Bill Text: NJ A1245 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires cultural competency training for certain State, county, or municipal public employees who routinely interact with public.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A1245 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1245-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires cultural competency training for certain State, county, or municipal public employees who routinely interact with public.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act requiring cultural competency training for certain public employees who interact with the public and supplementing Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes and P.L.1991, c.29 (C.40A:9-22.1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Officers and employees of the State shall complete an in-person or online cultural competency training course. The training course shall be required for officers and employees who routinely interact with members of the general public as a requirement of the position held. Each State department, authority, commission, office, division, bureau, board, agency, or instrumentality of the Executive Branch of State government shall provide in-service training for its officers and employees utilizing the training course materials or online tutorials developed or identified by the Civil Service Commission pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
b. The Civil Service Commission shall develop or identify uniform cultural competency training course materials and an online tutorial that shall include instruction designed to promote positive interaction with, and outreach to, all residents within a community, including, but not limited to, residents of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds residing within the community. The components of the training course materials and online tutorials shall include, but not be limited to, instruction on:
(1) the various cultural communities and the their effects on government relations within a community;
(2) appropriate methods by which a public officer and employee may interact with people of various cultures and religions in the community, with an emphasis on communication skills;
(3) best practices in customer service techniques when analyzing and solving problems, meeting with community groups, and working with citizens in various programs; and
(4) the impact that public officer or employee competency skills have on overall government effectiveness.
The Civil Service Commission shall periodically assess the training course materials and online tutorials developed or identified pursuant to this subsection, and modify or update them when the commission finds appropriate.
c. The course shall be completed by an officer and employee within six months of commencement of employment or within six months of the effective date of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) for officers and employees employed on the effective date of this act.
d. This section shall not apply to officers and employees of a law enforcement department who complete the cultural competency and implicit bias training pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2016, c.23 (C.52:17B-77.14).
2. a. Officers and employees of a local government agency shall complete an in-person or online cultural competency training course. The training course shall be required for officers and employees who routinely interact with members of the general public as a requirement of the position held. Each local government agency shall provide in-service training for its officers and employees using the training course materials or online tutorials developed, identified, modified, or updated by the Civil Service Commission pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), or their substantial equivalent.
b. The cultural competency training course materials and online tutorials shall include instruction designed to promote positive interaction with, and government outreach to, all residents within a community, including, but not limited to, residents of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds residing within the community. The components of the training course materials and online tutorials shall include, but not be limited to, instruction on:
(1) the various cultural communities and their effects on government relations within a community;
(2) appropriate methods by which a public officer or employee may interact with people of various cultures and religions in the community, with an emphasis on communication skills;
(3) best practices in customer service techniques when analyzing and solving problems, meeting with community groups, and working with citizens in various programs; and
(4) the impact that public officer or employee competency skills have on overall effectiveness of the local government agency.
c. A local government agency shall periodically assess and modify the training course materials and online tutorials when the Civil Service Commission, pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), makes modifications or updates to keep the course identical or substantially equivalent.
d. This section shall not apply to officers and employees of a law enforcement department who complete the cultural competency and implicit bias training pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2016, c.23 (C.52:17B-77.14).
3. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Civil Service Commission to develop or identify and adopt a cultural competency training course that is required to be taken by officers and employees of the State who routinely interact with members of the general public during the course of their employment as a requirement of the position they hold. Local government agencies are required to develop or identify and adopt a cultural competency training course that is either adopted by the Civil Service Commission or is substantially similar.
The bill requires the courses to include instruction and exercises designed to promote positive interaction with the various racial, ethnic, and religious communities who may approach officers and employees of State departments, authorities, commissions, offices, divisions, bureaus, boards, authorities, or instrumentalities of the Executive Branch and officers and employees of each local government agency.
The bill requires the Civil Service Commission to periodically assess the training course materials and online tutorials developed or identified and update them where the commission finds appropriate. Local government agencies are required to assess and modify the course they select in order to keep the courses at the State and local level substantially similar. Each officer and employee who is required to participate in this training will do so as part of in-service training.
This bill does not apply to an officer or employee of a law enforcement entity who is required to undergo cultural diversity training established in law.
