S4194

An Act concerning child welfare and supplementing Title 9 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. The Safe Babies Court Team program is a community engagement and systems-change initiative focused on improving on how family courts, child welfare agencies, early childhood education, and social services and community-based organizations collaborate and coordinate with each other to provide services to infant and toddlers involved in the child welfare system.

b. The first Safe Babies Court Team program began in 2005 and have been replicated in several states throughout the country. Over 1,000 children and their families have been served under the program’s auspices.

c. Each Safe Babies Court team is a public-private collaboration between representatives from the Zero to Three organization, local family courts, community leaders, child and family advocates, child welfare and governmental agencies, and private philanthropies committed to improving a community’s response to child abuse and neglect.

d. This public-private collaboration works toward connecting infant and toddlers and their families with the support and services they need to promote healthy child development while ensuring speedier exits from the child welfare system.

e. Research into the results achieved through the Safe Babies Court Team program demonstrate reductions in repeat maltreatment and the time infant and toddlers spend in resource family care.

f. It is in the public interest to expand efforts to improve outcomes for, and prevent court involvement in the lives of, infants and toddlers under the care and custody of the Department of Children and Families by establishing a Statewide Safe Babies Court Team program.

2. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Commissioner of Children and Families shall apply for a waiver of the provisions of Title IV-E of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. s.670 et seq.) for a State demonstration project establishing a Safe Babies Court Team program in the Department of Children and Families. The demonstration project shall be implemented to the extent that it is in compliance with section 1130 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–9).

b. The Safe Babies Court Team program established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall:

(1) be based on the ZERO TO THREE Safe Babies Court Team approach which includes components of judicial leadership, community collaboration, and parental involvement;

(2) increase public awareness about the negative impact of child abuse and neglect on infants and toddlers; and

(3) improve outcomes for, and prevent court involvement in the lives of, infants and toddlers who are under the care and custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency and their families.

3. The Commissioner shall adopt, pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Commissioner of Children and Families to apply for a waiver of the provisions of Title IV-E of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. s.670 et seq.) for a State demonstration project establishing a Safe Babies Court Team (SBCT) program in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) in the Department of Children and Families.

The SBCT program established pursuant to the bill would: be based on the ZERO TO THREE Safe Babies Court Team approach which includes components of judicial leadership, community collaboration, and parental involvement; increase public awareness about the negative impact of child abuse and neglect on infants and toddlers; and improve outcomes for, and prevent court involvement in the lives of, infants and toddlers who are under the care and custody of DCPP and their families. The State demonstration project would be implemented to the extent that it is in compliance with section 1130 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–9).

The SBCT program is a community engagement and systems-change initiative focused on improving how family courts, child welfare agencies, early childhood education, and social services and community-based organizations collaborate and coordinate with each other to provide services to infant and toddlers involved in the child welfare system.

The first SBCT program began in 2005 and has been replicated in several states throughout the country. Each Safe Babies Court team is a public-private collaboration between representatives from the Zero to Three organization, local family courts, community leaders, child and family advocates, child welfare and governmental agencies, and private philanthropies committed to improving a community’s response to child abuse and neglect.

The bill would permit the State to apply for a waiver of provisions of the federal Title IV-E program allowing for greater flexibility in the use of federal funds to establish a Safe Babies Court Team program to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children in the child welfare system.