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A2436
ASSEMBLY, No. 2436
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman TENNILLE R. MCCOY
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
���� Concerns Early Intervention Support Services program
in DHS and expansion of program to all counties.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning behavioral health services and supplementing
Title
30 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
����� 1.�� a.�
As used in this section, "Early Intervention Support Services
Program" means a program that provides rapid access to short term,
recovery-oriented crisis intervention and crisis stabilization services to an
individual 18 years of age or older with a serious mental illness and includes,
but is not limited to, medication, therapy, and case management services, which
are offered at an on-site location, other than a hospital, or through outreach
in the community.
����� b.�� The
Department of Human Services shall expand the Early Intervention Support
Services Programs currently available in 11 counties in the State to provide
for one such program in each county in the State.
����� c.�� Any
program that is operating in the State upon the effective date of P.L.����
c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and provides
the services as set forth in subsection a. of this section shall be designated
by the department as an Early Intervention Support Services Program pursuant to
this bill.
����� d.�� The
department shall coordinate with each county Early Intervention Support
Services Program in the State to provide for education about the program, and
accessibility to the program, to members of the public served by a county
program and to those organizations or persons who may be the source of
referrals to the county program.
����� e.�� The
department shall utilize the moneys available to it for the program to ensure
that funding is available for:
����� (1)� expanding
the program to each county in the State; and
����� (2)� the
expansion of a program in existence on the effective date of this act, based on
the needs of the program to provide services.
����� f.��� The
department shall:
����� (1)� collect,
at a minimum, information from each Early Intervention Support Services Program
in the State about the services provided by the program, the utilization of
these services, and the number of individuals who have been stabilized and
referred to treatment in the community; and
����� (2)� issue,
within 18 months of the effective date of this act and annually thereafter, a
report to the Governor and pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164
(C.52:14-19.1) to the Legislature, based on the information collected pursuant
to paragraph (1) of this section.� The report shall include a review and
analysis of each Early Intervention Support Services Program in the State and
any recommendations for improvement to the programs.
����� 2.�� The
Commissioner of Human Services may, in accordance with the "Administrative
Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt any rules and regulations as the commissioner deems
necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.
����� 3.�� This
act shall take effect on the first day of the 13th month next following the
date of enactment, except the Commissioner of Human Services may take any
anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the
implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill expands the Early
Intervention Support Services (EISS) Programs, currently available in 11
counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Camden, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex,
Mercer, Monmouth, Morris, and Ocean), to provide for one program in each county
in the State. �An EISS program is defined in the bill as a program that
provides rapid access to short term, recovery-oriented crisis intervention and
crisis stabilization services to an individual 18 years of age or older with a
serious mental illness and includes, but is not limited to, medication,
therapy, and case management services, which are offered at an on-site
location, other than a hospital, or through outreach in the community.
���� EISS Programs are designed to
provide the crisis intervention and stabilization services needed to help
prevent the recurrence of a crisis and to reduce overutilization of hospital
emergency departments for a behavioral health crisis.� Existing programs that
meet the qualifications of an EISS program as provided in the bill are to be
designated by the Department of Human Services (DHS) as EISS programs. �
���� Additionally, The DHS is to
coordinate with each county Early Intervention Support Services Program in the
State to provide for education about the program, and accessibility to the
program, to members of the public served by that county program and to those
organizations or persons who may be the source of referrals to that program.
���� The bill also requires the DHS
to utilize the moneys available to it for the program to ensure that funding is
available for: �expanding the program to each county in the State; and the
expansion of a program in existence on the effective date of this bill, based
on the needs of the program.
���� Lastly, the bill requires the
DHS to collect information from each EISS Program in the State. �The
information would include, but not be limited to, information about the
services provided by the program, the utilization of services, and the number
of individuals who have been stabilized and referred to treatment in the
community. �The DHS is to issue annual reports, based on the information
collected, which would include a review and analysis of the programs in the
State and any recommendations for improvements to the program.