Bill Text: NJ S2589 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DOH to establish pilot program to test feasibility of increasing number of contracted early intervention service providers in areas experiencing significant population growth.*
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-12-10 - Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Women and Children Committee [S2589 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S2589-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DOH to increase the number of contracted early intervention service providers in areas experiencing significant population growth.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning early intervention services and service providers, and amending P.L.1993, c.309.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1993, c.309 (C.26:1A-36.7) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. The Department of Health, in conjunction with the Departments of Education and Human Services, shall establish a Statewide system of early intervention services for eligible infants and toddlers from birth to age two, inclusive, with physical, cognitive, communication, social, or emotional, and adaptive developmental delays or disabilities in accordance with Part [H] C of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," Pub.L.91-230, as amended by Pub.L.108-446 (20 U.S.C. s.[1471] 1431 et seq.).
b. If the system of early intervention services established hereunder places a limit on the number of entities that may be contracted to provide early intervention services in each county or municipality of the State, the Department of Health shall: (1) increase the limit, and add additional slots, for early intervention service providers in any county or municipality, as the case may be, which has experienced significant population growth, at a rate of 25 percent or more over a five-year period; and (2) facilitate a timely and suitable increase in the number of entities that are contracted to provide early intervention services therein.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.17, s.96)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would provide for an increase in the number of entities that are contracted to provide early intervention services in counties or municipalities that have experienced recent and significant population growth.
Existing law provides the Department of Health (and the Departments of Education and Human Services, in a consulting role) with wide latitude to establish a Statewide system of early intervention services, and determine the parameters of such a system, in accordance with guidelines established under federal law. The bill would limit the departments' latitude, in this regard, in respect to the establishment of maximum caps on service provider contracts. Pursuant to the bill's provisions, if the Statewide system of early intervention services established under existing law places a limit on the number of entities that may be contracted to provide early intervention services in each county or municipality of the State, the Department of Health will be required to: (1) increase the limit, and add more slots, for early intervention service providers in any county or municipality, as the case may be, which has experienced significant population growth, at a rate of 25 percent or more over a five-year period; and (2) facilitate a timely and suitable increase in the number of entities that are contracted to provide early intervention services therein.
The bill would also update the citational reference to the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA), which appears in the State's early intervention services law, since the federal government, in 2004, amended IDEA to change the numbering of the sections and parts of federal law under which early intervention programs are authorized.
