Bill > A4009

Introduced Session

This bill, known as the "Fair Funding for Vulnerable Residents Act," establishes a direct care ratio requirement for providers, licensed by the State through the Department of Human Services (DHS) or the Department of Children and Families (DCF), that are responsible for providing services associated with the operation of a community-based residential program for adults or children with intellectual or developmental disabilities (providers). Specifically, the bill mandates that at least 70 percent of a provider's revenue from State and federal sources in a given fiscal year is expended on the direct care of residents. As there currently are direct care funding ratio requirements in other areas, such as nursing home care, the sponsor believes the substantial public funding for the care of persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities warrants similar measures to ensure that sufficient funding is reserved for the direct care of those persons. Press reports and reports issued by the New Jersey Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families appear to indicate that some providers may not be allocating sufficient financial resources for vital direct care, according to the sponsor. It is the sponsor's intent that the provisions of this bill will be applied to providers licensed by either the DHS or DCF. The bill directs providers to report to the DHS by October 31 of each year the total revenues collected by the provider from State and federal sources in the previous fiscal year, along with the portion of revenues that were expended on direct care staff wages, other staff wages, taxes, administrative costs, investments in improvements to the provider's equipment and physical plant, profits, and any other factors as required by the Commissioner of Human Services (commissioner). The bill requires that these reports are published on the DHS website and on the website of the Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families. The commissioner is to determine which components under this report are attributed to direct care of residents and use that data to calculate a provider's direct care ratio. In making such determination, the commissioner shall consider whether a component provides a direct benefit to the residents which may include, but is not limited to, direct care staff compensation, community outings, equipment for exercise or recreation, furnishings and maintenance of residential areas. In each case where the commissioner determines that a provider's direct care ratio fails to comply with the provisions of the bill, the provider is required to issue a credit to the State in such an amount that brings the direct care ratio into compliance with the bill's provisions for the applicable fiscal year. Providers may issue credits via partial payments, provided that all credits are required to be issued in full by June 30 of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the direct care ratio requirement was not satisfied. The bill authorizes the commissioner or an entity designated by the commissioner to conduct an audit of the information reported by a provider under the bill: to ensure the accuracy of the information reported and compliance with the direct care ratio requirement; and to identify and recover any applicable credits. The bill also directs the commissioner to coordinate with all applicable State entities to ensure the implementation of the direct care ratio requirement.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Alex Sauickie (R)*,  John Azzariti (R), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee (on 02/05/2026)

Official Document