ASSEMBLY, No. 4988
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 16, 2020
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Direct Support Professional Core Competency Working Group.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Human Services Committee on May 17, 2021, with amendments.
An Act concerning direct support professional core competencies.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established a working group in, but not of, the Department of Human Services which shall be known as the New Jersey Direct Support Professional (DSP) Core Competency Working Group. The purpose of this working group, in partnership with the Division of Developmental Disabilities, shall be to adopt a set of standard Statewide DSP competencies designed to ensure a more consistent level of expertise among DSPs who provide supports in New Jersey’s adult intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) community.
b. The working group shall include 1[19] 211members, as follows:
(1) The Commissioner of Human Services, or the commissioner’s designee, and the Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities, or the director’s designee, who both shall serve ex officio; and
(2) 1[17] 191 public members appointed by the Commissioner of Human Services who shall include: one representative each from the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, the Arc of New Jersey, the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, the New Jersey Association of Community Providers, Autism New Jersey, the Family Support Coalition of New Jersey, the Family Resource Network, the New Jersey Statewide Self-Advocacy Network, the New Jersey Community College Consortium, 1[and] the Mental Health Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies,1 the Statewide Regional Family Support Planning Councils; and two individuals currently employed as DSPs, two individuals who are family members of individuals within the I/DD community who are supported by DSPs, 1[and two individuals] an individual1 within the I/DD community who 1[are] is1 supported by DSPs1; and an individual with a medical background that has knowledge or experience with the I/DD community1.
c. The members of the group, at a minimum, shall:
(1) compile nationally recognized DSP and frontline supervisor competency sets, as well as best practices in DSP training as implemented by industry-recognized entities;
(2) investigate National
Alliance for Direct Support Professionals accredited training programs and, as
needed, obtain information about how to get new programs accredited;
(3) perform a Statewide survey of training opportunities offered at organizations that provide community services to adults with I/DD and employ DSPs and frontline supervisors, and identify any gaps in that training to support a knowledgeable and skilled direct support workforce;
(4) adopt, through a collaborative process with stakeholder, the New Jersey DSP Core Competency Standards targeted to the needs of the State’s I/DD system and outlining the comprehensive series of skill, knowledge, and ethical standards that DSPs working in the State must master;
(5) develop evaluation and documentation tools for use by frontline supervisors and other facility managers to support DSPs in meeting the New Jersey DSP Core Competency Standards; and
(6) identify and compile an online library of in-person and virtual learning resources for each area of the New Jersey DSP Core Competency Standards.
d. The working group shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of its members. The Commissioner of Human Services shall select a public member of the group to serve as co-chair, alongside the Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities, or the director’s designee. The co-chairpersons shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the working group.
(1) The public members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties and within the limits of funds available to the working group.
(2) The working group shall be entitled to the assistance and services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes. The Department of Human Services shall provide staff support to the working group.
e. Upon completion of the tasks outlined in subsection c. of this section 1and no later than 12 months after the working group organizes1, the working group shall report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), a summary of its actions, as well as recommendations regarding the: (1) adoption of the New Jersey Core Competency Standards and the implementation of a State DSP Certificate or credentialing process; (2) adoption of a Front Line Supervisor Core Competency Set; and (3) continuation of the working group beyond the scope of this act in order to achieve these goals.
2. a. There is established a working group in, but not of, the Department of Human Services which shall be known as the New Jersey Direct Support Professional (DSP) Core Competency Working Group. The purpose of this working group, in partnership with the Division of Developmental Disabilities, shall be to adopt a set of standard Statewide DSP competencies designed to ensure a more consistent level of expertise among DSPs who provide supports in New Jersey’s adult intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) community.
b. The working group shall include 19 members, as follows:
(1) The Commissioner of Human Services, or the commissioner’s designee, and the Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities, or the director’s designee, who both shall serve ex officio; and
(2) 17 public members appointed by the Commissioner of Human Services who shall include: one representative each from the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, the Arc of New Jersey, the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, the New Jersey Association of Community Providers, Autism New Jersey, the Family Support Coalition of New Jersey, the Family Resource Network, the New Jersey Statewide Self-Advocacy Network, the New Jersey Community College Consortium, and the Statewide Regional Family Support Planning Councils; and two individuals currently employed as DSPs, two individuals who are family members of individuals within the I/DD community who are supported by DSPs, and two individuals within the I/DD community who are supported by DSPs.
c. The members of the group, at a minimum, shall:
(1) compile nationally recognized DSP and frontline supervisor competency sets, as well as best practices in DSP training as implemented by industry-recognized entities;
(2) investigate National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals accredited training programs and, as needed, obtain information about how to get new programs accredited;
(3) perform a Statewide survey of training opportunities offered at organizations that provide community services to adults with I/DD and employ DSPs and frontline supervisors, and identify any gaps in that training to support a knowledgeable and skilled direct support workforce;
(4) adopt, through a collaborative process with stakeholders, the New Jersey DSP Core Competency Standards targeted to the needs of the State’s I/DD system and outlining the comprehensive series of skill, knowledge, and ethical standards that DSPs working in the State must master;
(5) develop evaluation and documentation tools for use by frontline supervisors and other facility managers to support DSPs in meeting the New Jersey DSP Core Competency Standards; and
(6) identify and compile an
online library of in-person and virtual learning resources for each area of the
New Jersey DSP Core Competency Standards.
d. The working group shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of its members. The Commissioner of Human Services shall select a public member of the group to serve as co-chair, alongside the Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities, or the director’s designee. The co-chairpersons shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the working group.
(1) The public members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties and within the limits of funds available to the working group.
(2) The working group shall be entitled to the assistance and services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes. The Department of Human Services shall provide staff support to the working group.
e. Upon completion of the tasks outlined in subsection c. of this section, the working group shall report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), a summary of its actions, as well as recommendations regarding the: (1) adoption of the New Jersey Core Competency Standards and the implementation of a State DSP Certificate or credentialing process; (2) adoption of a Front Line Supervisor Core Competency Set; and (3) continuation of the working group beyond the scope of this act in order to achieve these goals.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the submission of the report pursuant to subsection e. of section 2 of this act.