Converts community crisis response team pilot program into permanent program; appropriates $6 million.

A5320

ASSEMBLY, No. 5320

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 23, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman� AL ABDELAZIZ

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Converts community crisis response team pilot program
into permanent program; appropriates $6 million.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning the community crisis response team
pilot program, amending and supplementing P.L.2023, c.259, and making an
appropriation.

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

���� 1.��� Section 5 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5) is amended to read as follows:

���� 5.��� a. �The Attorney General
shall establish a
[
pilot
]
program
,
which may operate
in Camden, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, and Passaic
[
Counties
]
counties,

to permit eligible municipalities and community-based organizations to operate
community crisis response teams in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.1 et al.).

���� b.��� The Attorney General
shall develop a request for proposals, in accordance with the minimum
application requirements outlined in section 6 of P.L.2023, c.259
(C.52:17B-236.6), from
[
municipalities
]

each
municipality
and
[
organizations
]

organization

interested in participating in the
[
pilot
]
program
[
, to review
]

that
includes standards for reviewing
completed proposals,
[
create
]

creating

a scoring panel for submitted proposals, and
[
to
issue
]

issuing
grant awards to municipalities or organizations to plan or
implement a community crisis response team, as defined in section 3 of
P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.3). �The Attorney General shall
annually
publish
a request for proposals pursuant to this section
[
not later than 90 days after the
effective date of P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.1 et al.)
]
. �The
Attorney General shall announce
[
grants
]

grant

awards not later than 90 days after the completion of the request for
proposals.� The council shall not be involved in the grant award process. �Organizations
represented by or affiliated with a member of the council shall not be
disqualified from applying for a grant award.

���� c.���� Grants may be used for
the following purposes:

���� (1)�� project planning and
community engagement, including:

���� (a)�� research and assessment
of need;

���� (b)�� development of staffing
plans;

���� (c)�� resource mapping;

���� (d)�� training;

���� (e)�� development of
a
community
engagement plan;

���� (f)�� fiscal planning;

���� (g)�� engagement with
technical assistance providers or consulting services; and

���� (h)�� evaluation planning; and

���� (2)�� project implementation,
including:

���� (a)�� staffing and
recruitment;

���� (b)��
[
facilities
]

facility
costs
;

���� (c)�� operational costs,
including costs of startup or expansion activities, marketing, language
translation, and transportation;

���� (d)�� engagement with
technical assistance providers;

���� (e)�� consulting services;

���� (f)�� training;

����
[
g
]

(g)
������� program and
project evaluation, including evaluation of program and project efficacy, staff
performance, and service delivery; and

����
[
h.
]

(h)
������ programming and
service interventions that include activities that prioritize human service
interventions
[
,
]
by entities
other than law enforcement, over interventions by law enforcement, or
activities that include triaging emergencies, through emergency dispatch
operators, in a manner that results in a referral to a wholly non-police
entity.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.259, s.5)

���� 2.��� Section 6 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.6) is amended to read as follows:

���� 6.��� a. To be eligible to
receive a grant pursuant to the
[
pilot
]
program
established in section 5 of P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5):

���� (1)�� a municipality shall be
a municipality of the first class in Essex, Hudson,
[
and
]

or
Passaic
[
Counties
]

county
;
a municipality of the second class having a population of more than 70,000 and
density of 8,000 to 12,000 according to the 2020 federal decennial census in
Camden
[
and
]

or

Mercer
[
Counties
]

county
;

[
and
]

or
a
municipality of the second class having a population of more than 55,000 and
density of between 10,000 and 11,000 according to the 2020 federal decennial
census in Middlesex
[
County
]

county
;
and have an entity that operates as a violence interrupter community street
team within its boundaries; and

���� (2)�� a community-based
organization shall be located within a municipality that meets the criteria set
forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

���� Additionally, an applicant is
required to demonstrate an established relationship with a State-approved harm
reduction center, be a State-approved community violence intervention program,
or both.� The Department of Law and Public Safety shall be required to
prioritize issuing grants to an applicant that currently operates as a violence
interrupter community street team and has been State-approved for a period of
not less than two years.

���� b.��� An applicant shall
submit an application to the Department of Law and Public Safety as outlined in
the request for proposals that includes, at a minimum, the following:

���� (1)�� for planning grants:

���� (a)�� a list of stakeholders
and potential stakeholders that will participate in the planning process, which
may include community-based organizations and government partners
[
,
]
and shall
include a State-approved harm reduction center or another organization that
provides harm reduction services; and

���� (b)�� strategies for sustained
community engagement and feedback processes; and

���� (2)�� for implementation
grants:

���� (a)�� a list of stakeholders
and potential stakeholders that will participate in the project, which shall
include a State-authorized harm reduction center or another organization that
provides harm reduction services;

���� (b)�� a framework for how the
program will be incorporated into a government department or work in
cooperation with a government department;

���� (c)�� a dispatch model and
flowchart;

���� (d)�� the metrics by which the
program will be evaluated;

���� (e)�� strategies for peer
staffing and retention;

���� (f)�� strategies for warm
handoff and sustained follow-up of participants;

���� (g)�� a statement describing
the manner in which a community crisis response team will divert behavioral
health calls from the purview of law enforcement
[
of response
]
while
ensuring rapid, sufficient medical response when needed;

���� (h)�� a statement describing
the manner in which a community crisis response team will prevent and divert
individuals from involvement in the criminal justice system;

���� (i)��� a statement describing
the manner in which the program will prioritize racial and gender equity in the
allocation of services and resources; and

���� (j)��� a proposed community
crisis response team budget.

���� c.���� Grants awarded
annually

under the
[
pilot
]
program
[
shall not
exceed a total of $12,000,000 and the amount awarded
]
to applicants in each eligible
municipality shall not exceed $2,000,000 per municipality.�
Applicants and
municipalities may be awarded grants in successive years.
�A law
enforcement agency shall not be the recipient of a grant.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.259, s.6)

���� 3.��� Section 7 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.7) is amended to read as follows:

���� 7.��� The council shall submit
an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the status of the
[
pilot
]
program
established in
section 5 of P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5)
. �Three years following the
date of enactment, the council shall submit a
[
final
]
report to the
Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164
(C.52:14-19.1), on the outcomes resulting from the
[
pilot
]
programs
to-date
and
recommendations for the actions necessary to support the continuation and
expansion of community crisis response models in the State of New Jersey. �The
reports issued pursuant to this section shall be public.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.259, s.7)

���� 4.��� (New section) For fiscal
year 2028 and in each subsequent fiscal year, the Department of Law and Public
Safety shall request annually as part of its budget proposal a minimum of
$6,000,000 to support the activities and staffing of the council and award
grants to participants of the program established in section 5 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5).

���� 5.��� There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Department of Law and Public Safety the sum of
$6,000,000 to effectuate the provisions of this act.

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill converts the
community crisis response team pilot program established by the
�Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act� into a permanent
program.�

���� Under the
�Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act,� a �community crisis
response team� means a team that provides professional, on-site,
community-based intervention for individuals experiencing a behavioral health
crisis.� Currently, the act provides for a one-time $12 million appropriation
to the Department of Law and Public Safety to administer a pilot program
facilitating the operation of community crisis response teams and to support
the Community Crisis Response Advisory Council, which was also created by the
act.

���� This bill provides for a $6
million supplemental appropriation for fiscal year 2027 and, beginning in
fiscal year 2028, requires the Department of Law and Public Safety to request
$6 million annually to support the activities and staffing of the Community
Crisis Response Advisory Council and award grants to applicants to the
community crisis response team program. �The Attorney General is required to
publish annually a request for proposals to allocate this funding to grant
applicants. �While a municipality may receive funding in successive years, a
municipality and its applicants may only receive a maximum of $2 million in
grant funding each year under the bill.