Bill > A1965

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to establish policies and procedures, as outlined in the bill, to detect and investigate incidents of child abuse and neglect and to promote child abuse prevention techniques that is to be employed for the duration of a public health emergency that necessitates the use of social distancing and other restrictions on person-to-person contact. Under the provisions of the bill, the DCF, in consultation with the Department of Education (DOE), is required to establish a public awareness campaign to inform the general public about: protecting children from child abuse and neglect during a public health emergency that requires social distancing, remote learning, or other restrictions on person-to-person contact; and the policies and procedures established in the bill. The bill also requires the DCF to prepare a fact sheet on the information provided through the public awareness campaign, to make the fact sheet available to the public, and to post the fact sheet on its Internet website and the internet websites of the DOE and the Departments of Health and Human Services. The DCF is to collect and analyze data on all records of child abuse reports made during the public health emergency declared in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and issue a report, no later than one year after the effective date of the bill, to the Governor and the Legislature providing: a summary of the data on child abuse reports compiled by the DCF; comparative information about child abuse reports made prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic; and any recommendations for legislation or regulatory changes in the reporting of cases of child abuse and neglect during a public health emergency that requires social distancing or other restrictions on person-to-person contact. The bill requires the DOE and the DCF to develop, and make available to all school districts in the State free of charge, an online training program for school employees on the detection and prevention of child abuse, inclusive of how to do so during a public health emergency that requires remote learning, social distancing, or other restrictions on person-to-person contact. The bill also stipulates that the DOE require every school district in the State, in consultation with the DCF, to develop and implement a training program for school employees on the detection and prevention of child abuse during a public health emergency that requires remote learning, social distancing, or other restrictions on person-to-person contact. The DOE, in consultation with the DCF, is also to require every school district in the State, during a public health emergency that requires remote learning, social distancing, or other restrictions on person-to-person contact to: (1) allow students and their families to remotely access information the DCFs' Family Helpline and other similar telephone hotlines; and (2) provide a behavioral health assessment, remotely, to every student who is deemed at-risk of child abuse or neglect as determined by a school psychologist, school counselor, or school social worker.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Reginald Atkins (D)*,  Shanique Speight (D)*,  Linda Carter (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document