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S3209
SENATE, No. 3209
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JANUARY 28, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires certain preliminary approval by municipality
prior to licensure of community group homes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning licensure of community group homes
and supplementing and amending P.L.2012, c.79.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� (New section)� Prior to
the issuance of a license to operate a community group home pursuant to section
4 of P.L.2012, c.69 (C.30:6D-5.10), the department shall require an applicant
to obtain a certificate of preliminary approval from the appropriate municipal
officials of the municipality in which the community group home is located.�
The preliminary approval shall consist of a letter or affidavit from the
appropriate municipal officials that the proposed community group home conforms
to all applicable municipal ordinances and regulations adopted prior to the
date of the request for preliminary approval, including but not limited to,
zoning and land use ordinances and regulations.� The department shall not
approve an application for a license to operate a community group home if the
applicant fails to submit this certificate of preliminary approval to the
department with the license application.
���� 2.��� Section 2 of P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.8) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.��� As used in
[
this act
]
P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.7 et seq.):
���� "Alternate" means a
person 18 years of age or older who assumes the responsibility of a licensee
when the licensee is absent from a community care residence.
���� "Authorized family
member" means a relative of the individual with a developmental disability
authorized by the individual's guardian, or by the individual if the individual
is his own guardian, to receive information pursuant to
[
this act
]
P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.7 et seq.)
.
���� "Community care
residence" or "residence" means a private home or apartment in
which an adult or family is licensed by and contracts with the department to
provide an individual with a developmental disability with care or training, or
both.
����
"Community group
home" means a living arrangement that is operated in a residence or
residences leased or owned by a licensee, which provides the opportunity for
individuals with developmental disabilities, or drug or alcohol addiction, to
live together in a home, sharing in chores and the overall management of the
residence, and in which staff provides treatment or specialized services needed
to assist the residents to live in a community setting, and supervision,
training, or assistance in a variety of forms and intensity as required to
assist the residents as they move toward independence.
���� "Commissioner" means
the Commissioner of Human Services.
���� "Department" means
the Department of Human Services.
���� "Division" means the
Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Human Services.
���� "Licensee" means one
or more persons 18 years of age or older who are named on the license issued by
the Department of Human Services to operate a community care residence and have
overall responsibility for an individual with a developmental disability.
���� "Negative licensing
action" means an action taken that imposes a restriction on a licensee and
may include suspension of admissions, issuance of a provisional license of a
residence, reduction in the licensed capacity, non-renewal of license, suspension
of a license, or revocation of a license.
���� "Office of
Licensing" or "office" means the licensing unit of the
Department of Human Services for programs in the Division of Developmental
Disabilities.
���� "Special Response
Unit" means the unit in the department that is charged with investigation
of serious unusual incidents, as defined by applicable rules and regulations of
the department, and is responsible for the investigation of a report of abuse,
neglect, or exploitation in a community care residence.
���� "Substantiated"
means the available information obtained during the investigation of an
allegation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation indicates a finding by a
preponderance of the evidence that an individual with a developmental
disability has been harmed or placed at substantial risk of harm by a caretaker
or licensee.
���� "Unfounded" means
the available information obtained during the investigation of an allegation of
abuse, neglect, or exploitation indicates a finding that there is no risk to
the safety or welfare of the individual with a developmental disability.
���� "Unsubstantiated"
means the available information obtained during the investigation of an
allegation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation provides some indication of a
finding that an individual with a developmental disability has been harmed or placed
at substantial risk of harm by a caretaker or licensee.1
(cf: P.L.2012, c.69, s.2)
���� 3.��� Section 4 of P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.10) is amended to read as follows:
���� 4.� a.� The Department of
Human Services shall require a licensee, as a condition of maintaining a
license to operate a community care residence
or of issuance or maintenance
of a license to operate a community group home
, to comply with the
following provisions:
���� (1)�� A licensee shall,
annually, undergo an examination by a physician to ascertain whether the
licensee is physically and mentally capable of fulfilling the job duties of a
licensee, as specified on the form listing a licensee's job duties prepared by
the department pursuant to section 5 of
[
this
act
]
P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.11)
and completed by the physician pursuant to this
subsection.� Upon conclusion of the examination, the physician shall provide
the licensee with a statement as to whether the licensee is capable of
fulfilling the duties of a licensee, and complete and attach the form on which
the physician shall indicate, for each duty, whether the licensee is capable of
fulfilling the duty.� The department may, at its discretion, require further
physical or mental health examinations of the licensee.
���� (2)�� Upon receipt of the
physician statement and completed form, a licensee shall provide the statement
and form to the department.� If a licensee fails to provide the statement and
form, the commissioner shall have the authority to: stop any payments to the licensee;
seek recovery of any payments to the licensee from the date that the statement
and form were due; and not resume payment until such time as the licensee
submits the statement and form.
���� (3)�� If, after undergoing the
examination, a licensee is unable to provide the physician's statement and the
completed form, the licensing agency shall take negative licensing action
against the licensee.
���� b.� (1)� In the event that an
individual with a developmental disability is not capable of managing the
individual's own funds, a licensee who is responsible for making purchases and
disbursements on the individual's behalf shall not make such a purchase or
disbursement unless that purchase or disbursement reflects the specific needs
of the individual with a developmental disability.
���� (2)�� Over a four-year period,
the Office of Auditing in the department shall review a random sample of one
month's worth of receipts or records for purchases and disbursements made on
behalf of each individual with a developmental disability.� The case manager
and the case manager's supervisor shall also review a random sample of receipts
and records of such purchases and disbursements.� If it is determined that a
purchase or disbursement does not reflect the specific needs of the individual
with a developmental disability, that fact shall be documented and the
commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall be so advised. �The
commissioner or the commissioner's designee may instruct the licensing agency
to take negative licensing action.
���� (3)� (a)� If there is evidence
that an inappropriate purchase or disbursement entailed an egregious amount of
money, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall report the
purchase or disbursement to the Attorney General.
���� (b)�� If there is evidence
that a case manager was aware of an egregious inappropriate purchase or
disbursement and failed to document that fact or notify the case manager's
supervisor, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall notify the
Attorney General.
���� c.���� A licensee shall
annually attend a continuing education program conducted or approved by the
department, as provided for in section 5 of
[
this
act
]
P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.11)
.
���� d.��� A licensee shall
annually take a two-week leave from providing services to an individual with a
developmental disability residing in a community care residence, during which
time an alternate shall provide care or training, or both, to the individual
with a developmental disability.
���� e.���� A licensee shall
demonstrate to the case manager the licensee's ability to provide any physical
assistance that individuals in the licensed home may require.
���� f.���� A licensee shall
immediately notify the responsible placing agency in the event of a lapse in
the individual's participation or attendance in the individual's day program
that exceeds a duration of five consecutive days, with the exception of a
planned vacation or a documented medical reason.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.69, s.4)
���� 4.��� Section 5 of P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.11) is amended to read as follows:
���� 5.� a.� The department may
issue a provisional license to operate a community care residence, not to
exceed a three-month period, during which time the licensee shall demonstrate
the ability to comply with the provisions of
[
this
act
]
P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.7 et seq.)
and the licensing standards adopted by
regulation of the department for the operation of a community care residence
.�
The department may only issue a provisional license to operate a community
group home, not to exceed a three-month period, if the licensee first obtains
and submits the certificate of preliminary approval to the department pursuant
to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill)
.
���� b.��� The department shall
conduct, or approve another entity to conduct, a continuing education program
for a licensee.
���� c.���� The department shall
prepare a form listing the job duties of a licensee and biennially distribute
the form to a licensee for completion by the licensee's physician in accordance
with the provisions of section 4 of
[
this
act
]
P.L.2012,
c.69 (C.30:6D-5.10)
.� The form shall contain a check list on which the
physician shall indicate a licensee's ability to perform each duty.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.69, s.5)
���� 5.� This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires preliminary
approval by a municipality as a condition for the Department of Human Services
(department) to be able to issue a license to operate a community group home.�
���� The bill defines the term
"community group home" to mean a living arrangement that is operated
in a residence or residences leased or owned by a licensee, which provides the
opportunity for individuals with developmental disabilities, or drug or alcohol
addiction, to live together in a home, sharing in chores and the overall
management of the residence, and in which staff provides treatment or
specialized services needed to assist the residents to live in a community
setting, and supervision, training, or assistance in a variety of forms and
intensity as required to assist the residents as they move toward independence.
���� Specifically, the bill
requires an applicant who seeks a license from the department to operate a
community group home to first obtain a certificate of preliminary approval from
the appropriate municipal officials in the municipality in which the community
group home is located.� The bill requires the preliminary approval to consist
of a letter or affidavit from the appropriate municipal officials that the
proposed community group home conforms to all applicable municipal ordinances
and regulations adopted prior to the date of the request for preliminary
approval, including but not limited to, zoning and land use ordinances and
regulations.� The bill further requires that the department not approve an
application for a provisional license, or thereafter, a permanent license, to
operate a community group home if the applicant fails to provide this
certificate of preliminary approval to the department with the license
application.