Requires DCF and DOE to establish policies and procedures relating to child abuse and neglect and child abuse prevention during certain public health emergencies.

A2180

ASSEMBLY, No. 2180

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Carter, Assemblymen Kearney and
Scharfenberger

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires DCF and DOE to establish policies and
procedures relating to child abuse and neglect and child abuse prevention
during certain public health emergencies.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning child abuse and neglect and
supplementing Title 9 of the Revised Statutes and Title 18A of the New Jersey
Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� The Department of
Children and Families shall establish policies and procedures to detect and
investigate incidents of child abuse and neglect and to promote child abuse
prevention techniques that shall be employed for the duration of each public
health emergency declared pursuant to P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-1 et seq.) that
necessitates the use of social distancing and other restrictions on
person-to-person contact.

���� b.��� The policies and
procedures established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall include,
but shall not be limited to, policies and procedures:

���� (1)�� publicizing the
Department of Children and Family�s State Central Registry, the toll free
hotline number used in reporting child abuse and neglect, as well as the
provision of instructions for calling 911 for emergencies, and directions to
assist the public in accessing the department's website and social media
platforms to obtain more information on reporting child abuse and neglect;

���� (2)�� allowing a child
protective investigator assigned to investigate an incident of child abuse and
neglect to perform some of the investigator�s responsibilities, if appropriate,
remotely by telephone, computer, or other means of live audio or video communication;

���� (3)�� allowing a permanency
worker assigned to a child under the department�s care, custody, and
supervision to provide case management services, if appropriate, remotely by
telephone, computer, or other means of live audio or video communication;

���� (4)�� allowing the family of a
child under the department�s care, custody, and supervision to access services
remotely by telephone, computer, or other means of live audio or video
communication, as may be appropriate;

���� (5)�� providing for the
preparation and dissemination of literature and other resource materials by the
department, utilizing both electronic and print media, which:

���� (a)�� inform parents of
factors that contribute to incidents of child abuse and neglect and the legal
ramifications of abusing or neglecting a child;

���� (b)�� outline the services
provided by the State which help in preventing child abuse and neglect;

���� (c)�� provide tips on child
safety; and

���� (d)�� reinforce positive
parenting skills; and

���� (6)�� providing for the
regular review and analysis, by the department, of the State�s child abuse
reporting requirements pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1971, c.437 (C.9:6-8.10) as
may be necessary in order for the department to develop and implement
strategies to better detect and investigate incidents of child abuse and
neglect during public health emergencies that require social distancing or
other restrictions on person-to-person contact.

���� c.���� The Department of
Children and Families, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall
establish a public awareness campaign to inform the general public about:

���� (1)�� protecting children from
child abuse and neglect during public health emergencies that require social
distancing, remote learning, and other restrictions on person-to-person contact
; and

���� (2)�� the policies and
procedures established pursuant to the provisions of this section and section 2
of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.�������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� d.��� The Department of
Children and Families shall prepare a fact sheet on the information provided
through the public awareness campaign established pursuant to subsection c. of
this section.� The department shall make the fact sheet available to the public
by electronic or other means of distribution, and shall post the fact sheet on
its Internet website and the Internet websites of the Departments of Education,
Health, and Human Services.

���� 2.��� a.� The Department of
Children and Families shall collect and analyze data on all records of child
abuse reports made during the public health emergency declared in response to
the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including, but not limited to:

���� (1)�� reports made pursuant to
section 3 of P.L.1971, c.437 (C.9:6-8.10);

���� (2)�� reports received
pursuant to section 20 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.40); and

���� (3)�� all reports of findings
forwarded to the child abuse registry pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c.437
(C.9:6-8.11).

���� b.��� No later than one year
after the effective date of P.L.��� , c.�� , (C.����� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), the Commissioner of Children and Families shall
issue a report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164

(C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, which report shall:� (1) contain a summary
of the data compiled by the department pursuant to subsection a. of this
section; and (2) include comparative information about child abuse reports made
during the COVID-19 pandemic and child abuse reports made prior to the
pandemic.� The report shall also include any recommendations for legislation or
regulatory changes in the reporting of cases of child abuse and neglect during
a public health emergency requiring social distancing or other restrictions on
person-to-person contact as the commissioner deems appropriate.

���� 3.��� a.� The Department of
Education and the Department of Children and Families shall develop an online
training program for school employees on the detection and prevention of child
abuse, inclusive of how to do so during a public health emergency that requires
remote learning, social distancing, or other restrictions on person-to-person contact.
The online training program shall be made available to all school districts in
the State, free of charge, to assist districts in meeting all requirements
established under State law to train school employees on the identification,
detection, reporting, and response to issues of child abuse. The training
program shall:

���� (1)�� be developed by the
Department of Education and the Department of Children and Families, in
consultation with education and private entities with expertise in the
detection of child abuse and neglect as well as child abuse and neglect
prevention techniques; and

���� (2)�� include, but not be
limited to, information on the signs of child abuse and neglect, how to assess
the safety of a child, and in what ways the signs can be detected and a child
safety assessment can be conducted in person and virtually.

���� b.��� The Department of
Education, in consultation with the Department of Children and Families, shall
require every school district in the State, during a public health emergency
that requires remote learning, social distancing, or other restrictions on
person-to-person contact, to:

���� (1)�� allow students and their
families to remotely access, by telephone, computer, or other means of live
audio or video communication, information about the Department of Children and
Families' Family Helpline and other telephone hotlines that offer peer support,
clinical, or counseling services to children who are at risk of child abuse or
neglect and their families; and

���� (2)�� provide a behavioral
health assessment, remotely by telephone, computer, or other means of live
audio or video communication, to every student who is deemed at-risk of child
abuse or neglect as determined by a school psychologist, school counselor, or
school social worker.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
Department of Children and Families (DCF) to establish policies and procedures,
as outlined in the bill, to detect and investigate incidents of child abuse and
neglect and to promote child abuse prevention techniques that is to be employed
for the duration of a public health emergency that necessitates the use of
social distancing and other restrictions on person-to-person contact.

���� Under the provisions of the
bill, the DCF, in consultation with the Department of Education (DOE), is
required to establish a public awareness campaign to inform the general public
about: protecting children from child abuse and neglect during a public health emergency
that requires social distancing, remote learning, or other restrictions on
person-to-person contact; and the policies and procedures established in the
bill.

���� The bill also requires the DCF
to prepare a fact sheet on the information provided through the public
awareness campaign, to make the fact sheet available to the public, and to post
the fact sheet on its Internet website and the internet websites of the DOE and
the Departments of Health and Human Services.

���� The DCF is to collect and
analyze data on all records of child abuse reports made during the public
health emergency declared in response to the coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) pandemic and issue a report, no later than one year after the
effective date of the bill, to the Governor and the Legislature providing:� a
summary of the data on child abuse reports compiled by the DCF; comparative
information about child abuse reports made prior to and during the COVID-19
pandemic; and any recommendations for legislation or regulatory changes in the
reporting of cases of child abuse and neglect during a public health emergency
that requires social distancing or other restrictions on person-to-person
contact.

���� The bill requires the DOE and
the DCF to develop, and make available to all school districts in the State
free of charge, an online training program for school employees on the
detection and prevention of child abuse, inclusive of how to do so during a
public health emergency that requires remote learning, social distancing, or
other restrictions on person-to-person contact.� ���� The bill also stipulates
that the DOE require every school district in the State, in consultation with
the DCF, to develop and implement a training program for school employees on
the detection and prevention of child abuse during a public health emergency
that requires remote learning, social distancing, or other restrictions on
person-to-person contact.�

���� The DOE, in consultation with
the DCF, is also to require every school district in the State, during a public
health emergency that requires remote learning, social distancing, or other
restrictions on person-to-person contact to: (1) allow students and their
families to remotely access information the DCFs' Family Helpline and other similar
telephone hotlines; and (2) provide a behavioral health assessment, remotely,
to every student who is deemed at-risk of child abuse or neglect as determined
by a school psychologist, school counselor, or school social worker.