STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JOHN A. GIRGENTI
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator NICHOLAS J. SACCO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Turner
SYNOPSIS
Establishes grant program in DCA to provide funding to youth mentoring programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act establishing a grant program for certain mentoring programs and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act. "mentoring services" means a program administered by a duly incorporated non-profit organization in which persons provide advice, support, opinion or instruction to persons 21 years of age or younger in an effort to direct that person's judgment or conduct in a positive manner.
b. The Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish a program to provide grants to organizations which provide mentoring services as defined in this section. The grant program shall be administered by the commissioner. Preference shall be given to those programs which provide youth with alternatives to membership in or association with criminal street gangs.
c. An organization which elects to participate in the grant program shall submit an application to the commissioner in such form as prescribed by the commissioner. The application shall outline the applicant's program or program proposal, sample activities, social service offerings, existing funds and the amount of the grant request.
d. Based upon the application, and subject to the availability of funds, the commissioner shall award a grant to each approved grant applicant to assist in establishing or maintaining the mentoring program. The commissioner, to the extent possible, shall equitably distribute grant awards to successful applicants in northern, central and southern counties of the State, and shall include programs in urban, suburban and rural areas.
e. Any mentoring organization that is awarded a grant shall report on an annual basis to the commissioner on the status of its program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on number of participants, the hours of program operation, regular program activities, and the number and qualifications of program staff, including volunteers. The report shall be used by the commissioner to evaluate future grant applications.
f. Pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) the commissioner may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month after enactment, but subsection f. of section 1 shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Attorney General, to establish a program to provide grants to organizations which provide mentoring. The grant program is to be administered by the commissioner. Preference would be given to those programs which provide youth with alternatives to membership in or association with criminal street gangs.
The bill requires the commissioner, to the extent possible, to equitably distribute grant awards to successful applicants in northern, central and southern counties of the State, and to include programs in urban, suburban and rural areas.
Any mentoring organization that is awarded a grant is required to report on an annual basis to the commissioner the status of its program. The report is to include, but not be limited to, information on number of participants, the hours of program operation, regular program activities, and the number and qualifications of program staff, including volunteers. These reports would be used by the commissioner to evaluate future grant applications.