ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 1243

with Assembly committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 20, 1997

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1243 (ACS), with committee amendments.

      Assembly Bill No. 1243 ACS, as amended, requires a staff member employed at a child care center to undergo a check by the Division of Youth and Family Services to determine if an incident of child abuse or neglect has been substantiated against the staff member. The division shall not issue a regular license or approval to a center until the division determines that no staff member at the center has a record of substantiated child abuse or neglect. The division shall deny, revoke or refuse to renew the center's license or approval if the division determines that an incident of child abuse or neglect by an owner or sponsor of a center has been substantiated.

      Within two weeks after a new staff member's employment, the owner or sponsor of a center must notify the division to conduct a child abuse records check. The staff member may not be left alone at the center caring for children until the check has been completed. The division has 45 days receiving the check request to complete the check.

      The bill requires the Commissioner of Human Services to report to the Governor and the Legislature no later than three years from the effective date of this act on the effectiveness of the child abuse record information checks in screening staff members and sponsors of child care centers.

      A staff member shall be charged a fee for the check in an amount established by the Department. Child care centers may reimburse their employees if they choose.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The cost of checking the child abuse records to determine if an incident of child abuse or neglect has been substantiated against a staff member will not be known until the program is implemented, and no estimate of the likely fee amount is available.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments delete a provision that would have capped the fee to be charged for the check at $10.