Bill
A 5344
The bill expands grant programs and a social prescribing pilot to reduce senior isolation and expand mental health support, plus dementia caregiver respite funding.
1) NJ Senior Connection Program (Grant program)
- Purpose: Fund county-based organizations to operate:
- Friendly visitor programs
- Telephone reassurance services
- Digital literacy programs for socially isolated seniors
- Eligible recipients: County welfare agencies, county boards of social services, county offices of aging, and other appropriate county-based organizations as determined by the Division Director.
- Application and evaluation: Director sets an application process with criteria including:
- Effectiveness of plans to facilitate senior social interaction
- Targeting homebound or underserved socially isolated seniors
- Ability to engage and retain participants over time
- Outreach to notify eligible seniors about the program
- Measurable progress and benchmarks
- Funding and reporting: Grant amounts depend on criteria and available funds. Recipients must submit a report within 12 months detailing participants, deidentified outcomes data, and total program costs from all sources.
2) Senior Center Mental Health Screening Grant Program
- Purpose: Support senior centers in developing newly established mental health screening programs for seniors.
- Eligible uses: Staff training to recognize mental health signs, expanding staff to include onsite mental health professionals, implementing standardized screening tools, and building partnerships with off-site mental health providers.
- Evaluation: Grants awarded based on program sustainability and potential impact size.
- Reporting: Recipients must report within 12 months, including the number of seniors screened, deidentified outcomes data, and total program costs from all funding sources.
3) Three-year Social Prescribing Pilot Program
- Concept: Allow licensed primary care physicians to refer patients aged 65+ to non-medical, evidence-based community activities (e.g., arts, volunteering, group exercise) to improve well-being and reduce isolation.
- Geographic implementation: Five counties selected by the Director to ensure regional representation (northern, central, southern portions).
- Participation: Open to all licensed primary care physicians serving seniors in the selected counties; physicians must register with the Division to participate.
- Guidelines: The Division must establish screening, referral, and follow-up guidelines for referrals.
- Cost considerations: Referrals should be prioritized to avoid shifting costs to patients.
- Evaluation and reporting:
- Within 6 months after the pilot ends: participating physicians must report the number of participating patients, the total referrals by category, deidentified outcomes data, and any additional requested information.
- Within 12 months after the pilot ends: the Division must prepare a report for the Governor and Legislature with a summary and recommendations for continued implementation (per statutory reporting requirements).
4) Expansion of Statewide Respite Care Program (caregiver support for dementia)
- The Commissioner of Human Services must expand the existing Statewide Respite Care Program to include a separate and distinct allocation of funds to each county or region specifically to support respite services for dementia caregivers.
- Funding mechanism: Allocation determined by the statutory formula used in the Statewide Respite Care Program.
5) Appropriation
- General Fund appropriation of $1,800,000 to implement the provisions related to the respite-care expansion (Section 5).
Overall, Bill A 5344 focuses on reducing senior social isolation and expanding access to mental health resources through grant-funded programs, a social prescribing pilot, and targeted respite care funding for dementia caregivers. It appropriates $1.8 million to support these initiatives.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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