Bill Text: NJ S491 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program" to evaluate county inmate needs; assigns certain county caseworkers to assist inmates in accessing appropriate benefits, treatment, and services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-11 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S491 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S491-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program" to evaluate county inmate needs; assigns certain county caseworkers to assist inmates in accessing appropriate benefits, treatment, and services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the provision of treatment and services to county inmates and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services and the superintendent, director, or other chief administrative officer of the County Board of Social Services in each county, shall establish a "County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program" for evaluating each inmate in a county correctional facility to:
(1) determine whether the inmate is eligible to apply for federal, State, and county public assistance program benefits including, but not limited to, State and federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, Medicaid, and housing assistance program benefits;
(2) determine whether the inmate would benefit from substance use disorder treatment including, but not limited to, medication-assisted treatment;
(3) identify which social services and reentry and rehabilitative programs would benefit the inmate including, but not limited to, the WorkFirst NJ Substance Abuse Initiative; and
(4) provide the inmate with information concerning any other treatment, services, and programs which would benefit the inmate.
b. The evaluation of each inmate in a county correctional facility required pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be conducted in conjunction with the clinical screening of inmates as part of the initial classification process.
c. Pursuant to the County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program, each inmate shall be offered services deemed appropriate based on the evaluation conducted pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
d. The warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility shall consult with the superintendent, director, or other chief administrative officer of the county board of social services in the county in which the facility is located to ensure that appropriate staff is assigned to the facility in order to effectuate the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
2. a. Each inmate shall be offered services deemed appropriate based on the evaluation conducted pursuant to the County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program established pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). Each inmate who elects to receive the services offered shall be assigned a caseworker who shall be a representative of the County Board of Social Services of the county in which the facility is located. The caseworker shall assist the inmate in accessing the appropriate benefits, treatment, and services. The caseworker, at a minimum, shall provide the inmate with:
(1) Information concerning, and assistance in completing, applications for appropriate State and county public assistance program benefits which include, but shall not be limited to, State and federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, Medicaid, and housing assistance program benefits. The case worker shall make every effort to ensure that the inmate is actively enrolled in appropriate programming upon, or as soon as practicable following, the inmate's release from the facility;
(2) Information concerning available substance use disorder treatment and services including, but not limited to, medication-assisted treatment. The caseworker shall assist the inmate with scheduling and otherwise accessing appropriate treatment and services upon the inmate's release from the facility;
(3) Information concerning relevant social services and reentry and rehabilitative programs including, but not limited to, the WorkFirst NJ Substance Abuse Initiative. The caseworker shall assist the inmate with completing applications for, and otherwise accessing, appropriate services and programming upon the inmate's release from the facility;
(4) Information concerning services provided by the State's One Stop Career Centers. The caseworker shall schedule appointments for the inmate to meet with representatives from the career center and shall register the inmate for participation in any mandatory programming upon the inmate's release from the facility;
(5) Information concerning insurance eligibility and assistance in completing applications for insurance coverage; the case worker shall make every effort to ensure that coverage for the inmate is active upon or as soon as practicable following the inmate's release from the facility;
(6) Information concerning any other treatment, services, and programming deemed appropriate by the evaluation required pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The caseworker shall assist the inmate with scheduling and otherwise accessing appropriate treatment, services, and programming upon the inmate's release from the facility;
and
b. The caseworker shall maintain continued contact by the county board of social services with the inmate following the inmate's release from the facility in order to ensure that the inmate continues to access relevant benefits, services, and treatment.
3. The warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility shall:
a. Provide to each county correctional facility inmate upon release from the facility a non-driver identification card, which shall be issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; the commission shall assign a two point value to a former inmate's Department of Corrections identification card;
b. Provide to each county correctional facility inmate upon release from the facility a two-week supply of medications, including medication for the purposes of medication-assisted treatment; and
c. Ensure that each inmate is released from custody during regular business hours so that the inmate may access appropriate treatment and services immediately upon release.
4. a. The warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility shall record data regarding: the number of inmates who are offered services pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill); the number of inmates who accept the services offered; the types of services provided to each inmate who accepts the services offered; the race, gender, ethnicity, and age of each inmate; a record of any crimes committed by inmates who are released from the facility and the types of crimes committed for a period of three years following the inmate's release. These data shall be analyzed to determine whether the rates and nature of rearrests and convictions differ according to whether an inmate received services in accordance with the County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. The warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility shall annually prepare and transmit to the county executive, county manager, or board of chosen freeholders of the county in which the facility is located, and to any county committee on inmate reentry services, the reports prepared, along with any recommendations by the warden, keeper, or administrator for improving the effectiveness of the County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program.
5. The Commissioner of Corrections, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services, may adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to carry out the purposes of this act.
6. This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of
enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a program to evaluate county correctional facility inmate needs and assigns certain county caseworkers to assist the inmate in accessing appropriate benefits, treatment, and services.
Specifically, the bill requires the warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services and the superintendent, director, or other chief administrative officer of the county board of social services in each county, to establish a program for evaluating each inmate in a county correctional facility to: (1) determine whether the inmate is eligible to apply for federal, State, and county public assistance program benefits including, but not limited to, State and federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, Medicaid, and housing assistance program benefits; (2) determine whether the inmate would benefit from substance use disorder treatment including, but not limited to, medication-assisted treatment; (3) identify which social services and reentry and rehabilitative programs would benefit the inmate including, but not limited to, the WorkFirst NJ Substance Abuse Initiative; and (4) provide the inmate with information concerning any other treatment, services, and programs which would benefit the inmate.
The evaluation is to be conducted as part of the initial classification process. The warden, keeper, or administrator is required to consult with the superintendent, director, or other chief administrative officer of the county board of social services to ensure that appropriate staff is assigned to work at the facility in order to effectuate the provisions of the bill.
The bill requires each county inmate to be assigned a county board of social services caseworker to assist the inmate in accessing appropriate benefits, treatment, and services. The bill also sets forth the services that the caseworker is required, at a minimum, to provide to the inmate.
Under the bill, the warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility is required to: provide to each county inmate upon release from the facility a non-driver identification card, to be issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and for which the commission is to assign a former inmate's Department of Corrections identification card a two-point value; and a two-week supply of medications, including medications for the purposes of medication-assisted treatment. The warden, keeper, or administrator also is required to ensure that each inmate is released from custody during regular business hours so that the inmate may access appropriate services and treatment immediately upon release.
In addition, the warden, keeper, or administrator of a county correctional facility is required to record data regarding: the number of inmates who are offered services in accordance with County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program; the number of inmates who accept the services offered; the types of services provided to each inmate who accepts the services offered; the race, gender, ethnicity, and age of each inmate; and a record of any crimes committed by inmates who are released from the facility and the types of crimes committed for a period of three years following the inmate's release. These data are to be analyzed to determine whether the rates and nature of rearrests and convictions differ according to whether an inmate received services pursuant to the program.
The warden, keeper, or administrator is required to annually prepare and transmit to the county executive, county manager, or board of chosen freeholders of the county in which the facility is located, and to any county committee on inmate reentry services, the reports prepared, along with any recommendations by the warden, keeper, or administrator for improving the effectiveness of the County Jail Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Program.
