salaried 1[, Director of Medical Services] position or a contracted position,1 in the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) in the Department of Human Services and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit in the Department of Children and Families, respectively.
b. The directors shall:
(1) serve as advisors to the Office of Investigations, the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, or any other investigative entity responsible for the investigation of incidences of abuse, neglect, or death pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2010, c.5 (C.30:6D-75) or allegations of child abuse or neglect pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c.437 (C.9:6-8.11) when complex medical issues or conditions exist;
(2) provide expert testimony, and 1[supporting] support1 administrative hearings and other legal proceedings relating to the investigation of incidences of abuse, neglect, or exploitation or allegations of child abuse or neglect; and
(3) review medical policy, procedures, programs, services, and best practices at State developmental centers, residential facilities, and other institutions or organizations that provide care to persons with developmental disabilities in order to:
(a) recommend proposed changes in such policies, programs services, and practices, based on trend analysis data;
(b) improve medical outcomes; and
(c) establish, improve, or expand quality of care standards at such centers, facilities, institutions, or organizations.
c. 1[The directors] Each director1 shall:
(1) be 1[physicians] a physician1 licensed and in good standing in the State;
(2) 1[graduates] be a graduate1 of a regularly chartered and legally constituted medical school or college or osteopathic medical school or college; and
(3) possess such minimum training and experiential requirements as are established by the State Board of Medical Examiners.
1d. In selecting the candidate to fulfill the Director of Medical Services position required under this section, the departments shall give preference to eligible candidates, pursuant to subsection c. of this section, who have experience working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.1
2. There is appropriated from the General Fund the sum of $480,000, of which $240,000 shall be allocated to both the Departments of Human Services and Children and Families to hire 1, or contract with,1 a new Director of Medical Services at the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, respectively.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.