Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Attorney General and certain county prosecutors to establish guidelines for counties to establish special needs registries.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning special needs registries and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Attorney General, in consultation with a county prosecutor who has established and maintained a voluntary special needs registry within four years prior to the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending before Legislature as this bill), shall issue guidelines to be used by each county prosecutor who establishes a voluntary special needs registry for the purpose of providing, in the event of an emergency situation, medical care or assistance to a resident, student, or employee in the county who has a special need.
b. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) methods that will be used to notify members of the public of the benefits and availability of the special needs registry;
(2) information to be included on the registry that would be beneficial to help a first responder provide appropriate assistance when the first responder is dispatched to the scene of an emergency situation;
(3) procedures to maintain confidentiality about the information on the registry; and
(4) a requirement to link the information on the registry to the first responder who is dispatched to the scene of an emergency situation.
c. As used in this section:
"First responder" means a law enforcement officer.
"Special need" means a physical or mental disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities and shall include, but not be limited to: Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders; dementia; autism spectrum disorder; diabetes; Down syndrome; epilepsy; electricity or oxygen dependency; hearing impairment; intellectual disability; physical disability; life threatening allergy; mental illness; mobility impairment; obesity; post-traumatic stress disorder; sight impairment, including blindness; and speech impairment.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Attorney General, in consultation with a county prosecutor who has established and maintained a voluntary special needs registry within four years prior to the bill’s enactment, to issue guidelines to establish a voluntary special needs registry. The guidelines are to be used by each county prosecutor who establishes a voluntary special needs registry for the purpose of providing, in the event of an emergency situation, medical care or assistance to a resident, student, or employee in the county who has a special need.
The guidelines would include, but not be limited to: methods that will be used to notify members of the public the benefits and availability of the special needs registry; information to be included on the registry that would be beneficial to help a first responder officer provide appropriate assistance when the first responder is dispatched to the scene of an emergency situation; procedures to maintain confidentiality about the information on the registry; and a requirement to link the information on the registry to the first responder who is dispatched to the scene of an emergency situation.
Monmouth county has been operating a countywide voluntary special needs registry since the spring of 2016.