Bill > A813

Introduced Session

This bill establishes a toll-free hotline for peer-based prisoner reentry support. The bill requires the Commissioner of Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioners of Corrections and Health, the Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Commission, and the Chairman of the State Parole Board to establish and maintain on a 24-hour daily basis a prisoner reentry support toll-free telephone hotline service, operating through one of the existing telephone hotline services of the department. Under the bill, the hotline will receive and respond to calls from formerly incarcerated persons seeking support in reentry following release from custody. The bill provides that the hotline operators are required to be peer recovery specialists, certified by the Addiction Professionals Certification Board of New Jersey, or national certified peer recovery support specialists, certified by the Association for Addiction Professionals. The operators would receive any further training as determined to be necessary by the Commissioner of Human services, to carry out the purpose of the bill.

Committee Categories

Anthony Verrelli (D)*,  Annette Chaparro (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee (on 01/14/2020)