New Jersey-2024-A671-Introduced

An Act concerning mental health care facilities.

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

1. a. As used in this act:

"Adult" means an individual aged 18 years or older.

"Health care facility" means a health care facility, licensed by the Department of Human Services, or by the Department of Health pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.), to provide inpatient mental health care treatment and services to adult mental health patients.

"Juvenile" means an individual between the ages of 14 and 17.

"Involuntary psychiatric beds" means licensed psychiatric beds located in a designated and separate unit of a general, psychiatric, or special hospital established for the provision of treatment services for individuals who are: experiencing an acute episode of a psychiatric disorder, referred by a designated psychiatric screening center, and admitted voluntarily or involuntarily upon a determination that such individuals pose a danger to themselves or to others.

"Voluntary psychiatric beds" means licensed psychiatric beds located in a designated and separate unit of a general, psychiatric, or special hospital established for the provision of intensive evaluation, stabilization, and treatment of adults who are admitted voluntarily and experiencing an acute episode of a primary psychiatric disorder.

b. Within 90 days following the effective date of this act, the Departments of Health and Human Services shall jointly establish a two-year pilot program. The Departments of Health and Human Services shall select between two and four health care facilities to participate in the pilot program. To be eligible to participate in the pilot program, a health care facility shall:

(1) employ at least one licensed psychiatrist who specializes in child or juvenile psychiatry, or at least one licensed psychiatrist with documented specialized training, supervised clinical experience, and demonstrated competence, as it pertains to providing psychiatric care to juveniles;

(2) employ nurses who are trained to treat juveniles at all times within the health care facility;

(3) employ treatment programs that are appropriate to the age of a juvenile; and

(4) be licensed to treat mental health patients in both involuntary psychiatric beds and voluntary psychiatric beds.

c. For the duration of the pilot program, a health care facility participating in the pilot program shall be permitted to:

(1) place juvenile mental health patients in vacant beds that are otherwise reserved for adult mental health patients, whenever feasible and clinically appropriate; and

(2) place adult mental health patients, who are legally committed to psychiatric inpatient care, in voluntary psychiatric beds, whenever feasible and clinically appropriate.

d. The Departments of Health and Human Services shall study the performance of the health care facilities participating in the pilot program and assess the quality of treatment provided to adult and juvenile mental health patients. Within 90 days following the conclusion of the pilot program, the Departments of Health and Human Services shall jointly prepare and submit a report containing all relevant findings to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.

2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the submission of the report required pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a two-year pilot program for certain mental health care facilities to treat additional juvenile patients.

Under the bill, "health care facility" means a health care facility, licensed by the Department of Human Services or by the Department of Health to provide inpatient mental health care treatment and services to adult mental health patients.

Within 90 days following the bill's effective date, the Departments of Health and Human Services (departments) are to jointly establish a two-year pilot program. The departments are to select between two and four health care facilities to participate in the pilot program.

To be eligible to participate in the pilot program, a health care facility is to: (1) employ at least one licensed psychiatrist who specializes in child or juvenile psychiatry, or at least one licensed psychiatrist with documented specialized training, supervised clinical experience, and demonstrated competence, as it pertains to providing psychiatric care to juveniles; (2) employ nurses who are trained to treat juveniles at all times within the health care facility; (3) employ treatment programs that are appropriate to the age of a juvenile; and (4) be licensed to treat mental health patients in both involuntary psychiatric beds and voluntary psychiatric beds, as those terms are defined in the bill.

For the duration of the pilot program, a health care facility participating in the pilot program is to be permitted to: (1) place juvenile mental health patients in vacant beds that are otherwise reserved for adult mental health patients, whenever feasible and clinically appropriate; and (2) place adult mental health patients, who are legally committed to psychiatric inpatient care, in voluntary psychiatric beds, whenever feasible and clinically appropriate.

The bill provides that the departments are to study the performance of the health care facilities participating in the pilot program and assess the quality of treatment provided to adult and juvenile mental health patients. Within 90 days following the conclusion of the pilot program, the departments are to prepare and jointly submit a report containing all relevant findings to the Governor and Legislature.

The mental health of young people in New Jersey is a growing area of concern. There is currently a greater demand for inpatient mental health treatment and services for juvenile patients than there are available beds. Some health care providers currently have vacant adult mental health treatment beds, which by law cannot be used to treat juvenile patients. It is the intent of the sponsor to study whether these facilities can effectively treat juvenile mental health patients using vacant adult treatment beds, thereby helping additional patients receive the care and treatment they need and maximizing the use of mental health treatment resources in New Jersey.