Bill Text: NJ A4789 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DHS to establish sobriety standards and drug testing requirements for substance use disorder treatment centers and to conduct both announced and unscheduled inspections.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-12-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Human Services Committee [A4789 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4789-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DHS to establish sobriety standards and drug testing requirements for substance use disorder treatment centers and to conduct both announced and unscheduled inspections.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning substance use disorder treatment centers and supplementing and amending P.L.1970, c.334.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey is currently in the midst of opioid use disorder epidemic that has resulted in record demand for substance use disorder treatment resources, record numbers of naloxone administrations to reverse overdoses, and record numbers of deaths attributed to opioid drugs.
b. In 2016, there were 2,221 confirmed deaths related to the use and abuse of opioid drugs, including prescription medications, heroin, and fentanyl. Preliminary numbers suggest that there were 2,750 opioid-related deaths in 2017, and, as of November 25, 2018, the estimated numbers for 2018 already exceed 2,850.
c. The availability of immediate access to treatment and recovery resources is a key component to overcoming an opioid use disorder. The path to recovery for each individual with an opioid use disorder is unique, and both academic research and anecdotal accounts suggest that providing consistent, coordinated, and personalized services throughout the treatment and recovery process are essential to ensuring a sustained, long-term recovery.
d. Maintaining sobriety and continued progress while recovering from an opioid use disorder is particularly difficult in the earlier stages of the recovery process, and there is the potential that the weeks and months of time, energy, and resources devoted to an individual's recovery can be undone in an instant by an unexpected trigger that leads to relapse.
e. In light of the hands-on, personalized nature of treatment for opioid use disorders, there is a heightened risk that individual interactions with facility staff who are not themselves sober could derail the treatment and recovery process. Moreover, when facilities licensed by the State fail to conform to State standards for treatment and recovery services, it undermines the integrity of the entire treatment and recovery system, potentially disrupting the chance for many New Jersey citizens with opioid use disorders to find a path to long-term, sustained recovery.
f. Although the State has directed significant resources toward responding to the opioid epidemic, treatment and recovery providers have struggled to keep pace with the current demand, and in some of the counties hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, for each person admitted to treatment, two others are left waiting, increasing the likelihood that they will continue using opioid drugs and risk a fatal overdose or exposure to chronic bloodborne diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.
g. Given limited treatment resources and the overwhelming demand created by the opioid epidemic, it is essential that the State do everything in its power to maximize the potential for each individual entering recovery to succeed.
h. As such, it is incumbent on the State to ensure that licensed treatment and recovery resource providers are in compliance with all State-mandated standards regarding the provision of services to individuals with a substance use disorder, and that the chances for long-term recovery are not undermined by interactions with facility staff who are not themselves drug free.
i. The Legislature therefore finds that it is essential that the State take measures to increase State oversight over State-licensed substance use disorder treatment and recovery service providers, including instituting random compliance inspections and mandating sobriety standards and drug testing policies.
2. Section 5 of P.L.1970, c.334 (C.26:2G-25) is amended to read as follows:
5. The commissioner shall adopt, amend, promulgate and enforce such rules, regulations and minimum standards for the treatment of patients of narcotic and substance use disorder treatment centers as may be reasonably necessary to accomplish the purposes of P.L.1970, c.334 (C.26:2G-21 et seq.). Such narcotic and substance use disorder treatment centers may be classified into two or more classes with appropriate rules, regulations and minimum standards for each such class. No narcotic or drug abuse treatment center, transitional sober living home, halfway house, or other residential aftercare facility shall be permitted to deny admission to a prospective client on the basis that the person is currently receiving medication assisted treatment for a substance use disorder administered by a licensed treatment provider, including but not limited to methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, or any other medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a substance use disorder.
The rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall, at a minimum, require a transitional sober living home, halfway house, or other residential aftercare facility to provide notice to a patient's spouse, parent, legal guardian, designated next of kin, or other designated emergency contact, whenever the patient voluntarily withdraws, or is involuntarily evicted from, such facility, provided that: (1) such notice is provided in a manner that is consistent with federal requirements under 42 CFR Part 2 and federal HIPAA requirements under 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164; and (2) the patient, if an adult, has not withheld consent for such notice or expressly requested that notification not be given. If a patient who is not incapacitated withholds consent for such notice, or expressly requests that notification not be given, the department shall require the patient's wishes to be respected unless the patient is a minor child or adolescent, in which case, the department shall require the minor's parent, legal guardian, designated next of kin, or other designated emergency contact to be notified, provided that such notification is not inconsistent with, and would not violate, federal requirements under 42 CFR Part 2 and federal HIPAA requirements under 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164.
The rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall establish sobriety standards and drug testing requirements for staff at narcotic and substance use disorder treatment centers.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.256, s.1)
3. Section 6 of P.L.1970, c.334 (C.26:2G-26) is amended to read as follows:
The commissioner shall make or cause to be made such inspection of the premises, for which a certificate of approval has been issued, from time to time, as he may deem necessary to be assured that the holder thereof and the premises comply at all times with the provisions of this act and the rules and regulations promulgated, and the minimum standards established hereunder. Inspections conducted pursuant to this section shall include both scheduled inspections and unannounced inspections.
(cf: P.L.1970, c.334, s.6)
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Human Services to establish sobriety and drug testing requirements for staff at narcotic and substance use disorder treatment centers, and provides that mandatory inspections conducted as a condition of licensure are to include both scheduled and unannounced inspections.
It is the sponsor's belief that enhancing State regulation and oversight over narcotic and substance use disorder treatment centers will help improve the provision of care for individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorder and reduce certain risk factors that can lead to relapse or jeopardize the health and safety of such individuals.
