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A1512
ASSEMBLY, No. 1512
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman MICHAEL VENEZIA
District 34 (Essex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Scharfenberger, Assemblywoman Flynn,
Assemblyman Sampson and Assemblywoman Quijano
SYNOPSIS
���� Allows follow up calls from operators of NJ Suicide
Hopeline to minors at risk of committing suicide.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the New Jersey Suicide Hopeline, amending
P.L.1968, c.230, and supplementing Chapter 9A of Title 30 of the Revised
Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� (New section) The
Legislature finds and declares:
���� a.��� Suicide is the second
leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in New Jersey, and
the State faces a growing youth mental health crisis that has been further
exacerbated by social, academic, and public health stressors.
���� b.��� The New Jersey Suicide
Hopeline, operated in partnership with Rutgers University Behavioral Health
Care and the State Department of Human Services, provides immediate,
compassionate, and confidential support to youth in crisis and plays a critical
role in preventing suicide across the State.
���� c.��� Current law allows
minors aged 16 years and older to consent to certain behavioral health and
substance use disorder services, but does not expressly permit follow-up
communication from a suicide prevention hotline, even when the minor has been
identified as high risk following an initial call for help.
���� d.��� Allowing a follow-up
call from a trained operator, with the minor�s voluntary consent and without
requiring parental authorization, is a narrowly tailored response that ensures
access to continued support during moments of acute vulnerability.
���� e.��� A follow-up call
conducted pursuant to P.L.��� , c.���
(C. ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill) shall be understood as brief, supportive
communication solely for suicide prevention purposes and is not intended to
constitute behavioral health treatment, diagnosis, or clinical care.
���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.1968,
c.230 (C.9:17A-4) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.� a. (1) The consent to the
provision of medical or surgical care or services or a forensic sexual assault
examination by a hospital or public clinic, or consent to the performance of
medical or surgical care or services or a forensic sexual assault examination
by a health care professional, when executed by a minor who is or believes that
he or she may have a sexually transmitted infection, or who is at least 13
years of age and is or believes that he or she may be infected with the human
immunodeficiency virus or have acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or by a
minor who, in the judgment of the treating health care professional, appears to
have been sexually assaulted, shall be valid and binding as if the minor had
achieved the age of majority.� Any such consent shall not be subject to later
disaffirmance by reason of minority.� In the case of a minor who appears to
have been sexually assaulted, the minor's parents or guardian shall be notified
immediately, unless the treating healthcare professional believes that it is in
the best interests of the patient not to do so.� Inability of the treating
health care professional, hospital, or clinic to locate or notify the parents
or guardian shall not preclude the provision of any emergency or medical or
surgical care to the minor or the performance of a forensic sexual assault
examination on the minor.
���� (2)� As used in this
subsection, "health care professional" means a physician, physician
assistant, nurse, or other health care professional whose professional practice
is regulated pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
���� b.��� When a minor believes
that he or she is adversely affected by a substance use disorder involving
drugs or is a person with a substance use disorder involving drugs as defined
in section 2 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-2) or is adversely affected by an alcohol
use disorder or is a person with an alcohol use disorder as defined in section
2 of P.L.1975, c.305 (C.26:2B-8), the minor's consent to treatment under the
supervision of a physician licensed to practice medicine, or an individual
licensed or certified to provide treatment for an alcohol use disorder, or in a
facility licensed by the State to provide for the treatment of an alcohol use
disorder, shall be valid and binding as if the minor had achieved the age of
majority.
���� Any such consent shall not be
subject to later disaffirmance by reason of minority.� Treatment for an alcohol
use disorder or a substance use disorder involving drugs that is consented to
by a minor shall be considered confidential information between the physician,
the treatment provider, or the treatment facility, as appropriate, and the
patient, and neither the minor nor the minor's physician, treatment provider,
or treatment facility, as appropriate, shall be required to report such
treatment when it is the result of voluntary consent, except as may otherwise
be required by law.
���� When a minor who is
[
sixteen
]
16
years of age or older believes that he or she is in need of behavioral health
care services for the treatment of mental illness or emotional disorders, the
minor's consent to temporary outpatient treatment, excluding the use or
administration of medication, under the supervision of a physician licensed to
practice medicine, an advanced practice nurse, or an individual licensed to
provide professional counseling under Title 45 of the Revised Statutes,
including, but not limited to, a psychiatrist, licensed practicing
psychologist, certified social worker, licensed clinical social worker,
licensed social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified
psychoanalyst, or licensed psychologist, or in an outpatient health care
facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.), shall be
valid and binding as if the minor had achieved the age of majority.
���� Any such consent shall not be
subject to later disaffirmance by reason of minority.� Treatment for behavioral
health care services for mental illness or emotional disorders that is
consented to by a minor shall be considered confidential information between
the physician, the individual licensed to provide professional counseling, the
advanced practice nurse, or the health care facility, as appropriate, and the
[
patient
]
minor
,
and neither the minor nor the minor's physician, professional counselor, nurse,
or
outpatient
health care facility, as appropriate, shall be required to report such
treatment� when it is the result of voluntary consent.
����
When a minor who reports
being 16 years of age or older believes that he is in need of behavioral health
care services for the treatment of mental illness or emotional disorders and
places a telephone call to, or when a call from another hotline placed by the
minor is routed to or received by, the New Jersey Suicide Hopeline for
counseling and support, that minor shall be allowed to receive a follow-up call
from an operator of the hopeline in response to the minor�s original call
without parental consent or authorization in accordance with the provisions of
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� The consent of no other person
or persons, including but not limited to, a spouse, parent, custodian, or
guardian, shall be necessary in order to authorize a minor to receive such
hospital services, facility, or clinical care or services, medical or surgical
care or services, or counseling services from a physician licensed to practice
medicine, an individual licensed or certified to provide treatment for an
alcohol use disorder, an advanced practice nurse, or an individual licensed to
provide professional counseling under Title 45 of the Revised Statutes,
or
for the minor to receive a follow-up telephone call from an operator of the New
Jersey Suicide Hopeline pursuant to P.L.���� , c.��� (C.���� ) (pending before
the Legislature as this bill),
as appropriate, except that behavioral
health care services for the treatment of mental illness or emotional disorders
shall be limited to temporary outpatient services only.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.131, s.7)
���� 3.��� (New section)� An
operator of the New Jersey Suicide Hopeline who receives and responds to a
telephone call from a minor who is 16 years of age or older for counseling and
support and whom the operator identifies as being at a high risk of committing
suicide shall be permitted to place follow-up calls to the minor, as
appropriate, without the necessity of obtaining parental consent or
authorization pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L.1968, c.238
(C.9:17A-4).� A follow-up call authorized pursuant to this section shall not
constitute behavioral health treatment, diagnosis, or clinical care.� The call
shall be considered brief supportive communication solely for suicide
prevention purposes.
���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
����� This bill allows operators of the New Jersey Suicide
Hopeline to place follow-up telephone calls to minors, 16 years of age or older
who place calls to the hotline for counseling and support and who are
identified as being at a high risk of committing suicide, without having to
obtain the consent or authorization of the minor�s parent.
����� Under current guidelines governing suicide hotlines
established by the National Suicide Prevention Helpline, operators of such
hotlines are prohibited from placing follow-up calls to minors who they
identify as being at a high risk of committing suicide without the consent or
authorization of the minor�s parent.
����� The bill amends section 1 of P.L.1968, c.230
(C.9:17A-4) to stipulate that when a minor who is 16 years of age or older
believes that he or she is in need of behavioral health care services for the
treatment of mental illness or emotional disorders and places a call to, or is
transferred from, another hotline to, the New Jersey Suicide Hopeline for
counseling and support, the minor would be allowed to receive a follow-up
telephone call from the operator of the hotline without the minor�s consent, parental
consent or authorization.
����� Presently, minors can consent to certain types of
temporary, outpatient, behavioral health, and substance use disorder treatment
services.� Current law does not allow minors to receive follow-up calls from
the operators of suicide hotlines without parental consent.
����� The bill also specifies that a follow-up call
pursuant to the bill does not constitute behavioral health treatment,
diagnosis, or clinical care, and that the call shall be considered brief
supportive communication solely for suicide prevention purposes.
����� The New Jersey Suicide Hopeline is a Statewide
suicide prevention hotline provided in partnership with Rutgers University
Behavioral Health Care and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services
in the Department of Human Services.� In 2018, the hotline received
approximately 15,488 calls from youth under the age of 25.� Research shows
there is a significant benefit to follow-up telephone calls from operators of
suicide hotlines to youth who are in crisis and at high risk for suicide.�
Allowing the operators of the New Jersey Suicide Hopeline to make follow-up
calls to minors who are at a high risk to commit suicide would help in the
prevention of youth suicide in the State.