STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CHRISTOPHER P. DEPHILLIPS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Swift
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain group homes and supervised apartments to install electronic monitoring devices in common areas under certain circumstances; Billy Crays Law.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the installation and use of electronic monitoring devices at group homes and supervised apartments for individuals with developmental disabilities, and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as Billy Crays Law.
2. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
a. Individuals with developmental disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and exploitation by caregivers, guardians, and other persons.
b. Group homes and supervised apartments for individuals with developmental disabilities admirably enable these individuals to live more independently within a non-institutional setting; however, the lack of institutional controls and oversight at these homes ultimately makes it more difficult for the State, for individual group home and supervised apartment operators, and for concerned family members to promptly identify and respond to wrongdoing that may be committed by caregivers, guardians, staff, and other persons at the home.
c. The safety and quality of life of individuals with developmental disabilities who receive care from group homes and supervised apartments is of paramount concern, and the use of electronic monitoring is a reasonable means by which the State and concerned family members can better ensure the prevention of, and the institution of a more proactive response to, the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of group home and supervised apartment residents.
d. The use of video surveillance in group homes and supervised apartments will enable consenting residents and their authorized representatives to more proactively and effectively review and ensure the propriety of care that is being provided to such residents and will further enable the State, licensed service providers, and whistleblowers to more easily verify, and obtain evidence to substantiate or refute, allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation occurring in group homes and supervised apartments.
e. The State recognizes that each individual with developmental disabilities is unique and has differing needs and preferences, and that, while some residents and their authorized representatives may consent to the use of video surveillance to better ensure the residents safety, others may refuse to consent to such video surveillance.
f. Through
the enactment of this act, it is the intent of the Legislature to make
electronic monitoring technology more readily available in group home and
supervised apartment settings, while taking great care to strike the important
and delicate balance between
protecting the privacy rights and protecting
the overall well-being of these residents. By increasing the availability of
electronic monitoring technology in group homes and supervised apartments, the
Legislature intends to: (1) make it easier for residents and their authorized
representatives to monitor residents care, if they so choose; (2) make it
easier for concerned family members and whistleblowers to file and substantiate
complaints of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other improper care or treatment
involving group home and supervised apartment residents; and (3) improve the
ability of the State and of individual licensees to verify and appropriately
respond to such complaints.
g. By enabling group home and supervised apartment residents with developmental disabilities and their authorized representatives to use electronic monitoring to protect against, provide documentary evidence of, and ensure a prompt and adequate response to, any abuse, neglect, and exploitation occurring in the group home or supervised apartment, the Legislature can further preserve the rights and safety of group home and supervised apartment residents.
h. This act is dedicated to William Billy Cray, a 33-year-old with developmental disabilities who, on a Sunday morning in August 2017, was inexplicably found dead in a Somers Point group home, operated by Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health New Jersey, where he resided. Billy Cray, who had suffered from institutional abuse since he was a child, was the son of Martha Cray, a dedicated and long-time advocate for persons with developmental disabilities. For many years, both preceding and following her sons death, Martha Cray, and Aileen Rivera of Wayne, New Jersey, whose son was badly beaten by a staffer at the North Jersey Development Center in Totowa, have continued to work tirelessly to advance legislation protecting the rights and safety of individuals with developmental disabilities, particularly those residing in group homes. Martha Cray and Aileen Rivera were particularly instrumental in facilitating the passage of Stephen Komninos Law, P.L.2017, c.238 (C.30:6D-9.1), which provides for the heightened scrutiny of group homes by requiring more frequent, unannounced oversight visits, and which requires group homes to provide prompt notice of injury to the parent or guardian of an injured resident.
i. Billy
Crays death is yet another reminder of why the State needs to continue its
work both to strengthen oversight of group homes for individuals with developmental
disabilities and to further facilitate and enhance the ability of group home
residents and their family members or guardians, as the case may be, to take
affirmative steps to protect the rights and safety of residents and promptly
and appropriately respond to resident injuries and other concerning incidents
occurring in the group homes. By enabling group home residents with
developmental disabilities and their authorized representatives to use
video-based electronic monitoring to protect against, provide documentary
evidence of, and ensure a prompt and
adequate response to, any abuse, neglect, and
exploitation occurring in the group home, the Legislature can further preserve
the rights and safety of group home residents and facilitate the proactive prevention
of deaths like Billy Crays.
3. As used in this act:
Authorized representative means a group home or supervised apartment residents court-appointed guardian of the person or, if there is no guardian of the person, the person who holds a valid power of attorney or is otherwise legally authorized to act as the representative of the resident for the purposes of making decisions related to the residents care and living arrangements. Authorized representative does not include a caregiver or any other person who is employed or contracted,