Bill Text: NJ S4093 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires regional diagnostic and treatment center for child abuse and neglect to establish mobile team to respond to certain hospital requests to perform forensic child abuse examinations.
Spectrum: Unknown
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-03 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S4093 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S4093-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator CARMEN F. AMATO, JR.
District 9 (Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires regional diagnostic and treatment center for child abuse and neglect to establish mobile team to respond to certain hospital requests to perform forensic child abuse examinations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning hospital-based investigations of child abuse and neglect, amending P.L.1998, c.19, and supplementing Title 9 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1998, c.19 (C.9:6-8.100) is amended to read as follows:
2. Each center shall demonstrate a multidisciplinary approach to identifying and responding to child abuse and neglect. The center staff shall include, at a minimum, a pediatrician, a consulting psychiatrist, a psychologist and a social worker who are trained to evaluate and treat children who have been abused or neglected and their families. Each center shall establish a liaison with the district office of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families and the prosecutor's office from the county in which the child who is undergoing evaluation and treatment resides. At least one member of the staff shall also have an appropriate professional credential or significant training and experience in the identification and treatment of substance use disorder.
Each center shall establish a mobile team of multidisciplinary professionals, which team shall be available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, to respond to a hospital's request, made in accordance with subsection a. of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to perform a forensic child abuse examination on a pediatric patient. A forensic child abuse examination requested by a hospital under this section shall be performed by the mobile team at the requesting hospital. The Commissioner of Children and Families, in consultation with the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, shall determine the number and types of staff required to compose a center's mobile team.
Each center shall develop: an intake, referral and case tracking process which assists the division and prosecutor's office in assuring that child victims receive appropriate and timely diagnostic and treatment services; and a method by which a hospital may contact the center associated with the county in which the hospital is located to request, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, a forensic child abuse examination of a pediatric patient by the center's mobile team.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.177, s.22)
2. Section 3 of P.L.1998, c.19 (C.9:6-8.101) is amended to read as follows:
3. The regional centers shall: evaluate and treat child abuse and neglect; be resources for the region and develop additional resources within the region; provide training and consultative services; upon the request of a hospital, made in accordance with subsection a. of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), dispatch a mobile team to the requesting hospital to perform a forensic child abuse examination of a pediatric patient; and be available for emergency phone consultation 24 hours a day. The centers shall also be a source for research and training for additional medical and mental health personnel dedicated to the identification and treatment of child abuse and neglect.
The regional center may charge a sliding scale fee for services provided under this act.
(cf: P.L.1998, c.19, s.3)
3. (New section) a. Notwithstanding any State law or regulation to the contrary, a hospital licensed in the State shall be required to contact the regional diagnostic and treatment center for child abuse and neglect, as established pursuant to P.L.1998, c.19 (C.9:6-8.99 et seq.), associated with the county in which the hospital is located and request a forensic child abuse evaluation of a pediatric patient, to be performed at the hospital by the center's mobile team, if:
(1) the patient is under the age of 13; the patient has been referred to the hospital by a school nurse, pediatrician, health care provider, parent, or relative for an investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect; and the patient's alleged perpetrator of abuse or neglect is a caregiver; or
(2) the patient is under the age of 13; the patient presents with any injury that is inconsistent with any account provided describing the circumstances that led to that injury or with the activity typical for the developmental level of that child; and the patient's alleged perpetrator of abuse or neglect is a caregiver.
b. A hospital licensed in the State shall be required to ensure that all hospital emergency department staff participate in a training program, selected by Department of Children and Families in consultation with the Attorney General, regarding the identification and reporting of diagnosed or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. Emergency department staff shall be required to participate in the training program upon the commencement of employment in the hospital emergency department, and annually thereafter.
4. (New section) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Children and Families, for distribution to the State's regional diagnostic and treatment centers for child abuse and neglect, as established pursuant to P.L.1998, c.19 (C.9:6-8.99 et seq.), such sums as deemed necessary by the Commissioner of Children and Families to effectuate the provisions of this act regarding the establishment of a mobile team by each center.
5. This act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment, except that the Commissioner of Children and Families may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a regional diagnostic and treatment center for child abuse and neglect to establish a mobile team to respond to certain hospital requests to perform forensic child abuse examinations on pediatric patients. The bill also appropriates State funds to support the establishment of the mobile teams. Currently, pursuant to State law, there are four such State-designated multidisciplinary centers designed to support the evaluation and treatment of abused and neglected children within a specific county-based region of the State. Services provided by these centers are largely center-based.
Under the bill, each center is required to establish a mobile team of multidisciplinary professionals. The team is to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, to respond to a hospital's request, made in accordance with the provisions of the bill, to perform a forensic child abuse examination on a pediatric patient at the requesting hospital. Each center is also to develop a method by which a hospital may contact the center's mobile team to make a request for services. The bill provides that the Commissioner of Children and Families, in consultation with the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, is to determine the number and types of staff required to compose a center's mobile team.
The bill mandates that a hospital licensed in the State is to contact the center associated with the county in which the hospital is located and request a forensic child abuse evaluation of a pediatric patient, to be performed at the hospital by the center's mobile team, if:
1) the patient is under the age of 13; the patient has been referred to the hospital by a school nurse, pediatrician, health care provider, parent, or relative for an investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect; and the patient's alleged perpetrator of abuse or neglect is a caregiver; or
2) the patient is under the age of 13; the patient presents with any injury that is inconsistent with any account provided describing the circumstances that led to that injury or with the activity typical for the developmental level of that child; and the patient's alleged perpetrator of abuse or neglect is a caregiver.
The bill also requires hospitals to ensure that all emergency department staff participate in an annual training program, selected by Department of Children and Families in consultation with the Attorney General, regarding the identification and reporting of diagnosed or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. This provision codifies an existing requirement at N.J.A.C.8:43G-2.13, which directs hospitals to provide identical training to appropriate persons.
