Bill Text: NJ S2284 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Establishes Office of Resilience in DCF.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-20 - Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee [S2284 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2284-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 2284

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

 

 

Sponsored by:

Senator  NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

Senator  M. TERESA RUIZ

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Senator McKnight

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes Office of Resilience in DCF.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on May 9, 2024, with amendments.

  

An Act establishing the Office of Resilience in the Department of Children and Families and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

      1.  The Legislature finds and declares:

      a.  Research over the last two decades in the evolving fields of neuroscience, molecular biology, public health, genomics, and epigenetics reveals that ¹positive and¹ adverse childhood experiences in the early developmental years of a person's life produce changes in the biology of the human body that influence physical and mental health and social, emotional, and economic well-being throughout that person's life.

      b.  ¹[These adverse] Positive childhood experiences may include feeling a sense of belonging, feeling safe and protected by an adult, feeling supported by friends, or having at least two competent non-parent adults who mentor, counsel, and care.

       c.  Adverse¹ experiences ¹, which are driven by one's household, community, and climate,¹ may include physical or emotional abuse, physical and emotional neglect, household dysfunction, substance use disorder, untreated mental illness, incarceration of a household member, ¹[or]¹ domestic violence, separation, ¹discrimination, community violence, food insecurity, substandard wages, climate crises, natural disasters,¹ or divorce involving a parent or caregiver.

      ¹[c.] d.¹ Strong, frequent, or prolonged stress caused by adverse childhood experiences can become toxic stress and may impact the development of a child's fundamental brain architecture and stress response system.

      ¹[d.] e.¹  Changes to a child's fundamental brain architecture and stress response systems may cause health problems in adulthood that may lead to the most common causes of death and disability in the United States.

      ¹[e.] f.¹  Neurobiological, epigenetics, and psychological studies have shown that traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence can diminish concentration, memory, organizational skills, and language abilities, negatively impacting a student's academic performance, classroom behavior, and ability to form healthy relationships and attachments.

      ¹[f.] g.¹  The emerging science and research on toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences evidence a growing public health crisis with implications for community, juvenile justice, criminal justice, social services, and health care systems.

      ¹[g.] h.¹ Early childhood ¹from ages 0 to 3¹ offers a unique window of opportunity to prevent, mitigate, and heal the impact of adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress on a child's body and brain.

      ¹[h.] i.¹ Positively influencing the architecture of a child's developing brain and reducing a child's exposure to adverse childhood experiences are more effective and less costly than attempting to correct their impact on a child's learning, physical and mental health, and behaviors later in life.

      ¹[i.] j.¹ To bolster the State's ability to create trauma-responsive strategies to help New Jersey become a healthier State, to reduce public costs related to health care, school dropout rates, mental illness, unemployment, and homelessness, it is in the best interest of the State to ¹[establish] codify into statute the establishment of¹ a designated agency to mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences and to build resilience in children who have faced trauma and adversity in their lives.

 

      2.  As used in this act:

      "Adverse childhood experiences" or "ACEs" means traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, substance use disorder, or parental separation, that occur ¹[during childhood] before the age of 18¹ .

      ¹"Healing-centered engagement" or "HCE" means a holistic approach to treating trauma that incorporates culture, spirituality, civic action, and collective healing.

      "Positive childhood experiences" or "PCEs" means uplifting experiences that build a sense of belonging and connection and that occur before the age of 18.

      "Positive and adverse childhood experiences" or "PACEs" means positive childhood experiences and adverse childhood experiences as defined in this section.¹

      "Trauma informed care" or "TIC" means a strength-based approach to service delivery that: considers ¹[treating] recognizing¹ a person's past trauma and resulting coping mechanism; is grounded in an understanding of, and the responsiveness to, the impact of trauma; emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both treatment providers and survivors of trauma; and creates opportunities for trauma survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.

 

      3.  a.  There is established in the Department of Children and Families in the Executive Branch of State government the Office of Resilience.  The office shall be directed by an executive director, who shall report directly to the Commissioner of Children and Families.

      b.  Under the direction of the executive director, the office shall be responsible for hosting, coordinating, and facilitating Statewide initiatives related to raising awareness of, and creating opportunities to ¹[eradicate] prevent and mitigate¹ , ACEs through ¹training,¹ grassroots, community-led efforts ¹, and by developing a community-informed virtual hub¹ that ¹[provide] provides¹ technical assistance and strategic support for non-governmental organizations with missions promoting ¹PCEs and¹ trauma-informed and ¹[health-centered] healing-centered¹ services for young people in the State of New Jersey.

      c.  The office shall:

      (1) develop and share trauma-informed and healing-centered strategies with other State departments and community-based stakeholders to reduce exposure to, and mitigate the effects of, ACEs in the State of New Jersey by supporting collaboration with early childhood organizations and early childhood providers to encourage the development of a Statewide multi-generational support system that promotes ¹[positive childhood experiences] PCEs¹ and assists in the healing of primary and secondary trauma in adults;

      (2) in partnership with public and private partners, establish ¹and promote¹ a public awareness campaign to educate the public about ACEs ¹, PACEs, HCE,¹ and TIC;

      (3) ¹[develop research-based] utilize evidence-based and evidence-informed¹ tools ¹[to use in creating] for promoting¹ resilience and empowering individuals who have faced trauma and adversity, and in promoting ¹[positive childhood experiences] PCEs¹ ; ¹[and]¹

      (4) ¹collaborate with public institutions that conduct research on child welfare, child health, and child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology in order to:

      (a)  publish research-based educational programming for community leaders, parents, and students;

      (b)  establish protocols that consider adverse childhood experiences as a metric in order to inform department policies concerning family reunification and visitation; and

      (c)  publish data concerning positive and adverse childhood experiences in New Jersey youth;

      (5)  establish and maintain a community-informed virtual hub, which shall be responsible for coordinating State efforts to prevent, treat, and heal from ACEs and inform State policies and budgets related to PACEs;

      (6)  develop, and update as needed, a Statewide action plan that outlines the steps toward making New Jersey a trauma-informed and healing-centered State; and

      (7)¹  provide periodic reports to the Governor, and issue an annual report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature regarding its activities.

 

     4.  Pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the Department of Children and Families may adopt any rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

 

     5.  This act shall take effect shall take effect immediately.