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A1801
ASSEMBLY, No. 1801
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman� VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
���� Lowers age at which minors can consent to behavioral
health care treatment from age 16 to age 14.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the behavioral health care treatment
of certain minors and amending P.L.1968, c.230.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� 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
]
14
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, 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.
���� 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, 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)
���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� Under current law, a minor, 16
years of age or older, who believes that he or she is in need of behavioral
health care services can consent to temporary outpatient treatment under the
supervision of a licensed health care professional, excluding the use or
administration of medication, as if the minor had achieved the age of
majority.� This bill lowers the age at which a minor can consent to such
treatment from 16 years of age or older to 14 years of age or older.
���� Suicide is the third leading
cause of death among New Jersey teens.� Between 2016 and 2018, the number of
suicide deaths among persons ages of ten and 24 in New Jersey was 291.
���� During the early stages of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, adolescents accounted for a higher
proportion of suicides in the United States than in the years prior to the
pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.� Five states, including New Jersey, had
an increase in the absolute count of adolescent suicides during the pandemic. �These
states also had an increase in the proportion of overall suicides among
adolescents.
���� Twenty-four states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have enacted laws allowing minors to
consent to some type of behavioral or mental health treatment, and ten states
allow minors between the ages of 12 and 15 to consent to such treatment.
���� It is the sponsor�s intent to
address the issue of, and facilitate efforts to prevent, teen suicide by
lowering the age at which a minor, who believes that he or she is in need of
behavioral health treatment services, can consent to such services.