Bill > S3099

This bill, the New Jersey Mental Health Residential Reform Treatment Act, aims to address a critical gap in the state's mental health care system by creating a licensing process for non-hospital based inpatient residential mental health treatment facilities for adolescents (ages 12-21) and adults, which will offer mid-to-long-term care lasting 45 to 120 days. These facilities will provide comprehensive services like medication management, skill-based therapies, and holistic, trauma-informed, personalized, and somatically derived treatments, unlike current hospital services that primarily focus on short-term stabilization. The act also includes initiatives to combat the shortage of mental health professionals, a problem affecting approximately 40,000 residents, by establishing a Mental Health Workforce Development Program offering grants, loan forgiveness, and salary incentives, and by exploring policies to facilitate licensure reciprocity and telehealth. Rigorous licensing requirements, including national accreditation, specific staffing ratios, mandatory staff training in specialized therapies, comprehensive treatment plans, facility safety standards, and operator qualifications, will be overseen by the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Department of Health to ensure patient safety and high-quality care, ultimately aiming to improve access to care, reduce long-term costs associated with untreated mental illness, and alleviate strain on hospital capacity.

Health and Social Services

https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/S3099