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A5235 2R FISCAL ESTIMATE
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[Second Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 5235
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
DATED: JULY 2, 2026
SUMMARY
Synopsis:
Establishes School-Based Partnerships for Access and
Resilience for Kids program in DCF; requires school districts to develop
mental health support and partnership programs.
Type of Impact:
Annual increase in State and Local expenditures.
Agencies Affected:
Department of Children and Families, Department of
Education, local school districts.
Office of
Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
Annual
State Expenditure Increase
Indeterminate
Local Expenditure Increase
Indeterminate
�
The
Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that the Department of Children
and Families may potentially experience marginal administrative cost increases to
comply with the bill�s requirement that it consult with the Department of
Education on the establishment of guidelines for the development of
comprehensive mental health support and partnership programs by school
districts. �The department would only experience cost increases to the extent
that additional staff is needed to produce the guidance required by the bill.
�
A
school district�s costs may increase by an indeterminate amount to comply with
the bill�s requirement that each school either designate a staff member to
provide school-based counseling services for students, have a formal
arrangement with a community-based mental health provider, or have a formal
arrangement with the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services program.� A
public school may experience cost increases if the school decides to hire
additional staff to provide school-based counseling services to satisfy this
requirement.�
�
A
school district also may realize higher costs under the School-Based
Partnerships for Access and Resilience for Kids (SPARK) pilot program or the
Statewide SPARK program, to the extent that it needs to implement new school
re-entry and transition planning programs or services following a student�s
behavioral health crisis, hospitalization, or emergency department visit.
�
The
OLS concludes that Department of Children and Families� expenditures will
increase by an indeterminate amount to implement the SPARK pilot program in up
to ten selected school districts, with costs largely driven by the department�s
expenditures to establish the program�s infrastructure, initiate services in
the selected school districts, and contract with the pilot program navigator
and the participating health system.
�
Following
the end of the SPARK pilot program, when SPARK program services will, absent a
negative recommendation from the department, expand to all school districts
Statewide, program costs will further increase by a potentially significant
amount.� With Statewide availability of SPARK program services in all school
districts, department costs will largely depend upon the number of referrals
for SPARK program services, student and family demand for the program, and the
program�s ability to hire, train, and retain a sufficient number of mental
health professionals.�
�
To
the extent that the mental health services provided through the SPARK pilot
program and the Statewide SPARK program help prevent certain students� need for
more intensive and costly mental health interventions in the future, NJ
FamilyCare costs, and associated federal revenue in the form of service
reimbursements under Medicaid and the Children�s Health Insurance Program, �may
be slightly reduced, albeit by an indeterminate amount.� Any decrease in NJ
FamilyCare expenditures would result in a decrease in federal reimbursements
for State expenditures under the federal Medicaid program.
BILL DESCRIPTION
����� The bill requires public school districts, according
to guidelines issued by the Department of Children and Families, in
consultation with the Department of Education, to institute a comprehensive
mental health support and partnership program for students. �The guidelines
would: provide information on laws and regulations governing patient privacy,
clarify the procedures for requesting a mental health evaluation by an outside
provider, promote consistency across school districts, and encourage school
districts to develop written plans for students returning to school after a
mental health crisis.
����� The Department of Children and Families would issue a request
for proposals for a State contract for a mobile mental health application to
deliver universal, age-appropriate mental health information and resources.
����� The bill establishes the School-Based Partnerships for
Access and Resilience for Kids (SPARK) pilot program in the Department of
Children and Families to evaluate models for increasing student and family
utilization of, and access to, SPARK program services.� The pilot program,
which would begin on January 1, 2027 and conclude after 18 months, would
operate in up to ten school districts selected by the Department of Children
and Families, in consultation with the Department of Education and the SPARK program�s
clinical navigator.�
����� Participating school districts would have to
designated staff to deliver school-based mental health care services, a formal
arrangement with a community-based mental health provider, or a formal
arrangement with the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services program for
services.
����� The contracted service provider for the Department of
Children and Families� Child Collaborative Mental Health Care Program would
serve as the SPARK pilot program�s clinical navigator and administer the pilot
collaboratively with a participating health system.
����� The navigator would provide: psychiatric consultation
and assessment, referrals, short-term medication management and bridging
services, a secure technology portal, school district onboarding, training,
psychiatric clearance and re-entry services following student mental health
crises, and consultation for State and local school leaders.
����� The navigator�s secure technology portal would be used
to collect, document, and transmit information between the navigator, the
participating health system, and participating schools regarding student
behavioral health incidents, screening results, behavioral threat assessments,�
and safety planning.� The navigator may contract with a third-party vendor to
provide the secure portal and other technology-related services.�
����� The Department of Children and Families would develop SPARK
pilot program metrics, and report these data and its recommendations regarding
the continuation or Statewide expansion of the pilot, to the Governor and the
Legislature within 60 days of the pilot program�s conclusion.� Absent a
negative recommendation from the department, all school districts in the State
would participate in the SPARK program at the conclusion of the pilot program.
����� Participating school districts would report annually
on certain SPARK pilot program and Statewide SPARK program data.� The Department
of Children and Families would establish a public-facing data platform on the
department�s website to display these data in a searchable format.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
����� None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
����� The OLS concludes that the Department of Children and
Families may potentially experience marginal administrative cost increases to
comply with the bill�s requirement that the department, in consultation with
the Department of Education, establish guidelines for the development of
comprehensive mental health support and partnership programs by school
districts. �The department would only experience cost increases to the extent
that additional staff is needed to produce the guidance required by the bill.
����� The bill may lead to indeterminate expenditure
increases for public school districts, only to the extent that these entities
may incur costs to implement programs and services in accordance with the
guidelines for the development of a comprehensive mental health support and
partnership program. �The OLS notes, however, that a school district�s choice
to implement any recommendations included in the guidelines would be optional.
����� School districts also may experience cost increases to
comply with the bill�s requirement that each public school: designate staff
members to provide school-based mental health care services for students; have
a formal arrangement with a community-based mental health provider; or have a
formal arrangement with the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services
program.� A public school may experience cost increases to implement this requirement,
particularly if a school decides to hire additional staff to provide
school-based counseling services.� While the OLS cannot predict a school�s
potential hiring decisions to implement this requirement, the OLS notes for the
purposes of illustration only that the mean annual salary for a school
psychologist in New Jersey is nearly $100,000, according to the federal Bureau
of Labor Statistics� May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
����� Similarly, a school district may incur costs under the
SPARK pilot program or the Statewide SPARK program, to the extent that it needs
to implement new school re-entry and transition planning programs or
services following a student�s behavioral health crisis, hospitalization, or
emergency department visit.
����� The OLS concludes that expenditures to the Department
of Children and Families will increase by an indeterminate amount to implement
the SPARK pilot program in up to ten selected school districts, with costs
largely driven by the department�s expenditures to establish the program�s
infrastructure, initiate services in the selected school districts, and
contract with the pilot program navigator and the participating health system.
����� Following the end of the SPARK pilot program, when
SPARK program services will, absent a negative recommendation from the department,
expand to all school districts Statewide, program costs will further increase
by a potentially significant amount.� With Statewide availability of SPARK
program services in school districts, the department�s costs will largely
depend upon the number of referrals for SPARK program services, student and
family demand for the program, and the program�s ability to hire, train, and
retain a sufficient number of mental health professionals.�
����� The State�s ongoing behavioral health workforce
shortages may complicate the department�s efforts to scale the SPARK program
Statewide, thereby potentially limiting the program�s costs following the
conclusion of the SPARK pilot program.
����� The bill stipulates that the department�s contracted
service provider for the Child Collaborative Mental Health Care Program, which
is currently the New Jersey Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative, will serve as
the SPARK pilot program navigator.� The OLS lacks the informational basis to
determine the extent to which the collaborative may be able to sufficiently scale
its provider network and services Statewide following the conclusion of the
SPARK pilot program.�
����� The collaborative provides psychoeducation and virtual
psychiatric consultations to help pediatric primary care providers, including school
physicians, screen for and diagnose behavioral health conditions in their
pediatric patients, and offers support with diagnoses, medication management,
care coordination, and patient referrals to community-based providers.� The
collaborative, which was launched in 2015, operates through nine hubs that
serve all 21 counties, and works with more than 1,700 pediatric primary care
providers.� The collaborative�s FY 2024-2025 annual report stated that the
program served approximately 4,240 cases. In FY 2026, the collaborative
received $12.8 million in State support via the Department of Children and
Families to fulfill these functions
����� If the mental health services available through the
SPARK program help prevent the need for� more intensive and costly mental
health interventions for certain students enrolled in the NJ FamilyCare
program, NJ FamilyCare costs, and associated federal revenue in the form of
service reimbursements under Medicaid and the Children�s Health Insurance
Program, may be slightly reduced, albeit by an indeterminate amount.�
����� The OLS determines that the Department of Children and
Families may potentially realize additional costs subsequent to a provision in
the bill requiring the department to issue a request for proposals for a State
contract for a mobile mental health application to deliver universal,
age-appropriate mental health information and resources for school-aged youth
and their families.� In FY 2026, the State appropriated $3.0 million for three
different mobile mental health applications serving youth and their families.� If
the department were to award additional contracts for youth and family-serving
mobile mental health applications at a total cost surpassing $3.0 million, the department�s
costs would increase under the bill.
����� The Department of Children and Families and the
Department of Education may incur marginal administrative cost increases in
order to meet the bill�s reporting requirements.� The Department of Children
and Families� information technology expenditures may increase to develop and
maintain a searchable, public-facing data platform on its website that would
display SPARK program data.
Section:
Human Services
Analyst:
Anne Cappabianca
Senior Fiscal Analyst
Approved:
Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the
Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to
respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980,
c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).