Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Overrides Governor's line-item veto reduction of appropriation for the Court Appointed Special Advocates in the Department of Children and Families.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution overriding a line-item veto of an appropriation for Court Appointed Special Advocates in the Department of Children and Families.
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):
1. That the following line-item of appropriation, on page 31 of Senate Bill No. 4000 of 2011 (P.L.2011, c.85) which was the subject of objection by the Governor in the Governor's veto statement of June 30, 2011, be restored to law as follows, the objections thereto of the Governor notwithstanding:
16 DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
50 Economic Planning, Development, and Security
55 Social Services Programs
GRANTS-IN-AID
01-1610 Child Protective and Permanency Services ................... $289,000
(From General Fund ............................ $289,000 )
Grants-In-Aid:
01 Court Appointed Special Advocates ....($289,000)
2. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be delivered to the Governor, the State Treasurer and the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families.
STATEMENT
This resolution restores the amount of an item of appropriation in the annual appropriations act for Fiscal Year 2012 that was reduced by the Governor's line-item veto. The Grants-In-Aid line-item appropriation for the Court Appointed Special Advocates in the Department of Children and Families was reduced by the Governor by $289,000 to $861,000. This restored amount of $289,000 will assist in the help provided by Court Appointed Special Advocates to the increasing number of children, who at no fault of their own, find their lives subject to the bewildering and sometimes frightening processes of the State court system.
In New Jersey, over 1,800 eligible Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers, work within a network of local, county-based CASA Programs to ensure that the over 14,000 children who are in out-of-home placements, who are victims of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, or outright abandonment, have a voice in court proceedings that impact their future. CASA volunteers advocate for these children, making sure that they are safe, that they get the services they need, and that they are placed in a nurturing, permanent home as quickly, and with as few moves as possible. CASA of New Jersey provides integral support to this statewide network of county-based CASA Programs and their efforts to ensure that every child has a caring environment in which to grow and thrive.