Bill > A2282

Introduced Session

This bill establishes in the Department of Children and Families the Office of Resilience. The office is to be directed by an executive director, who is to report directly to the Commissioner of Children and Families. Under the direction of the executive director, the office is to be responsible for hosting, coordinating, and facilitating Statewide initiatives related to raising awareness of, and creating opportunities to eradicate, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through grassroots, community-led efforts that provide technical assistance and strategic support for non-governmental organizations with missions promoting trauma-informed and health-centered services for young people in the State of New Jersey. As used in this bill, "adverse childhood experiences" or "ACEs" means traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, substance use disorder, or parental separation, that occur during childhood, and "trauma informed care" or "TIC" means a strength-based approach to service delivery that: considers treating a person's past trauma and resulting coping mechanism; is grounded in an understanding of, and the responsiveness to, the impact of trauma; emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both treatment providers and survivors of trauma; and creates opportunities for trauma survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment. Specifically, the office is to: (1) develop and share trauma-informed and healing-centered strategies with other State departments and community-based stakeholders to reduce exposure to, and mitigate the effects of, ACEs in the State of New Jersey by supporting collaboration with early childhood organizations and early childhood providers to encourage the development of a Statewide multi-generational support system that promotes positive childhood experiences and assists in the healing of primary and secondary trauma in adults (2) in partnership with public and private partners, establish a public awareness campaign to educate the public about ACEs and TIC; (3) develop research-based tools to use in creating resilience and empowering individuals who have faced trauma and adversity, and in promoting positive childhood experiences; and (4) provide periodic reports to the Governor, and issue an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding its activities.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Linda Carter (D)*,  Yvonne Lopez (D)*,  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)*, 

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

Official Document