Bill Text: NJ S2904 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes task force to evaluate discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning persons, and persons with intersex conditions, in long-term care, and recommend ways to reduce or eliminate such discrimination.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S2904 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S2904-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JENNIFER BECK
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes task force to evaluate discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning persons, and persons with intersex conditions, in long-term care, and recommend ways to reduce or eliminate such discrimination.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act creating a task force to address discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning persons, and persons with intersex conditions, in long-term care facilities and communities.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
a. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning persons, and persons with intersex conditions ("LGBTQI persons"), often face challenges and barriers in accessing needed health care services, which challenges and barriers, together with the stigma and discrimination faced in daily life, can lead the LGBTQI population to experience worse health outcomes than those experienced by the general population.
b. The specific challenges and barriers faced by LGBTQI persons in accessing needed health care services include stigmatization, discrimination, and inequality based upon the person's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
c. Other barriers to adequate health care stem from federal and State policies on health insurance coverage and employee benefits, and the fact that there is a lack of health care professionals who are trained to provide culturally and clinically competent health care services to LGBTQI persons.
d. LGBTQI persons face these barriers to health care while simultaneously experiencing other stigma and discrimination that, in and of itself, creates poorer health outcomes. Research has consistently shown that LGBTQI persons, as a group, experience higher rates of family abandonment and homelessness, more severe and punitive forms of school discipline, greater contact with the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and higher rates of poverty and unemployment than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.
e. Every expert medical and psychological body has asserted that neither same-sex attraction nor cross-gender identification are indicative of mental illness or psychopathology, and although LGBTQI persons, as a group, suffer from higher levels of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidality than their non-LGBTQI peers, these conditions are often the result of, or are exacerbated by, the stigma and discrimination that is experienced by this population.
f. As a result of the lack of adequate health care access and the enduring stigma and discrimination experienced by LGBTQI persons in daily life, the LGBTQI community also suffers from higher rates of HIV/AIDS, higher rates of chronic health conditions, and higher rates of physical and sexual violence than members of the non-LGBTQI community.
g. LGBTQI senior citizens are less likely to have adult children or extended family who can act as advocates and caregivers, and these seniors, therefore, are often required to engage more frequently with health care providers than their non-LGBTQI peers; however, a significant number of LGBTQI seniors report delaying or foregoing needed health care because they fear discrimination.
h. It is in the public interest for the Legislature to establish a task force to study and make recommendations concerning the health care service needs of the State's LGBTQI community, in order to better ensure that all New Jersey citizens, regardless of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, have equal opportunity to access quality health care services.
2 a. There is hereby established the "New Jersey Task Force on LGBTQI Discrimination in Long-Term Care." The task force shall collect and analyze all relevant data to determine the nature, extent, and impact of LGBTQI discrimination occurring in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and community care retirement communities throughout the State, and shall recommend strategies to reduce, eliminate, or otherwise proactively address, such discrimination and the effects thereof. As used in this section, "LGBTQI discrimination" means any prejudicial, biased, or inequitable speech or conduct that is directed at or against, or is undertaken in relation to, a resident of a nursing home, assisted living facility, or community care retirement community, on the basis of that resident's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and, in particular, the resident's actual or perceived status as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer or questioning person, or as a person with an intersex condition.
b. The task force shall consist of nine members, including: the Director of the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services, or the director's designee, who shall serve ex officio; the State Attorney General, or the Attorney General's designee, who shall serve ex officio; and seven public members, to be appointed by the Governor, as follows: (1) a representative of Garden State Equality; (2) a representative of the Pride Center of New Jersey; (3) a representative of Hyacinth AIDS Foundation; (4) a representative of the AARP; (5) a representative of an assisted living facility; (6) a representative of a nursing home; and (7) a representative of a continuing care retirement community. Any vacancy in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner provided for the original appointments.
c. The members of the task force shall be appointed within 60 days after the effective date of this act, and the task force shall hold its initial organizational meeting as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days, after the appointment of its members. The task force shall select a chairperson from among its members, and shall meet and hold hearings at such places and times as the chairperson may designate. The chairperson may appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
d. The members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.
e. The Department of Human Services shall provide professional and clerical staff to the task force as may be necessary for the task force's purposes. The task force shall also be entitled to call upon the services of any State, county, or municipal department, board, commission, or agency, as may be available to it for its purposes.
f. In executing its duties under this act, the task force shall consult with associations, organizations, and individuals who are knowledgeable about LGBTQI discrimination.
g. The task force may solicit and receive grants or other funds that are made available for its purposes by any governmental, public, private, not-for-profit, or for-profit agency, including funds that are made available under any federal or State law, regulation, or program.
h. Within 12 months after the task force's organizational meeting, which is held in accordance with the timeframe specified by subsection c. of this section, the task force shall submit a written report to the Governor, and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature. The report shall contain: (1) the task force's findings regarding the nature and extent of LGBTQI discrimination taking place in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and community care retirement communities in the State, including the factors and circumstances that contribute to, encourage, or facilitate such discrimination, and the nature and severity of effects stemming from such discrimination; and (2) the task force's recommendations for legislative and other action that may be undertaken to proactively address and minimize the causes and effects of LGBTQI discrimination in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and continuing care retirement communities throughout the State, and otherwise reduce or eliminate LGBTQI discrimination occurring in those facilities and communities. The task force shall dissolve 30 days after it submits the report required by this subsection.
3. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall expire on the 30th day after the task force submits its written report pursuant to subsection h. of section 1 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would establish a "New Jersey Task Force on LGBTQI Discrimination in Long-Term Care," which would collect and analyze relevant data to determine the nature, extent, and impact of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer or questioning persons, or against persons with an intersex condition ("LGBTQI discrimination"), which is occurring in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and community care retirement communities throughout the State, and recommend strategies to reduce, eliminate, or otherwise proactively address, such discrimination and the effects thereof.
The task force would consist of nine members, including: the Director of the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services, or the director's designee, who would serve ex officio; the State Attorney General, or the Attorney General's designee, who would serve ex officio; and seven public members, to be appointed by the Governor, as follows: (1) a representative of Garden State Equality; (2) a representative of the Pride Center of New Jersey; (3) a representative of Hyacinth AIDS Foundation; (4) a representative of the AARP; (5) a representative of an assisted living facility; (6) a representative of a nursing home; and (7) a representative of a continuing care retirement community. Any vacancy in the membership of the task force is to be filled in the same manner provided for the original appointments.
The members of the task force would need to be appointed within 60 days after the bill's effective date, and the task force would be required to hold its initial organizational meeting as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days, after the appointment of its members. The task force is to select a chairperson from among its members, and is to meet and hold hearings at such places and times as the chairperson may designate. The chairperson may also appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
The members of the task force would serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes. The Department of Human Services would be required to provide professional and clerical staff to the task force as may be necessary for the task force's purposes, and the task force would further be entitled to call upon the services of any State, county, or municipal department, board, commission, or agency, as may be available to it for its purposes.
In executing its duties, the task force would be required to consult with associations, organizations, and individuals who are knowledgeable about LGBTQI discrimination.
The task force would be authorized to solicit and receive grants or other funds that are made available for its purposes by any governmental, public, private, not-for-profit, or for-profit agency, including funds that are made available under any federal or State law, regulation, or program.
The bill would require the task force, within 12 months after its organizational meeting, to submit a written report to the Governor and the Legislature, identifying: (1) the task force's findings regarding the nature and extent of LGBTQI discrimination taking place at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and community care retirement communities in the State, including the factors and circumstances that contribute to, encourage, or facilitate such discrimination, and the nature and severity of effects stemming from such discrimination; and (2) the task force's recommendations for legislative and other action that may be undertaken to proactively address and minimize the causes and effects of LGBTQI discrimination in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and continuing care retirement communities throughout the State, and otherwise reduce or eliminate LGBTQI discrimination occurring in those facilities and communities. The task force would dissolve 30 days after the task force submits its report.
