New Jersey-2018-A3485-Introduced

An Act concerning individuals with developmental disabilities and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in this act:

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Human Services.

"Community placement" means a group home, apartment or supportive housing arrangement, licensed or funded by the department, which provides services and supports to an individual with a developmental disability who transitions to the community from a State developmental center.

"Department" means the Department of Human Services.

"Developmental disability" means developmental disability as defined in section 3 of P.L.1977, c.82 (C.30:6D-3).

"Division" means the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Human Services.

"Interdisciplinary team" means an individually-constituted group of persons responsible for the development of a service plan that consists of: the individual with a developmental disability receiving services; the legal guardian of the individual; a parent or family member of the individual if the individual is an adult who desires that the parent or family member be included on the team; those persons who work most directly with the individual served; and professionals and representatives of service areas who are relevant to the identification of the individual's needs and the design and evaluation of programs to meet them.

"Pre-placement meeting" means a conference which:

(1) may be attended by the individual with a developmental disability who is transitioning to a community placement and a guardian or family member of the individual;

(2) shall be attended by the individual's transition case manager; a representative of the agency or organization scheduled to provide a community placement for the individual; a case manager in the community; and a member of the individual's interdisciplinary team; and

(3) is conducted at a developmental center to establish a move date for the individual, review the status of the individual's service plan, and finalize the plan to transition the individual from a developmental center to a community placement.

"Service plan" means a plan to ensure that an individual with a developmental disability who transitions from a developmental center to a community placement receives services and supports in the community placement, including, but not limited to, medical equipment, health care services, day programs, living arrangements, assistance from trained staff, and such other assistance as may be appropriate to the individual's needs and goals; and is consistent with State law and federal waiver requirements for a service plan.

"Transition case manager" means a placement worker who serves as the link between a developmental center and other entities involved in the identification of services, supports, transition activities, and the subsequent transfer of an individual with a developmental disability from a developmental center to a community placement.

2. a. The transition case manager of an individual with a developmental disability who is scheduled to transition to a community placement from a developmental center shall review the readiness of the service plan of the individual by use of a checklist, which shall be in a form and manner prescribed by the division. The checklist shall indicate the status of the arrangement of each service and support to be provided to the individual, including, but not limited to: medical equipment, health care services, day programs, and living arrangements; and the training of the staff of the community placement to implement the service plan upon the individual's transition to the community placement. The checklist shall be maintained in the records of the individual with a developmental disability and safeguarded from destruction.

b. Following the pre-placement meeting, the transition case manager shall review the checklist weekly and document the review in the individual's record, until the transition of the individual to the community placement.

3. a. The division shall ensure that a pre-placement meeting is conducted no more than 60 days prior to the scheduled move date of an individual with a developmental disability from a developmental center to a community placement.

b. If the move date is rescheduled and the rescheduled meeting would not occur within the 60-day time period, the transition case manager of the individual with a developmental disability shall conduct another review of the service plan to ensure that the plan remains appropriate for the individual to reside in the community placement.

c. No more than seven days prior to the move date of the individual with a developmental disability to a community placement, the transition case manager of the individual shall inform the division, in a form and manner prescribed by the division, that the arrangements for the services and supports of the individual identified on the checklist provided for in section 2 of this act have been made. The division shall review the arrangements, and shall ensure and document that the arrangements are in place prior to the transition of the individual to the community placement. The documentation shall be placed in the individual's records, which shall be maintained at the community placement.

4. a. The division shall ensure that an individual with a developmental disability who has been transitioned to a community placement from a developmental center receives at least three routine visits from a case manager in the community, each within 30, 60, and 90 days following the date of the individual's transition to the community placement and, as determined necessary by the case manager's supervisor, an additional routine visit within 180 days, one year, and two years following the date of the transition.

b. One of the visits occurring during the first 90 days shall be conducted at a day program attended by the individual, and the location of each visit conducted pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be documented in the individual's record that is maintained at the individual's community placement.

c. If a visit is postponed and is not conducted within the 30, 60, or 90 day time frames, or within the 180 days, one year, or two year time frames, as applicable, the case manager shall document the reason for the postponement in the individual's record and schedule a visit as soon as possible thereafter.

d. (1) At the time of a routine visit conducted pursuant to this section, the case manager shall review the implementation of the service plan for the individual and note in the individual's record any concerns the case manager identifies about the adequacy of the provision of services and supports to the individual in the community placement.

(2) A case manager shall conduct a follow-up visit within two weeks of the identification of a concern. At this visit the case manager shall review again the adequacy of the provision of services and supports. If the case manager determines that a concern has not been satisfactorily addressed or that sufficient progress is not being made toward addressing the concern, the case manager shall note this determination in the individual's record and notify the case manager's supervisor, who shall advise the division. If a new concern is identified at a follow-up visit, the case manager shall follow the procedures set forth in this subparagraph and, as applicable, the case manager's supervisor and the division shall be notified.

(3) If a concern identified by the case manager affects the safety of the individual with a developmental disability, the case manager shall immediately advise the case manager's supervisor and the division, which shall take such action as shall be necessary to remedy the safety concern. The division shall notify the commissioner or the commissioner's designees of the safety concern.

(4) If a follow-up visit occurs within two weeks of the date of the next routine visit to be conducted pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the follow-up visit shall replace the next routine visit and subsequent routine visits shall be counted from the date of the last follow-up visit.

e. The commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall take such action as the commissioner or designee deems necessary to ensure that an individual with a developmental disability who is residing in a community placement is safe and receiving services and supports in accordance with the individual's service plan, including, but not limited, to:

(1) tracking, reviewing, and prioritizing a concern identified pursuant to this section;

(2) providing for increased monitoring of a community placement;

(3) requiring a community placement to submit a plan of correction; and

(4) taking negative licensing action, including but not limited to, suspension of admissions, issuance of a provisional license, reduction of licensed capacity or the non-renewal, suspension, or revocation of a license of a community placement.

5. The Commissioner of Human Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt any rules and regulations as the commissioner deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act; except that, notwithstanding any provision of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to the contrary, the Commissioner of Human Services may adopt, immediately upon filing with the Office of Administrative Law, such regulations as the commissioner deems necessary to implement the provisions of this act, which shall be effective for a period not to exceed six months and may thereafter be amended, adopted, or re-adopted by the commissioner in accordance with the requirements of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).

6. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill concerns the procedures that are used to transition an individual with a developmental disability from a State developmental center to a community placement.

The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) in the Department of Human Services, in accordance with its Olmstead Placement procedures, has been transitioning individuals from the North Jersey and Woodbridge Developmental centers, which closed on July 1, 2014 and January 9, 2015, respectively, to community placements. A report issued by the Office of the State Auditor in the Office of Legislative Services noted some concerns with regard to: implementation of an individual's service plan, which sets forth the services and supports that an individual would receive in the community placement; the timing of visits by case managers to individuals who have transitioned to a community placement and the timing of preplacement meetings, which take place before a transition occurs to review the services and supports to be provided to the individual; and the checklist which is used to identify the services and supports the individual needs in the community.

The bill requires a transition case manager to review the readiness of the service plan of the individual by use of a checklist, which would indicate the status of arrangements for each service and support to be provided to the individual, including, but not limited to: medical equipment; health care services; day programs; and living arrangements; and the training of staff to implement the service plan upon the individual's transition to the community placement. The checklist is to be maintained in the records of the individual and safeguarded from destruction, and following the pre-placement meeting is to be reviewed weekly by a case manager until the individual's transition to the community placement.

The bill requires DDD to conduct a preplacement meeting no more than 60 days prior to the scheduled move date of the individual to a community placement. If the date is rescheduled and the meeting would not occur within 60 days, the transition case manager is required to conduct another review of the service plan to ensure that the plan remains appropriate for the individual to reside in the community. The bill also requires that, no more than seven days prior to the move date, the transition case manager is to inform DDD that the arrangements for the service and supports of the individual have been made. DDD is to review the arrangements, and ensure and document that they are in place prior to the transition of the individual to a community placement.

DDD is also to ensure that three routine visits are made by a case manager within 30, 60, and 90 days following the date of the individual's transition to the placement, and additional visits may be scheduled within 180 days, one year, and two years following the transition date. One visit is to be conducted at a day program and the location of each visit is to be documented in the records of the individual that are maintained at the community placement.

The bill specifies that if a visit is postponed, the case manager is to document the reason for postponement and schedule another visit as soon as possible.

At the time of a visit, the case manager is to review implementation of the plan, and note any concerns the case manager identifies about the adequacy of the provision of services and support to the individual in the community placement. A follow-up visit is to be conducted within two weeks of identification of a concern, and at that time the case manager would again review the adequacy of the provision of services and supports. If a concern has not been satisfactorily addressed or sufficient progress has not been made, the case manager is required to note this in the individual's record and notify the case manager's supervisor, who would advise DDD. Additionally, if a new concern is identified at a follow-up visit, the above procedures would be followed.

If, however, a concern affects the safety of the individual, the case manager is required to immediately advise the supervisor and DDD, which is to take such action as necessary to remedy the safety concern, as well as notify the Commissioner of Human Services or the commissioner's designee.

Lastly, the bill provides that the commissioner or designee is to take such action as the commissioner deems necessary to ensure than an individual with a developmental disability who is residing in a community placement is safe and receiving services and supports in accordance with the individual's service plan. These actions would include, but not be limited to: tracking, reviewing, and prioritizing a concern; increasing monitoring of a community placement; requiring a community placement to submit a plan of correction; and taking action against a license, such as suspending admissions, issuing a provisional license, reducing licensed capacity or the non-renewal, suspension, or revocation of a license.