Read the full stored bill text
A2204
ASSEMBLY, No. 2204
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Assemblywoman TENNILLE R. MCCOY
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires State, county, and municipal social service
workers to periodically complete implicit bias and cultural competency
training.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning implicit bias and cultural competency
training for State, county, and municipal
social service workers
and supplementing chapter 9 of Title 40A of the New
Jersey Statutes and chapter 13D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� a.� The Department of
Labor and Workforce Development shall provide an online tutorial on implicit
bias and cultural competency for all county and municipal social service
workers in the State.� Each county and municipal social service worker shall
complete the tutorial no later than April 1 of every even-numbered year.� Each
county board of social services and municipal council shall submit a
certification to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for their
respective social service workers that they have completed the online
tutorial.� Each county board of social services and municipal council shall be
responsible for all social service workers within the agencies, divisions,
commissions, boards, entities, and other instrumentalities under the auspices
of the county or the municipality in certifying the completion of the online
tutorial.� The certification shall be public information.
���� b.��� In addition to the
tutorial, all county and municipal social service workers in the State shall participate
in annual implicit bias and cultural competency training as directed by the
respective county board of social services or municipal governing body.� The county
board of social services or municipal governing body shall also direct the
process by which completion of the training is verified.� The county board of social
services or municipal governing body shall file the verification with the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development.� The verification shall be
public information.
���� c.���� For the purposes of
this section:
���� �Implicit bias� means a bias
in judgment or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes, including
implicit prejudice and implicit stereotypes, that often operate at a level
below conscious awareness and without intentional control.
���� �Implicit stereotypes� means
the unconscious attributions of particular qualities to a member of a certain
social group, influenced by experience, and based on learned associations
between various qualities and social categories, including race and gender.
���� �Cultural competency� means
the ability to understand, appreciate, and interact with people from different
cultures or belief systems.
���� �Social service worker� means
an individual who works for a county or a municipality and helps provide
support and services to individuals and families such as, but not limited to,
cash assistance to families and adults, child support services, emergency
assistance and employment support activities, food assistance, housing
services, or healthcare enrollment assistance.
���� 2.� a.� The Department of
Labor and Workforce Development shall provide an online tutorial on implicit
bias and cultural competency for all State social service workers in the
State.� Each State social service worker shall complete the tutorial no later than
April 1 of every even-numbered year.� Each department head, including the
Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, shall submit a certification
to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for themselves and for all
their respective social service workers that they have completed the online
tutorial.� Each department head shall be responsible for all social service
workers within the agencies, divisions, commissions, boards, entities, and
other instrumentalities under the auspices of the department in certifying the
completion of the online tutorial.� The certification shall be public
information.
���� b.� In addition to the
tutorial, all State social service workers shall participate in annual implicit
bias and cultural competency training as directed by their department head.� A
department head shall also direct the process by which completion of the
training is verified.� A department head shall file the verification with the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The verification shall be public
information.
���� c.���� For the purposes of
this section:
���� �Implicit bias� means a bias
in judgment or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes, including
implicit prejudice and implicit stereotypes, that often operate at a level
below conscious awareness and without intentional control.
���� �Implicit stereotypes� means
the unconscious attributions of particular qualities to a member of a certain
social group, influenced by experience, and based on learned associations
between various qualities and social categories, including race and gender.
���� �Cultural competency� means
the ability to understand, appreciate, and interact with people from different
cultures or belief systems.
���� �Department head� means an executive
or administrative head of the State�s executive branch departments.
���� �Social service worker� means
an individual who works for the State and helps provide support and services to
individuals and families such as, but not limited to, cash assistance to
families and adults, child support services, emergency assistance and employment
support activities, food assistance, housing services, or healthcare enrollment
assistance.
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect one year following enactment, but the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development and counties and municipalities may take any anticipatory action in
advance of that date as may be necessary for the timely implementation of this
act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires implicit
bias and cultural competency training for all State, county, and municipal
social service workers.� Implicit bias is a bias in judgment or behavior that
results from subtle cognitive processes, including implicit prejudice and
implicit stereotypes, that often operate at a level below conscious awareness
and without intentional control.� Cultural competency is the ability to
understand, appreciate, and interact with people from different cultures or
belief systems.
���� The bill requires social
service workers to complete the online tutorial by April 1 of every
even-numbered year and to participate in training annually.� The bill mandates
that certain certifications and verifications be communicated to the Department
of Labor and Workforce Development and such communications will be considered
public information.
���� Every day, State, county, and
municipal social service workers make decisions that impact people of all
backgrounds and cultures.� In doing this important work, it is critical for all
of these individuals to understand their own biases as well as cultures and
belief systems different from their own.