Bill Text: NJ A3653 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DHS to develop specific criteria for eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-09-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee [A3653 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A3653-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DHS to develop specific criteria for eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning individuals with developmental disabilities 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 Legislature finds and declares that:
a. For many years, individuals with developmental disabilities have been residing in community settings and relying on the services of adult day health services facilities, which provide preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services under medical and nursing supervision;
b. However, the assessment instrument and State regulations which are currently used for determining eligibility for services from adult day health services facilities are geared toward eligibility of geriatric populations;
c. Moreover, many more individuals with developmental disabilities will need the services of adult day health services facilities as more individuals reside in community settings as a result of the implementation by the Department of Human Services of the State's Olmstead plan, developed pursuant to P.L.2006, c.61, the recent closure of North Jersey Developmental Center, and the anticipated closure of Woodbridge Developmental Center in 2015;
d. The current eligibility standards established by State regulations and the assessment instrument are not appropriate to measure the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities, many of whom have been or will be denied eligibility based on standards that apply to the needs of the elderly rather than individuals with developmental disabilities; and
e. The establishment and use of new criteria, specific to determining eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities, will enable individuals with developmental disabilities to receive the services they need to reside in the community.
2. a. The Commissioner of Human Services, or the commissioner's designee, shall collaborate with representatives from The Arc of New Jersey, the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities to establish criteria specific to determining clinical eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities licensed by the Department of Health.
b. The criteria shall be established no later than three months after the effective date of this act.
3. Upon the establishment of the criteria pursuant to section 2 of this act, the commissioner shall utilize the criteria to develop an assessment instrument and shall adopt regulations based on the criteria, both of which shall be used to determine clinical eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities.
4. An individual with a developmental disability who has been found to be clinically ineligible for services from an adult day health services facility, prior to the development of the assessment instrument and adoption of regulations pursuant to section 3 of this act, shall be eligible to reapply for services from an adult day health services facility based on the assessment instrument developed, and regulations adopted, pursuant to section 3 of this act
5. The Commissioner of Human Services 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.
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill concerns adult day health services and individuals with developmental disabilities, and requires the Commissioner of Human Services to develop an assessment instrument and adopt regulations based on criteria specific to individuals with developmental disabilities for use in determining clinical eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities.
Under the bill, the commissioner is to collaborate with representatives from The Arc of New Jersey, the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities to establish the criteria specific to determining clinical eligibility of individuals with developmental disabilities for services from adult day health services facilities. The criteria is to be established no later than three months after the effective date of the bill.
The bill also provides that an individual with a developmental disability who has been found to be clinically ineligible for services from an adult day health services facility, prior to the development of the assessment instrument and adoption of regulations pursuant to the bill, is eligible to reapply based on the newly developed assessment instrument and newly adopted regulations.
