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S4477
SENATE, No. 4477
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 18, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator� JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Diegnan and Assemblywoman Speight
SYNOPSIS
���� Authorizes provision of residential mental health
services in residential substance use disorders treatment facility or program
under specified hospital affiliation and clinical support criteria.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning residential mental
health services and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:
���� a.��� New Jersey faces a
significant and growing population of individuals with co-occurring mental
health and substance use disorders who often require coordinated, sub-acute
residential treatment of an acuity level that falls between traditional
inpatient psychiatric hospitalization and outpatient community care.
���� b.��� The absence of a
statutory mechanism for a residential substance use disorder treatment facility
or program to deliver structured mental health services under formal hospital
affiliation leads to fragmented care, unnecessary transfers, emergency department
boarding, and increased cost to the health care system.
���� c.��� Hospital partnerships
provide clinical oversight, medical staffing, and quality infrastructure
necessary to ensure safety and effectiveness of sub-acute residential mental
health treatment.
���� d.��� Therefore, it is in the
public interest to authorize certain licensed residential substance use
disorders treatment facilities or programs to offer residential mental health
treatment services under clear statutory affiliation and support criteria.
���� 2.��� As used in this act:
���� �Clinical and medical support�
means ongoing oversight and participation by psychiatric and medical personnel
of a hospital, which has entered into a formal affiliation contractual
agreement, in the assessment, treatment planning, medication management, and
quality assurance activities of the affiliated residential substance use
disorders treatment facility or program.
���� �Formal hospital affiliation�
means a written contractual agreement between a residential substance use
disorders treatment facility or program and a general acute care hospital
licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) that provides
inpatient psychiatric services, a State psychiatric hospital listed in
R.S.30:1-7, or a county psychiatric hospital licensed to operate in the State.
���� �Residential mental health
treatment services� means mental health services consistent with� the Level of
Care Utilization System (LOCUS), or other nationally recognized mental health
placement criteria, provided in a 24-hour structured, residential environment
for individuals whose needs do not require inpatient hospitalization, and
delivered for time-limited episodes with the goal of stabilizing the individual
and transitioning them to lower levels of care.
���� �Residential substance use
disorders treatment facility or program� or �facility or program� shall have
the same meaning as set forth in N.J.A.C.8:111-1.3.
���� 3.��� a. Notwithstanding any
law or regulation to the contrary, a licensed residential substance use
disorders facility or program that maintains a formal hospital affiliation and
receives clinical and medical support from that hospital, consistent with this act,
shall be permitted to provide residential mental health treatment services as a
distinct program component.� A facility or program providing residential mental
health treatment services under this act shall be subject to all existing State
law and regulation regarding the provision of residential mental health
treatment services, including the Department of Health�s survey and enforcement
authority.
���� b.��� A formal hospital
affiliation contractual agreement in compliance with this act shall:
���� (1)� establish joint clinical
governance, including participation by hospital medical staff in the oversight
of the residential mental health treatment services program component;
���� (2)� provide for shared
clinical policies, procedures, and treatment protocols, including medication
management and psychiatric consultation;
���� (3)� ensure 24-hour on-call
coverage for psychiatric and medical consultation;
���� (4)� include provisions for
timely transfer to inpatient care when clinically indicated;
���� (5)� provide for participation
by the hospital in the facility or program�s quality assessment and performance
improvement activities; and
���� (6)� define responsibilities
for training, emergency response, and clinical escalation.
���� c.��� A facility or program
meeting the criteria in this act shall file a copy of the formal hospital affiliation
contractual agreement with the Department of Health. �Any termination or
material amendment to the formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement
shall be promptly filed with the department. Upon termination of a formal hospital
affiliation contractual agreement, the facility or program shall cease
admitting new patients to the residential mental health treatment service
program component, except that the facility or program may complete the
treatment plan for any patient admitted to the residential mental health
treatment service program component prior to the termination of the formal hospital
affiliation contractual agreement.
���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill permits a licensed
residential substance use disorders facility or program (facility or program), that
maintains a formal hospital affiliation and receives clinical and medical
support from that hospital, to provide residential mental health treatment
services as a distinct program component.� The bill defines a �formal hospital
affiliation� as a written contractual agreement between a facility or program
and a general acute care hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services
or a State or county psychiatric hospital. �Additionally, the phrase �clinical
and medical support� is defined to mean the ongoing oversight and participation
by psychiatric and medical personnel of a hospital, which has entered into a
formal hospital affiliation contractual agreement, in the assessment, treatment
planning, medication management, and quality assurance activities of the
affiliated facility or program. �It is the sponsor�s goal that this bill will
help address the needs of individuals with co-occurring mental health and
substance use disorders who often require coordinated, sub-acute residential
treatment of an acuity level that falls between traditional inpatient
psychiatric hospitalization and outpatient community care.
���� A formal hospital affiliation
contractual agreement in compliance with the bill is required to: 1) establish
joint clinical governance; 2) provide for shared clinical policies, procedures,
and treatment protocols; 3) ensure 24-hour on-call coverage for consultation;
4) include provisions for timely transfer to inpatient care; 5) provide for
participation by the hospital in the facility or program�s quality assessment
and performance improvement activities; and 6) define responsibilities for
training, emergency response, and clinical escalation.� The bill directs a
facility or program meeting the criteria in this bill to file a copy of the contractual
agreement, as well as any subsequent termination or material amendment to that
agreement, with the Department of Health. �Upon termination of a contractual
agreement, the bill provides that a facility or program is to cease admitting
new patients to the residential mental health treatment service program component.
���� Under the bill, a facility or
program providing residential mental health treatment services is subject to all
existing State law and regulation regarding the provision of residential mental
health treatment services, including the Department of Health�s survey and
enforcement authority.