Bill Text: NJ A4183 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes program for recruitment, training, and retention of health care professionals in veterans memorial homes; appropriates $370,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [A4183 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4183-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VICTORIA A. FLYNN
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes program for recruitment, training, and retention of health care professionals in veterans memorial homes; appropriates $370,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a pilot program to recruit, train, and retain health care professionals, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs strives to maintain the highest standards of care for New Jersey veterans in its veterans memorial home care system. However, current labor market conditions make it difficult for the department to recruit and retain registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nurse assistants, and other qualified health care professionals to provide care and service to residents in these nursing homes. It is necessary and appropriate, therefore, that a pilot program be established to increase recruitment, training, and retention of qualified healthcare personnel for these facilities.
2. As used in this act, "health care personnel" means an individual licensed by this State to administer health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession.
3. a. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall establish a two-year pilot program to increase recruitment, training, and retention of qualified nursing and health care personnel at the veterans memorial homes. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development, in consultation with the State Employment and Training Commission and the Department of Health shall create a clinical scholarship program funded by the Workforce Development Partnership Fund.
b. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall reimburse the education costs incurred by certified nurse assistants and other qualified health care personnel employed at veterans memorial homes who are enrolled in an education program to earn their licensed practical nursing diploma, registered nursing degree, or other qualified health care program. As a condition for receiving the reimbursement, an enrollee in the scholarship program shall be required to agree to continue working at a veterans memorial home for at least two years after completing the nursing education program.
c. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall allocate $250,000 of the funds appropriated by this act for the purpose of providing continuing education cost reimbursements to qualified health care personnel enrolled in this pilot program. The reimbursement per semester shall be based on actual costs incurred, capped at the cost of full-time tuition and fees at a New Jersey public college or university, the average of which is currently approximately $7,500 per semester.
d. For any health care personnel who receive the continuing education scholarship grants but do not complete the two-year requirement to work at the veterans home, there will be a reimbursement schedule enforced as follows:
(1) For grant recipients who leave employment within six months, a full repayment of any grant monies received shall be required.
(2) For grant recipients who leave employment after completing six to 12 months of employment, a repayment of 75 percent of the total grant received shall be required.
(3) For grant recipients who leave employment after completing 12 to 18 months of employment, a repayment of 50 percent of the total grant received shall be required.
(4) For grant recipients who leave employment after completing 18 to 23 months of employment, a repayment of 25 percent of the total grant received shall be required.
e. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall establish a list of specialized training and certification programs for health care personnel employed at the veterans homes. The programs shall, at a minimum, train health care personnel on infection control, geriatric care, PTSD management, and trauma-informed care for veterans.
4. a. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall establish a bonus program as an incentive to recruit registered nurses and licensed practical nurses as employees. The bonus shall not exceed $6,000 per registered nurse or licensed practical nurse hired by the department and shall be payable in equal installments over two years. A minimum of six registered nurses or licensed practical nurses shall be recruited in total for the New Jersey Veterans' Memorial Home - Menlo Park, the New Jersey Veterans' Memorial Home - Paramus, and the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home - Vineland.
b. The department shall allocate $120,000 of the funds appropriated by this act for the recruitment bonus program.
5. The Adjutant General
shall report annually to the Governor and the Legislature on the pilot program
and shall include information on the number of qualified professionals who have
requested and received educational cost reimbursements to pursue the education
program, the number of nurses recruited through the bonus program and the
effects these programs have had on increasing recruitment, training, and
retention of qualified health care personnel at the homes. The Adjutant
General may include in the reports any additional information or recommendations
deemed appropriate for legislative action.
6. The Adjutant General shall promulgate 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.
7. There are appropriated from the Workforce Development Partnership Fund to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs a total of $370,000 to effectuate the purposes of this act.
8. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month after enactment and shall expire two years thereafter.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) to establish a two-year pilot program to increase recruitment, training, and retention of qualified health care personnel at the veterans memorial homes in Menlo Park, Paramus, and Vineland. The bill also provides for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, in consultation with the State Employment and Training Commission and the Department of Health to create a clinical scholarship program funded by the Workforce Development Partnership Fund and for establishing recruitment bonuses to be paid to registered nurses or licensed practical nurses hired by the department to work in the veterans memorial homes. The amount of the bonus to each recruit could not exceed $6,000; the bonus would be payable in equal installments over two years.
The bill also requires the DMVA to reimburse the education costs incurred by current employees who pursue education credits to obtain a licensed practical nursing diploma, a registered nursing degree, or another qualified program degree or certificate. As a condition for receiving the reimbursement, participants would have to agree to work for at least two years at a veterans memorial home after obtaining a registered nursing degree or licensed practical nursing certification.
Further, the bill requires the DMVA to establish a list of training and certification programs concerning infection control, geriatric care, PTSD management, and trauma-informed care for veterans for health care personnel employed at the veterans homes.
The bill directs the Adjutant General to report annually on the pilot program to the Governor and to the Legislature's committees on health and budget and appropriations. The report is to include information on the level of participation in the program and on the program's success in increasing recruitment, training, and retention of qualified health care personnel at the homes and make any appropriate recommendations for legislative action.
Finally, the bill appropriates from the Workforce Development Partnership Fund to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs a total of $370,000. Of this amount, $120,000 is allocated to the payment of recruiting bonuses and $250,000 is allocated to the payment of training reimbursements.
