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A 1792

Enacts the "ensuring access to behavioral health act"

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Phil Steck

Create a statewide anonymous school safety reporting system (hotline/app) to forward tips to authorities and require annual reporting on usage and outcomes.

REFERRED TO HEALTH
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Bill Summary · A 1792

Summary — A-1792: "Ensuring Access to Behavioral Health Act" (as reported 1R)

Note: Bill text and committee materials title the measure as directing the Attorney General to establish an anonymous school-safety reporting program. (Committee materials compare it to Colorado’s Safe2Tell program.)

Purpose

Require the New Jersey Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Education and Law Enforcement Working Group, to create a statewide program that enables anonymous reporting of unsafe, potentially harmful, violent, or criminal activity in schools — or threats of those activities — via readily accessible channels.

Key provisions

  • Program design and channels

    • Establish and maintain readily accessible anonymous reporting methods (e.g., a telephone tip line staffed by trained personnel at reasonable daily hours, and a mobile application).
    • Ensure reporters’ identities remain unknown except when a reporter voluntarily discloses and consents to identity-sharing.

  • Intake, sharing, and response

    • Promptly forward information received to appropriate law enforcement agencies or school officials.
    • Provide training and awareness so recipients appropriately collect and respond to reports.

  • Training and outreach

    • Provide training to law enforcement dispatch centers, all public and nonpublic schools, and other entities designated by the Attorney General.
    • Provide student-facing guidelines describing anonymous reporting procedures.
    • Develop program awareness and education materials for public and nonpublic schools statewide.

  • Reporting and oversight

    • Attorney General must prepare an annual report that includes:
    • Total number of reports (disaggregated by subgroups determined by the AG);
    • Dates, times, and means of reporting;
    • Total instances of program misuse; and
    • Summary of outcomes/actions taken on reports.
    • Submit the report to the Governor and the Senate and General Assembly Education Committees and post it on the Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS) website.

  • Effective date

    • The act would take effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment.

Who is affected

  • Reporters: students, parents, school staff, and other community members.
  • Administrators and responders: Attorney General/DLPS; law enforcement (state, county, municipal); school districts and nonpublic schools; NJ Education & Law Enforcement Working Group.
  • Potential indirect impact: local dispatch centers and school safety coordinators handling forwarded reports.

Fiscal and implementation notes

  • Office of Legislative Services estimates a potential annual State expenditure increase up to $100,000 (primarily to support up to 1.0 FTE at DLPS).
  • OLS notes existing state and local options (State Police School Safety Hotline, Text-to-9-1-1, county hotlines, NJSIG programs) that serve similar purposes; some program tasks (training, reporting) may be absorbed within existing budgets, but awareness/distribution costs are indeterminate.

Legislative status and procedural history

  • Introduced: January 9, 2024; referred to Assembly Education Committee.
  • Committee action: Reported with amendments by Assembly Education Committee on October 21, 2024 (amendment clarified training coverage includes all public and nonpublic schools); then referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee.
  • Later referred to Health Committee: January 14, 2025.
  • Sponsors/co-sponsors (per bill text): Assemblywoman Linda S. Carter and Assemblyman Anthony S. Verrelli (sponsors); co-sponsors include Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblymen McGuckin, Venezia, Simonsen, and Assemblywoman Fantasia.
  • Related legislation: companion/related bills S-1684 and S-499; prior-session bills A-9303 and A-4410.

If enacted, A-1792 would centralize an anonymous school-safety reporting capability within the Attorney General’s office, mandate statewide training and outreach, and create an annual public reporting requirement to track usage and outcomes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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