Bill > S993

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), no more than 180 days after the bill's effective date, to reestablish and administer a program for the certification of recreation administrators in New Jersey. No more than 30 days after the certification program is reestablished, the DCA is to be required to send written notice to each previously certified recreation supervisor and each previously certified recreation administrator, indicating that the person is eligible to apply for new certification or, if appropriate, is eligible to apply for the automatic reinstatement of the person's pre-existing certification, as provided by the bill. Under the bill, the DCA is to be required to automatically reinstate a previously certified recreation administrator, provided that the person submits, to the DCA, a completed reinstatement request form and a reinstatement fee of $25, no more than 60 days after receipt of the DCA's notice regarding the right to reinstatement. Any person who fails to submit a request for reinstatement within the 60-day reinstatement grace period established by the bill is to be deemed to have a lapsed certification, will no longer be eligible for the automatic reinstatement of the certification, as provided by the bill, and will be required to comply with the procedures applicable to new applicants. A new applicant for certification as a recreation administrator under the bill is to be required to submit to the DCA: a completed application form; an application fee of $25; and documentation sufficient to establish, to the Commissioner of Community Affair's (commissioner) satisfaction, that the applicant is either certified by the National Recreation and Park Association as a Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) or is otherwise qualified, by education or experience as determined by the DCA, to serve as a recreation administrator in the State. The reestablished certification program is not to provide for the separate certification of recreation supervisors. However, the bill provides that any previously certified recreation supervisor is to be eligible to apply for a new certification as a recreation administrator, based on the person's prior supervisory experience. The bill requires the DCA to issue a new, printed certificate to any person who is certified to serve as a recreation administrator, including any person whose prior certification has been automatically reinstated. Each certificate issued under the bill, including a certificate reinstated for a previously certified recreation administrator, is to be valid for, and will automatically expire after, a period of two years following its date of issuance, unless the holder biennially renews the certification in accordance with the procedure specified by the bill. A person seeking the biennial renewal of certification as a recreation administrator is to be required, prior to the expiration of the certificate, to submit to the DCA: a completed renewal application form; a renewal fee of $25; and documentation verifying that the person has completed at least twenty hours of continuing education credits in appropriate subject areas, as required by the DCA, during the preceding two-year certification period. The bill requires the commissioner to adopt rules and regulations to implement the bill's provisions. The rules and regulations are to include, but need not be limited to, certain provisions enumerated in the bill.

Committee Categories

Linda Greenstein (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document