Bill Text: NJ S4477 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes provision of residential mental health services in residential substance use disorders treatment facility or program under specified hospital affiliation and clinical support criteria.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5)
Status: (Enrolled) 2026-06-30 - Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (79-0-0) [S4477 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S4477-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes provision of residential mental health services in residential substance use disorders treatment facility or program under specified hospital affiliation and clinical support criteria.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning residential mental health services and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey faces a significant and growing population of individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders who often require coordinated, sub-acute residential treatment of an acuity level that falls between traditional inpatient psychiatric hospitalization and outpatient community care.
b. The absence of a statutory mechanism for a residential substance use disorder treatment facility or program to deliver structured mental health services under formal hospital affiliation leads to fragmented care, unnecessary transfers, emergency department boarding, and increased cost to the health care system.
c. Hospital partnerships provide clinical oversight, medical staffing, and quality infrastructure necessary to ensure safety and effectiveness of sub-acute residential mental health treatment.
d. Therefore, it is in the public interest to authorize certain licensed residential substance use disorders treatment facilities or programs to offer residential mental health treatment services under clear statutory affiliation and support criteria.
2. As used in this act:
"Clinical and medical support" means ongoing oversight and participation by psychiatric and medical personnel of a hospital, which has entered into a formal affiliation contractual agreement, in the assessment, treatment planning, medication management, and quality assurance activities of the affiliated residential substance use disorders treatment facility or program.
"Formal hospital affiliation" means a written contractual agreement between a residential substance use disorders treatment facility or program and a general acute care hospital licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) that provides inpatient psychiatric services, a State psychiatric hospital listed in R.S.30:1-7, or a county psychiatric hospital licensed to operate in the State.
"Residential mental health treatment services" means mental health services consistent with the Level of Care Utilization System (LOCUS), or other nationally recognized mental health placement criteria, provided in a 24-hour structured, residential environment for individuals whose needs do not require inpatient hospitalization, and delivered for time-limited episodes with the goal of stabilizing the individual and transitioning them to lower levels of care.
"Residential substance use disorders treatment facility or program" or "facility or program" shall have the same meaning as set forth in N.J.A.C.8:111-1.3.
3. a. Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, a licensed residential substance use disorders facility or program that maintains a formal hospital affiliation and receives clinical and medical support from that hospital, consistent with this act, shall be permitted to provide residential mental health treatment services as a distinct program component. A facility or program providing residential mental health treatment services under this act shall be subject to all existing State law and regulation regarding the provision of residential mental health treatment services, including the Department of Health's survey and enforcement authority.
b. A formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement in compliance with this act shall:
(1) establish joint clinical governance, including participation by hospital medical staff in the oversight of the residential mental health treatment services program component;
(2) provide for shared clinical policies, procedures, and treatment protocols, including medication management and psychiatric consultation;
(3) ensure 24-hour on-call coverage for psychiatric and medical consultation;
(4) include provisions for timely transfer to inpatient care when clinically indicated;
(5) provide for participation by the hospital in the facility or program's quality assessment and performance improvement activities; and
(6) define responsibilities for training, emergency response, and clinical escalation.
c. A facility or program meeting the criteria in this act shall file a copy of the formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement with the Department of Health. Any termination or material amendment to the formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement shall be promptly filed with the department. Upon termination of a formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement, the facility or program shall cease admitting new patients to the residential mental health treatment service program component, except that the facility or program may complete the treatment plan for any patient admitted to the residential mental health treatment service program component prior to the termination of the formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement.
4. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill permits a licensed residential substance use disorders facility or program (facility or program), that maintains a formal hospital affiliation and receives clinical and medical support from that hospital, to provide residential mental health treatment services as a distinct program component. The bill defines a "formal hospital affiliation" as a written contractual agreement between a facility or program and a general acute care hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services or a State or county psychiatric hospital. Additionally, the phrase "clinical and medical support" is defined to mean the ongoing oversight and participation by psychiatric and medical personnel of a hospital, which has entered into a formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement, in the assessment, treatment planning, medication management, and quality assurance activities of the affiliated facility or program. It is the sponsor's goal that this bill will help address the needs of individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders who often require coordinated, sub-acute residential treatment of an acuity level that falls between traditional inpatient psychiatric hospitalization and outpatient community care.
A formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement in compliance with the bill is required to: 1) establish joint clinical governance; 2) provide for shared clinical policies, procedures, and treatment protocols; 3) ensure 24-hour on-call coverage for consultation; 4) include provisions for timely transfer to inpatient care; 5) provide for participation by the hospital in the facility or program's quality assessment and performance improvement activities; and 6) define responsibilities for training, emergency response, and clinical escalation. The bill directs a facility or program meeting the criteria in this bill to file a copy of the contractual agreement, as well as any subsequent termination or material amendment to that agreement, with the Department of Health. Upon termination of a contractual agreement, the bill provides that a facility or program is to cease admitting new patients to the residential mental health treatment service program component.
Under the bill, a facility or program providing residential mental health treatment services is subject to all existing State law and regulation regarding the provision of residential mental health treatment services, including the Department of Health's survey and enforcement authority.
