Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DHS and DCF to employ Director of Medical Services; appropriates $480,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning abuse, neglect, or exploitation investigations, supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Departments of Human Services and Children and Families shall each create the new position of, and hire a full-time, salaried, Director of Medical Services in the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) in the Department of Human Services and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit in the Department of Children and Families, respectively.
b. The directors shall:
(1) serve as advisors to the Office of Investigations, the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, or any other investigative entity responsible for the investigation of incidences of abuse, neglect, or death pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2010, c.5 (C.30:6D-75) or allegations of child abuse or neglect pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c.437 (C.9:6-8.11) when complex medical issues or conditions exist;
(2) provide expert testimony, and supporting administrative hearings and other legal proceedings relating to the investigation of incidences of abuse, neglect, or exploitation or allegations of child abuse or neglect; and
(3) review medical policy, procedures, programs, services, and best practices at State developmental centers, residential facilities, and other institutions or organizations that provide care to persons with developmental disabilities in order to:
(a) recommend proposed changes in such policies, programs services, and practices, based on trend analysis data;
(b) improve medical outcomes; and
(c) establish, improve, or expand quality of care standards at such centers, facilities, institutions, or organizations.
c. The directors shall:
(1) be physicians licensed and in good standing in the State;
(2) graduates of a regularly chartered and legally constituted medical school or college or osteopathic medical school or college; and
(3) possess such minimum training and experiential requirements as are established by the State Board of Medical Examiners.
2. There is appropriated from the General Fund the sum of $480,000, of which $240,000 shall be allocated to both the Departments of Human Services and Children and Families to hire a new Director of Medical Services at the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, respectively.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Departments of Human Services (DHS)and Children and Families (DCF) to each create the new position of, and hire a full-time, salaried, Director of Medical Services in the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) in the DHS and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit in the DCF, respectively.
The directors are to serve as advisors to the office, unit, or any other investigative entity responsible for the investigation of incidences of abuse, neglect, or death pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2010, c.5 (C.30:6D-75) or allegations of child abuse or neglect pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c.437 (C.9:6-8.11) when complex medical issues or conditions exist and meet the educational and professional requirements and carry out the duties and responsibilities outlined in the bill.
The bill also appropriates $480,000 from the General Fund of which $240,00 is allocated to both the DHS and the DCF to hire a new Director of Medical Services in the OPIA and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, respectively.