Requires DOC to provide reunification therapy to inmates and immediate family members prior to inmate's release.

A4291

ASSEMBLY, No. 4291

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires DOC to provide reunification therapy to
inmates and immediate family members prior to inmate�s release.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning inmate reentry, supplementing Title
30 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

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

���� 1.��� a.� The Commissioner of
Corrections, upon request, shall provide any inmate in this State who is
scheduled to be released from incarceration within six months the opportunity
to participate in counseling sessions with members of the inmate�s immediate
family.

���� b.��� The
commissioner shall advise
an inmate
who

is scheduled to be released from incarceration within nine months that the
inmate is
entitled, upon the inmate�s request, to

participate in counseling sessions with members of the inmate�s
immediate family, which shall begin six months prior to the inmate�s scheduled
release date.�

���� c.���� The counseling sessions
shall be conducted with the inmate participating virtually and the inmate�s
immediate family members being physically present at one of the following
locations:

���� (1) the private office of a
mental health care provider who is contracted by the Department of Corrections
to provide mental health counseling pursuant to this section;

���� (2)�� a nonprofit inmate
reentry service provider contracted by the Department of Community Affairs; or

���� (3)�� any other location
designated by the commissioner.

���� d.��� The commissioner shall
provide individual counseling sessions to any inmate who wishes to participate
in mental health counseling for the purposes of reentry pursuant to subsection
a. of this section, but whose immediate family members decline to participate
in the counseling sessions.

���� e.���� The commissioner shall
seek to establish public-private partnerships to effectuate the purposes of
this section among mental health care providers and nonprofit inmate reentry
service providers.

���� f.���� The commissioner shall
seek to secure the use of funds or other available resources from private
nonprofit or for-profit sources or the federal government to effectuate the
purposes of this section, which shall be used to supplement and shall not
supplant State funds used to carry out the purposes of this section.

���� g.��� In addition to any other
requirements under current law related to providing information and services to
inmates, the commissioner shall provide an inmate who participates in
counseling sessions pursuant to subsection a. of this section with information concerning
organizations and programs, whether faith-based or secular programs, which
provide assistance and services to inmates reentering society after a period of
incarceration.

���� h.��� There
shall be appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Corrections such
funds as are necessary to implement the provisions and effectuate the purposes
of this act.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of
enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
Department of Corrections to provide reunification therapy to inmates and
members of their immediate family prior to the inmate�s release from
incarceration.

���� Under the bill, the
Commissioner of Corrections is required to provide any inmate in this State who
is scheduled to be released from incarceration within six months the
opportunity to virtually participate in counseling sessions with members of the
inmate�s immediate family.�
The commissioner is
required to advise
an inmate
who
is
scheduled to be released from incarceration within nine months that the inmate
is
entitled to participate in the counseling
sessions.�

����
Upon
the inmate�s request, the counseling sessions are to be conducted with the
inmate participating virtually and the inmate�s immediate family members being
physically present at one of the following locations: (1) the private office of
a mental health care provider who is contracted by the Department of
Corrections to provide mental health counseling under the bill; (2) a nonprofit
inmate reentry service provider contracted by the Department of Community
Affairs; or (3) any other location designated by the commissioner.� The
commissioner is required to provide individual counseling sessions to an inmate
who wishes to participate in the mental health counseling offered under the
bill, but whose immediate family members decline to participate.

���� Under the bill, the
commissioner is required to establish public-private partnerships to effectuate
the purposes of this bill among mental health care providers and nonprofit
inmate reentry service providers.� The commissioner is further required to seek
funding and other available resources from private nonprofit or for-profit
sources or the federal government to effectuate the purposes of the bill, which
are to be used to supplement, and not supplant, State funds used to carry out
the purposes of the bill.

���� In addition to any other
requirements under current law related to providing information and services to
inmates, the commissioner also is required to provide an inmate who
participates in the counseling sessions with information concerning
organizations and programs which provide assistance and services to inmates
reentering society after a period of incarceration.� Finally, the bill requires

funds to be appropriated from the general fund to
the Department of Corrections in an amount necessary to implement the
provisions of the bill.

���� According to the sponsor,
incarcerated parents face a unique set of challenges, which often require them
to navigate both the child welfare and corrections systems.� Ninety-two percent
of incarcerated parents in the United States are fathers, a population that has
increased four-fold since 1980.� Each year, nearly 700,000 prisoners are
released from state and federal correctional facilities, in addition to those
released from local jails. As these inmates return to their families and
communities, they often have difficulties establishing and maintaining healthy
relationships, acquiring job skills and obtaining employment, locating safe and
stable housing, meeting their child support obligations, receiving adequate
health care, and understanding their voting and general citizenship rights.�
Many of the approximately 10 million children in the United States who are
affected by incarceration suffer from stress, trauma, and stigmatization, and
often exhibit a broad variety of behavioral, emotional, health, and educational
problems.�

���� It is the sponsor�s intent to
enable inmates who participate in the reunification therapy program established
under the bill to improve their knowledge and understanding of the impact of
incarceration on their children and families and how to respond to their needs;
learn strategies to help them focus on parenting and relationships; develop
employment skills; and prepare for other challenges these inmates may face when
released from incarceration.