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S4112
SENATE, No. 4112
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 4, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator� ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Henry
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes brain injury screening and education
program in DCF.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning brain injury in children and young
adults and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.� There is established
a brain injury screening and education program in the Department of Children
and Families.� It shall be the objective of the program to:
���� (1)�� identify children and
young adults with brain injury, ages five to 21, who are involved, or who may
be at risk of involvement, with the State's mental health or juvenile justice
systems; and
���� (2)�� provide education to,
and raise awareness and promote outreach among, parents and guardians,
educators, judges, law enforcement officials, health care providers, and
employees of State psychiatric facilities, State juvenile facilities, county
psychiatric hospitals, county juvenile detention facilities, county probation
departments, children's crisis intervention services units, screening services,
and the divisions and offices of the Department of Children and Families
including, but not limited to, the Divisions of Child Protection and
Permanency, Children's System of Care, and Family and Community Partnerships,
and the Office of Adolescent Services
about brain injury in children and young adults and the
availability of treatment services and rehabilitative programs geared to the
specific needs of such children and young adults.
���� b.��� For purposes of the
program, the Commissioner of Children and Families, in consultation with the
New Jersey Advisory Council on Traumatic Brain Injury, shall implement:
���� (1)�� (a)� a reliable and
validated screening tool and structured interviews, conducted by persons with
foundational knowledge of brain injury, to assess prior history of brain
injury; and
���� (b)�� training and consultancy
for educators, judges, law enforcement officials, health care providers, and
employees of State psychiatric facilities State juvenile facilities, county
psychiatric hospitals, county juvenile detention facilities, county probation
departments, children's crisis intervention services units, screening services,
and the divisions and offices of the Department of Children and Families to
gain foundational knowledge of brain injury in order
to
identify, evaluate, and provide appropriate treatment services and
rehabilitative programs, as applicable, to children and young adults with brain
injury in order to prevent admissions to psychiatric hospitals and reduce the
recidivism rates of juveniles adjudicated delinquent;
���� (2)�� measures to increase
awareness of, and educate parents and guardians, educators, judges, law
enforcement officials, health care and mental health care providers, and
employees of State psychiatric facilities, State juvenile facilities, county
psychiatric hospitals, county juvenile detention facilities, county probation
departments, children's crisis intervention services units, screening services,
and the divisions and offices of the Department of Children and Families on,
brain injury in children and young adults, which shall include, at a minimum,
information on the links between brain injury, juvenile delinquency, and the
early onset of psychiatric diagnoses, the value of early detection, and the
treatment services and rehabilitative programs available to children and young
adults with brain injury;
���� (3)�� outreach strategies to
disseminate information about brain injury and the treatment services and
rehabilitative programs available to children and young adults with brain
injury through a variety of entities, including, but not limited to, health
care facilities, State psychiatric facilities, State juvenile facilities,
county psychiatric hospitals, county juvenile detention facilities, county
probation departments, local health departments, the Brain Injury Alliance of
New Jersey, and clinics, schools, libraries, programs that provide mental
health services to children, other community-based organizations providing
services to children, and the Internet; and
���� (4)�� guidelines for the
completion of a more detailed assessment of children and young adults with
brain injury, and for the information and resources made available to parents
and guardians, following a positive screening of children and young adults for
a prior history of brain injury.
���� c.���� The Commissioner of
Children and Families shall apply for and accept any grant of money from the
federal government, private foundations, or other sources, which may be
available for programs for children and young adults with brain injury as
determined by the commissioner to be appropriate for the State's system of
programs and services for children and young adults with brain injury.
���� 2.��� The Commissioner of
Children and Families, in consultation with the New Jersey Traumatic Brain
Injury Advisory Council, shall annually report to the Governor and, pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1991, c. 164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, on the activities
of the program and the program's effectiveness in meeting its objectives.� The
first report shall be provided no later than 12 months after the effective date
of this act.
���� 3.��� Subject to the
"Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.),
the Commissioner of Children and Families shall adopt rules and regulations to
effectuate the purposes of this act.
���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes a brain
injury screening and education program in the Department of Children and
Families (DCF).
���� The objective of the program
would be to: identify children and young adults with brain injury, ages five to
21, who are involved, or who may be at risk of involvement, with the State's
mental health or juvenile justice systems; and provide education to, and raise
awareness and promote outreach among, parents and guardians, educators, judges,
law enforcement officials, health care providers, and employees of State
psychiatric facilities, State juvenile facilities, county psychiatric
hospitals, county juvenile detention facilities, county probation departments,
children's crisis intervention services units, screening services, and the
divisions and offices of DCF, including, but not limited to, the Divisions of
Child Protection and Permanency, Children's System of Care, Family and Community
Partnerships, and the Office of Adolescent Services.� The education, awareness,
and outreach efforts would include providing information about brain injury in
children and young adults and the availability of treatment services and
rehabilitative programs geared to the their specific needs.
���� For purposes of the program,
the Commissioner of DCF, in consultation with� the New Jersey Traumatic Brain
Injury Advisory Council (the council), would implement: (1) a reliable and
validated screening tool and structured interviews, conducted by persons with
foundational knowledge of brain injury, to assess prior history of brain
injury: (2) training and consultancy to gain foundational knowledge of the
brain in order to identify, evaluate, and provide appropriate treatment
services and rehabilitative programs to children and young adults with
traumatic brain injury in order to prevent admissions to psychiatric hospitals
and reduce the recidivism rates of juveniles adjudicated delinquent; (3)
measures to increase awareness of, and provide education on, traumatic brain
injury in children and young adults, including, information on the links
between brain injury, juvenile delinquency, and the early onset of psychiatric
diagnoses, the value of early detection, and the treatment services and rehabilitative
programs available to children and young adults with brain injury; (4) outreach
strategies to disseminate information about brain injury and the treatment
services and rehabilitative programs available to children and young adults
with such injury through a variety of entities; and (5) guidelines for the
completion of a more detailed assessment of children and young adults, and the
information and resources made available to parents and guardians, following a
positive screening of children and young adults for a prior history of brain
injury.
���� The provisions of the bill
also direct the commissioner to apply for and accept any grant of money from
the federal government,
private foundations, or other sources, which may be available for programs for
children and young adults with brain injury, as determined by the commissioner
to be appropriate for the State's system of programs and services for children
and young adults with brain injury.
���� Finally, the commissioner, in
consultation with the council, would report to the Governor and the
Legislature, no later than 12 months after the effective date of the bill, and
annually thereafter, on the activities of the screening program and the program's
effectiveness in meeting its objectives.