ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ASSEMBLY, Nos. 698, 703, 1389 and 1390

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: MARCH 25, 1996

 

      The Assembly Community Services Committee favorably reports an Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill Nos. 698, 703, 1389 and 1390. This Assembly Committee Substitute establishes a Child Death and Critical Incident Review Board in, but not of, the Department of Human Services. The board would investigate any situation involving children currently or formerly under the supervision of the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) who:

      1. are or were the subject of a critical incident, resulting in death;

      2. are or were the subject of a critical incident, not resulting in death but whose circumstances have been identified by the board as raising issues that could result in recommendations for policy, legislative or regulatory changes in departmental or divisional procedures; or

      3. have died and whose deaths were not due to an act of child abuse or neglect, but who died under circumstances that have been identified by the board as raising issues which could result in recommendations for policy, legislative or regulatory changes in departmental or divisional procedures.

      The board would also be required to receive and investigate complaints about DYFS; examine ways to achieve better coordination and collaboration among State and local agencies to ensure maximum effectiveness in the prevention of the death and serious injury of children under the State's care; and submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature on the number of cases reviewed, a summary of the circumstances surrounding each case, the outcome of each internal review and the follow-up action taken by the board concerning each case.

      The substitute also amends section 1 of P.L.1977, c.102 (C.9:6-8.10a) to require that all reports of the board's reviews be kept confidential, except that the board may release a report to the parents or guardian of a child who is the subject of a review. The provisions of the substitute would also allow a parent or guardian to release the contents of the report to the public if it is determined that the disclosure is necessary to identify needed policy, regulatory or legislative changes in departmental or divisional procedures. The substitute specifies, however, that no identifying information contained in the report shall be made public.

      The substitute also amends this section of law to allow the disclosure of records of child abuse reports to:

      1. The Office of Administrative Law, if access to such records is necessary to make a determination of an issue before an Administrative Law judge;

      2. An individual appealing a division service or status action or a substantiated finding of child abuse or neglect and his attorney or authorized lay representative, if access to the records is necessary for a determination of the issue on appeal;

      3. A person or entity required to conduct a background check or employment-related screening of an individual employed or seeking employment with an agency or organization providing services to children;

      4. A person or entity conducting a disciplinary, administrative, or judicial proceeding to determine terms of employment or continued employment of an officer, employee, or volunteer with an agency or organization providing services for children. The information found in the records may be disclosed, if access to the information is necessary for the person or entity conducting the proceeding to make a determination; and

      5. A county or local governmental entity or any agent of the entity, including, but not limited to, a chief executive officer of a municipality or township, with a need for the information in order to carry out its responsibilities under the law to protect children from abuse and neglect.

      Lastly, the substitute requires DYFS to provide the identity of persons alleged to have committed child abuse or neglect and victims of child abuse or neglect, their addresses, the nature of the allegations, the disposition of the cases and other relevant information, including, but not limited to, prior reports of child abuse or neglect and names of siblings, obtained by the division during its investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect shall be forwarded to the police or law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the child named in the report resides. The police or law enforcement agency would be required to keep the information confidential.