SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 1243

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 23, 1997

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1243 ACS (1R).

Assembly Bill No. 1243 ACS (1R) requires an owner or sponsor of a child care center or a staff member employed by a center to undergo a check by the Division of Youth and Family Services in the Department of Human Services to determine if an incident of child abuse or neglect has been substantiated against the owner, sponsor, or staff member. The division will 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 will 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.

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 bill on the effectiveness of the child abuse record information checks in screening staff members, owners and sponsors of child care centers.

The bill permits the division to charge a fee for the check in an amount established by the department; child care centers may pay, or reimburse their employees, for this fee.

FISCAL IMPACT:

According to the Office of Legislative Services, the cost of checking 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.