Bill Text: NJ S2269 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Appropriates $15,000,000 to DCA for purpose of providing grants to DCF and DHS to establish a workforce development and job retention and advancement services grant program for mental health care and behavioral health care providers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S2269 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S2269-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator SAMUEL D. THOMPSON
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Appropriates $15,000,000 to DCA for purpose of providing grants to DCF and DHS to establish a workforce development and job retention and advancement services grant program for mental health care and behavioral health care providers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning mental health care and behavioral health care providers and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Children and Families and the Department of Human Services, in collaboration with the Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation in the Department of Community Affairs, shall establish a workforce development supports and job retention and advancement services grant program for the purpose of providing grants to mental health care and behavioral health care providers employed by, or contracted with, the departments.
b. The purpose of the grants shall be to provide funding and resources allowing mental health care and behavioral health care providers employed by, or contracted with the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Human Services to hire, train, and retain mental health care and behavioral health care workers. The grants shall be allocated, on a rolling basis, to the providers within 45 days of the departments' receipt of a complete qualifying application in accordance with application procedures and requirements prescribed by the departments.
c. No more than 2.5 percent of the funds appropriated for this purpose under section 2 of this act, subject to the division's review and approval, shall be utilized by the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Human Services for organizational, administrative, and other work and services, including salaries, equipment, services, and materials necessary to administer the activities authorized by this subsection.
The Department of Children and Families and the Department of Human Services shall each enter into a memorandum of understanding or grant agreement, as applicable, with the division to effectuate the purposes of this subsection, to establish appropriate administrative costs, and to ensure compliance with federal rules and guidance, including with respect to the "American Rescue Plan Act," Pub.L.117-2.
d. The division shall be the State's grant manager for federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds," and is responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable federal rules and regulations for this act, including, but not limited to, submitting all required reporting and documentation to the United States Department of the Treasury in accordance with federal rules, including with respect to the "American Rescue Plan Act," Pub.L.117-2. As the State's grant manager for federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds," the division shall require funds for organizational, administrative, and other work and services, including salaries, services, equipment, and materials necessary to administer the applicable provisions of this act.
e. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section to the contrary, the division may transfer the uncommitted balance of any funds made available pursuant to section 2 of this act for any use authorized under this act. The division shall submit notice to the Joint Budget Oversight Committee no less than five calendar days before the date of the transfer. The notice shall indicate the amount of the transferred funds and the purpose for which the funds are transferred.
2. There is appropriated to the Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation in the Department of Community Affairs $15,000,000 in federal funds allocated to the State from the federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund" established pursuant to the federal "American Rescue Plan Act", Pub.L.117-2, and such amounts shall be made available to the Department of Children and Families and Department of Human Services, as applicable, to implement the provisions of section 1 of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill appropriates to the Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation in the Department of Community Affairs $15,000,000 in federal funds allocated to the State from the federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund" established pursuant to the federal "American Rescue Plan Act" to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Department of Human Services (DHS), as applicable, to establish a workforce development supports and job retention and advancement services grant program for providing grants to mental health care and behavioral health care providers employed by, or contracted with, the departments.
The purpose of the grants are to provide funding and resources allowing mental health care and behavioral health care providers employed by, or contracted with the DCF or the DHS to hire, train, and retain mental health care and behavioral health care workers. The grants are to be allocated, on a rolling basis, to the providers within 45 days of the departments' receipt of a complete qualifying application in accordance with application procedures and requirements prescribed by the DCF and DHS.
Not more than 2.5 percent of these funds are to be utilized by the DCF or the DHS, as applicable, for organizational, administrative, and other work and services, including salaries, equipment, services, and materials necessary to administer the activities authorized by the bill.
The DCF and the DHS are each to enter into a memorandum of understanding or grant agreement, as applicable, with the division to effectuate the purposes of bill, to establish appropriate administrative costs, and to ensure compliance with federal rules and guidance, including with respect to the "American Rescue Plan Act," Pub.L.117-2.
The bill provides that the division will be the State's grant manager for federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds," and is responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable federal rules and regulations for bill, including, but not limited to, submitting all required reporting and documentation to the United States Department of the Treasury in accordance with federal rules, including with respect to the "American Rescue Plan Act," Pub.L.117-2.
As the State's grant manager for federal "Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds," the division will require funds for organizational, administrative, and other work and services, including salaries, services, equipment, and materials necessary to administer oversee the applicable provisions of the bill.
The bill stipulates that the division may transfer the uncommitted balance of any funds made available pursuant to the bill for any use authorized under the bill, and provide notice to the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, no less than five calendar days before the date of the transfer, indicating the amount of the transferred funds and the purpose for which the funds are transferred.
It is the sponsor's preference that the grant programs established pursuant the bill to be implemented in a similar fashion, as is practical and appropriate, to those established under P.L.2021, c.144, which established a child care revitalization fund to provide certain supports to licensed child care providers including, but not limited to, funding workforce development supports for providers and their employees.
