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A5344
ASSEMBLY, No. 5344
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 28, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� BRIAN BERGEN
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes �Senior Social Isolation Prevention and
Mental Health Access Act�; makes $1.8 million appropriation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning social isolation and the mental
health of senior citizens, 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.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �Senior Social Isolation Prevention and Mental Health
Access Act.�
���� 2.��� a. There is established
in the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services the NJ
Senior Connection Program, a grant program that provides funds to eligible
county-based organizations to support friendly visitor programs, telephone
reassurance services, and digital literacy programs targeting socially isolated
senior citizens.
���� b.��� Eligible organizations
for the grant program shall include county welfare agencies, county boards of
social services, county offices of aging, and any other county-based
organization deemed appropriate by the Director of the Division of Aging
Services.
���� c.���� The Director of the
Division of Aging Services shall establish an application process by which an
eligible county-based organization may apply for a grant under this section.�
Applications shall be evaluated on the following criteria:
���� (1)�� the effectiveness of the
proposed
plan to facilitate social
interaction for senior citizens;
���� (2)�� how the proposed plan will specifically target
socially isolated senior citizens who are homebound or underserved by currently
available programs;
���� (3)�� the proposed plan�s efforts to continuously
engage and retain participants;
���� (4)�� the outreach plan to notify socially isolated and
homebound senior citizens about the proposed program; and
���� (5)�� how the proposed program�s progress and benchmarks
will be measured.
���� d.��� Grant amounts shall be determined based upon the
criteria outlined in subsection c. of this section and the availability of
funds for the program.
���� e.���� Grant recipients shall be required to submit a
report to the Division of Aging Services no later than 12 months following the
receipt of grant funds.� The report shall, at a minimum, include the number of
participants in the program, to date; any collected deidentified outcomes data;
and the total cost of the program from all funding sources, to date.�
���� 3.��� a. There is established
in the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services a grant
program to support senior centers in developing mental health screening programs
for senior citizens.�
���� b.��� The Director of the
Division of Aging Services shall establish an application process by which senior
centers may apply for a grant under this section.� Only newly established
mental health screening programs shall be eligible for funds under the grant
program.� Eligible uses of grant funds may include
staff training to recognize signs of mental health problems, staff
expansion to include onsite mental health professionals, implementation of
standardized mental health questionnaire tools, or the development of strategic
partnerships with off-site mental health providers.� Grant applicants shall be
evaluated on the sustainability of the proposed screening program and the
potential size of the program�s impact.
���� d.��� Grant amounts shall be determined based upon the
criteria outlined in subsection b. of this section and the availability of
funds for the program.
���� e.���� Grant recipients shall be required to submit a
report to the Division of Aging Services no later than 12 months following the
receipt of grant funds.� The report shall, at a minimum, include the number of senior
citizens screened under the program, to date; any collected deidentified outcomes
data; and the total cost of the program from all funding sources, to date.�
���� 4.��� a. There is established
in the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services a
three-year Social Prescribing Pilot Program.� Under the program, participating
health care providers shall formally refer patients 65 years of age or older, via
a method that reflects standard prescription practices, to non-medical
community activities to improve overall well-being and to mitigate social
isolation.�
���� b.��� The Director of the
Division of Aging Services shall select five counties in the State, with at
least one county representing the northern, central, and southern portion of
the State, in which to implement the pilot program.
���� c.���� The pilot program shall
be open to all licensed primary care physicians in the selected counties who
serve patients 65 years of age and older; however, a physician shall be
required to register with the division to participate in the program.
���� d.��� The Director of the
Division of Aging Services shall establish guidelines that all participating
physicians shall be required to follow when issuing a referral under the pilot
program.� These guidelines, at a minimum, shall include screening, referral, and
follow-up procedures.
���� e.���� In implementing the pilot
program, the Division of Aging Services and participating physicians shall
prioritize issuing referrals that do not shift any cost to the patient.
���� f.���� No later than six
months after the conclusion of the pilot program, each participating physician
shall report to the division the following information:
���� (1)�� the number of patients
who participated in the program;
���� (2)�� the number of individual
referrals distributed under the pilot program, disaggregated by category of
referral;
���� (3)�� deidentified outcomes
data regarding patients who participated in the program;
���� (4)�� any other information
required by the Director of the Division of Aging Services.
���� g.��� No later than 12 months
after the conclusion of the pilot program, the division shall submit a report
to the Governor and to the Legislature,
pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1,
providing a summary of the
pilot program and any recommendations for its continued implementation.�
�
���� 5.��� The Commissioner of
Human Services shall expand the Statewide Respite Care Program, as established
pursuant to P.L.1987, c.119 (C.30:4F-7 et seq.), to include a separate and
distinct allocation of funds, as determined by the formula outlined in section
3 of P.L.1987, c.119 (C.30:4F-9), to each county or region solely to support
the delivery of respite services to caregivers of dementia patients.
���� 6.��� There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services the sum of $1,800,000
to implement the provisions of section 5 of this act.
�
���� 7.��� All of the sections of
this act shall take effect immediately, except for section 4, which shall take
effect 180 days after the effective date of the act and shall expire upon the
submission of the report pursuant to subsection g. of section 4. �The Director
of the Division of Aging Services
may take such
anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for
the implementation of section 4 of this act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes the
�Senior Social Isolation Prevention and Mental Health Access Act,� and
implements several initiatives in the Department of Human Services designed to
support the emotional well-being of senior citizens living in the State.
���� The bill creates three new
programs in the Division of Aging Services.� The NJ Senior Connection Program
is a grant program that provides funds to eligible county-based organizations
to support friendly visitor programs, telephone reassurance services, and
digital literacy programs targeting socially isolated senior citizens.� Applications
under this program are to be evaluated based upon the effectiveness of the
proposed
plan to facilitate social
interaction for senior citizens;
how the proposed plan will specifically target socially isolated senior
citizens who are homebound or underserved by currently available programs; the
proposed plan�s efforts to continuously engage and retain participants;
the outreach plan to notify socially
isolated and homebound senior citizens about the proposed program; and
how the proposed program�s progress and
benchmarks will be measured.
���� A second grant program supports
senior centers in developing newly established mental health screening programs
for senior citizens.
Eligible uses of grant
funds under this program include staff training to recognize signs of mental
health problems, staff expansion to include onsite mental health professionals,
implementation of standardized mental health questionnaire tools, or the development
of strategic partnerships with off-site mental health providers.� Grant
applicants are to be evaluated on the sustainability of the proposed screening
program and the potential size of the program�s impact.
���� The final program is the
Social Prescribing Pilot Program, a temporary three-year program in which
participating health care providers formally refer patients 65 years of age or
older, via a method that reflects standard prescription practices, to non-medical
community activities�such as art classes, volunteering, and group exercise�to
improve overall well-being and to mitigate social isolation.� The pilot program
is to be open to all licensed primary care physicians who serve senior citizens
in the five counties selected by the Director of the Division of Aging Services
to participate in the program.� A physician, however, is required to register
with the division to participate in the program.� The bill also requires the
Director of the Division of Aging Services to establish program guidelines
regarding screening, referral, and follow-up procedures.� Additionally, in
implementing the pilot program, the division and participating physicians are
to prioritize issuing referrals that do not shift any cost to the patient.
���� In addition to these programs,
the bill also requires the Commissioner of Human Services to expand the
existing Statewide Respite Care Program to include a separate and distinct
allocation of funds to each county or region solely to support the delivery of
respite services to caregivers of dementia patients.� The bill appropriates
$1.8 million from the General Fund for these purposes.
The Statewide Respite Care Program gives a short-term or
periodic break to caregivers from the demands of daily care for functionally
impaired persons, including older adults. �Program participants pay for
services using a sliding scale, based on the care recipient's income.