Bill Text: NJ A5344 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Senior Social Isolation Prevention and Mental Health Access Act"; makes $1.8 million appropriation.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-28 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee [A5344 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5344-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BRIAN BERGEN
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Senior Social Isolation Prevention and Mental Health Access Act"; makes $1.8 million appropriation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning social isolation and the mental health of senior citizens, 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. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Senior Social Isolation Prevention and Mental Health Access Act."
2. a. There is established in the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services the NJ Senior Connection Program, a grant program that provides funds to eligible county-based organizations to support friendly visitor programs, telephone reassurance services, and digital literacy programs targeting socially isolated senior citizens.
b. Eligible organizations for the grant program shall include county welfare agencies, county boards of social services, county offices of aging, and any other county-based organization deemed appropriate by the Director of the Division of Aging Services.
c. The Director of the Division of Aging Services shall establish an application process by which an eligible county-based organization may apply for a grant under this section. Applications shall be evaluated on the following criteria:
(1) the effectiveness of the proposed plan to facilitate social interaction for senior citizens;
(2) how the proposed plan will specifically target socially isolated senior citizens who are homebound or underserved by currently available programs;
(3) the proposed plan's efforts to continuously engage and retain participants;
(4) the outreach plan to notify socially isolated and homebound senior citizens about the proposed program; and
(5) how the proposed program's progress and benchmarks will be measured.
d. Grant amounts shall be determined based upon the criteria outlined in subsection c. of this section and the availability of funds for the program.
e. Grant recipients shall be required to submit a report to the Division of Aging Services no later than 12 months following the receipt of grant funds. The report shall, at a minimum, include the number of participants in the program, to date; any collected deidentified outcomes data; and the total cost of the program from all funding sources, to date.
3. a. There is established in the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services a grant program to support senior centers in developing mental health screening programs for senior citizens.
b. The Director of the Division of Aging Services shall establish an application process by which senior centers may apply for a grant under this section. Only newly established mental health screening programs shall be eligible for funds under the grant program. Eligible uses of grant funds may include staff training to recognize signs of mental health problems, staff expansion to include onsite mental health professionals, implementation of standardized mental health questionnaire tools, or the development of strategic partnerships with off-site mental health providers. Grant applicants shall be evaluated on the sustainability of the proposed screening program and the potential size of the program's impact.
d. Grant amounts shall be determined based upon the criteria outlined in subsection b. of this section and the availability of funds for the program.
e. Grant recipients shall be required to submit a report to the Division of Aging Services no later than 12 months following the receipt of grant funds. The report shall, at a minimum, include the number of senior citizens screened under the program, to date; any collected deidentified outcomes data; and the total cost of the program from all funding sources, to date.
4. a. There is established in the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services a three-year Social Prescribing Pilot Program. Under the program, participating health care providers shall formally refer patients 65 years of age or older, via a method that reflects standard prescription practices, to non-medical community activities to improve overall well-being and to mitigate social isolation.
b. The Director of the Division of Aging Services shall select five counties in the State, with at least one county representing the northern, central, and southern portion of the State, in which to implement the pilot program.
c. The pilot program shall be open to all licensed primary care physicians in the selected counties who serve patients 65 years of age and older; however, a physician shall be required to register with the division to participate in the program.
d. The Director of the Division of Aging Services shall establish guidelines that all participating physicians shall be required to follow when issuing a referral under the pilot program. These guidelines, at a minimum, shall include screening, referral, and follow-up procedures.
e. In implementing the pilot program, the Division of Aging Services and participating physicians shall prioritize issuing referrals that do not shift any cost to the patient.
f. No later than six months after the conclusion of the pilot program, each participating physician shall report to the division the following information:
(1) the number of patients who participated in the program;
(2) the number of individual referrals distributed under the pilot program, disaggregated by category of referral;
(3) deidentified outcomes data regarding patients who participated in the program;
(4) any other information required by the Director of the Division of Aging Services.
g. No later than 12 months after the conclusion of the pilot program, the division shall submit a report to the Governor and to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1, providing a summary of the pilot program and any recommendations for its continued implementation.
5. The Commissioner of Human Services shall expand the Statewide Respite Care Program, as established pursuant to P.L.1987, c.119 (C.30:4F-7 et seq.), to include a separate and distinct allocation of funds, as determined by the formula outlined in section 3 of P.L.1987, c.119 (C.30:4F-9), to each county or region solely to support the delivery of respite services to caregivers of dementia patients.
6. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services the sum of $1,800,000 to implement the provisions of section 5 of this act.
7. All of the sections of this act shall take effect immediately, except for section 4, which shall take effect 180 days after the effective date of the act and shall expire upon the submission of the report pursuant to subsection g. of section 4. The Director of the Division of Aging Services may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of section 4 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the "Senior Social Isolation Prevention and Mental Health Access Act," and implements several initiatives in the Department of Human Services designed to support the emotional well-being of senior citizens living in the State.
The bill creates three new programs in the Division of Aging Services. The NJ Senior Connection Program is a grant program that provides funds to eligible county-based organizations to support friendly visitor programs, telephone reassurance services, and digital literacy programs targeting socially isolated senior citizens. Applications under this program are to be evaluated based upon the effectiveness of the proposed plan to facilitate social interaction for senior citizens; how the proposed plan will specifically target socially isolated senior citizens who are homebound or underserved by currently available programs; the proposed plan's efforts to continuously engage and retain participants; the outreach plan to notify socially isolated and homebound senior citizens about the proposed program; and how the proposed program's progress and benchmarks will be measured.
A second grant program supports senior centers in developing newly established mental health screening programs for senior citizens. Eligible uses of grant funds under this program include staff training to recognize signs of mental health problems, staff expansion to include onsite mental health professionals, implementation of standardized mental health questionnaire tools, or the development of strategic partnerships with off-site mental health providers. Grant applicants are to be evaluated on the sustainability of the proposed screening program and the potential size of the program's impact.
The final program is the Social Prescribing Pilot Program, a temporary three-year program in which participating health care providers formally refer patients 65 years of age or older, via a method that reflects standard prescription practices, to non-medical community activities--such as art classes, volunteering, and group exercise--to improve overall well-being and to mitigate social isolation. The pilot program is to be open to all licensed primary care physicians who serve senior citizens in the five counties selected by the Director of the Division of Aging Services to participate in the program. A physician, however, is required to register with the division to participate in the program. The bill also requires the Director of the Division of Aging Services to establish program guidelines regarding screening, referral, and follow-up procedures. Additionally, in implementing the pilot program, the division and participating physicians are to prioritize issuing referrals that do not shift any cost to the patient.
In addition to these programs, the bill also requires the Commissioner of Human Services to expand the existing Statewide Respite Care Program to include a separate and distinct allocation of funds to each county or region solely to support the delivery of respite services to caregivers of dementia patients. The bill appropriates $1.8 million from the General Fund for these purposes. The Statewide Respite Care Program gives a short-term or periodic break to caregivers from the demands of daily care for functionally impaired persons, including older adults. Program participants pay for services using a sliding scale, based on the care recipient's income.
