Bill Text: NJ S743 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program in Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services; appropriates $500,000.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-14 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S743 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S743-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program in Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services; appropriates $500,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning services for adults with autism, supplementing chapter 65 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services at Rutgers, The State University, the Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program, the purpose of which shall be to recruit and train individuals to serve adults who have autism and drive innovations to improve the quality of life for adults who have autism in New Jersey.
b. Subject to the provisions of subsection c. of this section, the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services at Rutgers, The State University shall have the discretion to determine the scope and details of the program, including whether to establish the program on a full-year basis, on a semester basis, as a summer program, or for an alternate duration. The Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services may additionally establish different iterations of the program for undergraduate students and graduate students, as well as for part-time and full-time students.
c. At a minimum, the program shall seek to enroll at least eight to 10 students per year and provide at least 20 to 40 hours of intensive training to program enrollees per week, subject to the following requirements:
(1) The program shall seek to recruit students enrolled in baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs across a range of disciplines, including, but not limited to, psychology, medicine, law, education, social work, computer science, business, and the arts;
(2) In recruiting students, the program shall seek to select students who demonstrate a commitment to a future career supporting adults with autism; and
(3) The training provided under the program shall include, at a minimum: intensive hands-on training alongside senior clinical staff at the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services; academic coursework to supplement the hands-on clinical training; opportunities to work alongside senior faculty to develop new research concerning best practices to encourage successful outcomes for adults with autism; and the completion of an innovative capstone project related to ensuring improved outcomes in the overall quality of life for adults who have autism.
2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services at Rutgers, The State University, the sum of $500,000 to support the establishment and implementation of the Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program established pursuant to section 1 of this act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the Training Clinicians to Support Adults with Autism Workforce Development Program in the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services. The purpose of the program will be to recruit and train individuals to serve adults with autism and drive innovations to improve the quality of life for adults with autism.
In general, the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services will have discretion to determine the scope and details of the program, including the duration of the program and whether to offer different iterations of the program to different student populations. However, the bill specifies that, at a minimum, the program is to seek to annually enroll eight to 10 students and provide 20 to 40 hours of intensive training per week. The program will seek to recruit students enrolled in baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs across a range of disciplines, with a focus on recruiting students who demonstrate a commitment to a future career supporting adults with autism. The training provided under the program will include intensive hands-on training alongside senior clinical staff, academic coursework, opportunities to work alongside senior faculty to develop research involving best practices, and the completion of an innovative capstone project. The bill appropriates $500,000 to the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services to support the establishment and implementation pf the program.
Many adults with autism in New Jersey are currently without access to high-quality services and supports. As a result, people with autism are often relegated to an adulthood marked by social isolation, unemployment, untreated psychological and physical health conditions, and near-complete reliance on parents, family, and other caregivers to meet basic needs. This situation represents a crisis for many adults with autism and their families. A lack of trained support staff for this growing population, limited research-based support practices, and limited research-based service delivery models all contribute to these issues.
It is the sponsor's belief that the program established under the bill will help address this Statewide crisis using an innovative, multifaceted approach to support adults with autism. Since its creation in early 2017, the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services has provided a variety of training experiences for 197 students from a range of disciplines including psychology, social work, education, pre-medicine, public health, and occupational therapy. It is the only center of its kind in New Jersey, and one of a select few in the nation.
