Bill Text: NJ A3624 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DCPP to implement policies and procedures to ensure caseworker safety; "Leah's Law."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Women and Children Committee [A3624 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A3624-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DCPP to implement policies and procedures to ensure caseworker safety; "Leah's Law."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning caseworker safety, designated as Leah's Law, and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families shall implement a caseworker safety intervention plan. The plan shall, at a minimum:
a. establish specific procedures to follow when a caseworker is faced with, and responding to, a situation that poses a threat to the safety and well-being of the caseworker, whether in the local office, in the field, or when making an emergency removal of a child;
b. specify when to request the assistance of the Human Services police officer assigned to the local office and how to initiate such requests; and
c. be posted in a conspicuous place in the local office and a copy of the plan shall be provided to every staff member assigned to that office.
2. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Division of Child Protection and Permanency shall implement policies and procedures to ensure the safety of all staff working at division offices.
The policies and procedures shall address issues of safety in the event that a caseworker receives a threat of violence from a client or is presented with a potentially dangerous situation while working in a local office, investigating a report of child abuse or neglect in the field, or making an emergency removal of a child pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.28).
b. In order to ensure the safety of a caseworker in a local office, the division shall require that:
(1) a Human Services police officer is assigned to every building where a local office is located to provide security and assistance to the caseworkers assigned to the office;
(2) each local office is equipped with a metal detector or metal detector wands to be operated by law enforcement officers;
(3) a panic button be installed in every meeting room in which a caseworker meets with a client; and
(4) at least one meeting room or conference room in each local office is equipped with a two-way mirror located to allow for the observation of the meeting or conference room by the Human Services police officer assigned to the office.
c. In order to ensure the safety of a caseworker while investigating a report of child abuse or neglect in the field or making an emergency removal of a child pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.28), the division shall require that:
(1) a caseworker assigned to a home visit is accompanied by another caseworker if:
(a) a client or a member of the client's family has threatened or harassed the assigned caseworker in the past;
(b) the client or a member of the client's family has a history of violence either documented by a criminal record or by threats of violence against the division or a division employee; or
(c) the caseworker believes the home or the surrounding environment is unsafe;
(2) at the request of a caseworker or the caseworker's supervisor, the Human Services police officer assigned to the caseworker's local office accompanies and assists the caseworker when conducting an investigation or visit or when making an emergency removal; and
(3) the Human Services police officer assigned to a local office is available to a caseworker within 30 minutes of a request to accompany and assist a caseworker pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, except that in an emergency situation, the officer shall be immediately available to accompany and assist the caseworker.
d. Nothing in paragraph (1) of subsection c. of this section shall be construed to prohibit the division, at the request of a caseworker or the caseworker's supervisor, from requiring that a Human Services police officer assigned to the caseworker's local office accompany or assist the caseworker while investigating a report of child abuse or neglect in the field or making an emergency removal of a child, if appropriate.
3. The Department of Children and Families shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the purposes of this act.
4. Section 1 of this act shall take effect immediately, and section 2 shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following enactment except that the commissioner may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill, designated as "Leah's Law," requires the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families to implement a caseworker safety intervention plan. The bill provides that the plan is to, at a minimum: establish specific procedures to follow when a caseworker is faced with, and responding to, a situation that poses a threat to the safety and well-being of the caseworker, whether in the local office, in the field, or when making an emergency removal of a child; specify when to request the assistance of the Human Services police officer assigned to the local office and how to initiate such requests; and be posted in a conspicuous place in the local office and a copy of the plan would be provided to every staff member assigned to that office.
The bill requires the division to implement policies and procedures to ensure the safety of every caseworker employed by the division. The policies and procedures are to address issues of safety when a caseworker receives a threat of violence from a client, or is presented with a potentially dangerous situation while working in a local office, investigating a report of child abuse or neglect in the field, or making an emergency removal of a child pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.28).
The bill provides that, in order to ensure the safety of a caseworker in a local office, the division is to require that: a Human Services police officer be assigned to every building where a local office is located to provide security and assistance to the caseworkers assigned to the office; each local office be equipped with a metal detector or metal detector wands operated by law enforcement officers; a panic button be installed in every meeting room in which a caseworker meets with a client; and at least one meeting or conference room in each local office be equipped with a two-way mirror located to allow for the observation of the room by the Human Services police officer assigned to the office.
The bill also provides that, in order to ensure the safety of a caseworker while investigating a report of child abuse or neglect in the field or when making an emergency removal of a child, the division is to require: 1) a caseworker assigned to a home visit to be accompanied by another caseworker if certain conditions delineated in the bill are met; 2) at the request of a caseworker or the caseworker's supervisor, the Human Services police officer assigned to the caseworker's local office is to accompany and assist the caseworker when conducting an investigation or visit, or when making an emergency removal; and 3) the Human Services police officer assigned to a local office is to be available to a caseworker within 30 minutes of a request to accompany and assist the caseworker, except that in an emergency situation, the officer would be immediately available.
The bill stipulates that while a caseworker, who is investigating a report of child abuse or neglect or making an emergency removal, is assigned to a home visit and is accompanied by another caseworker, nothing would prohibit the division, at the request of the caseworker or supervisor, from requiring a Human Services police officer assigned to the local office to accompany or assist the caseworker.
