Bill
S 720
Requires DCPP to consult DDD to create disability-aware service plans for court-ordered abusers/neglectors with developmental disabilities; DDD decides how to offer services.
Status (documents supplied)
- Bill text amends P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6‑8.58). One provided version is approved as Chapter 4, P.L.2025 (approved January 30, 2025) and takes effect on the 90th day after enactment. Other metadata in the package (committee referrals, dates, and unrelated texts) are inconsistent; this summary focuses on the enacted/amended statutory language provided.
Purpose
- Require cross‑agency coordination when a court finds that a person who abused or neglected a child appears to need services and that person has a developmental disability and is eligible for Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) services. The goal is to ensure service planning and delivery take the person’s developmental disability into account.
Key provisions
- Amends Section 38 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6‑8.58) — “Provision for therapeutic services.”
- Retains existing authority: if the court finds an individual who abused/neglected a child needs therapeutic services, the court may order the person to accept services or an evaluation (examples listed: homemaker services, functional education, group self‑help, professional therapy). The court still determines ability to pay and method of payment. The court may not commit a person to a residential mental health facility without consent or the statutorily required hearing.
- New requirement (when individual has a developmental disability and is eligible for DDD services):
- The Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) must make reasonable efforts to consult with DDD to create an appropriate plan for services that considers the individual’s disability.
- DDD must determine an appropriate method to offer those services based on the individual’s disability.
- Committee amendment broadened language to refer more generally to “services” provided by DDD (rather than only “therapeutic services”).
Who is affected
- Individuals found by a court to have abused or neglected a child who also have a developmental disability and are eligible for DDD services.
- Agencies: Division of Child Protection and Permanency (Department of Children and Families), Division of Developmental Disabilities (Department of Human Services), and courts issuing service orders.
- Families and service providers who may be included in developing and delivering the plans.
Implementation, timeline and fiscal notes
- Effective 90 days after enactment (per the text). If enacted Jan 30, 2025 (as one document indicates), the effective date would be approximately April 30, 2025.
- The requirement is one of “reasonable efforts” to consult; the statute does not itself appropriate funds or create a new entitlement. Any fiscal impact would depend on agency implementation and existing budgets or administrative changes. No specific funding mechanism is included in the statute.
Potential impacts
- Likely improves coordination between child protection and developmental disability systems and promotes service plans tailored to disability‑related needs.
- May create additional administrative coordination tasks for DCPP and DDD; practical effects will depend on agency policies and resources for consultation, planning, and service delivery.
Note on materials provided
- The document package also included unrelated texts (a Massachusetts “Strengthen Massachusetts Homes” draft and an unrelated list of federal senators as sponsors). Those materials are not relevant to the New Jersey statutory amendment summarized above.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
Sign in to ask a question.
