A 5320

ASSEMBLY, No. 5320
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 23, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman� AL ABDELAZIZ
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Converts community crisis response team pilot program
into permanent program; appropriates $6 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act concerning the community crisis response team
pilot program, amending and supplementing P.L.2023, c.259, and making an
appropriation.
���� Be It
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 5 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5) is amended to read as follows:
���� 5.��� a. �The Attorney General
shall establish a [pilot] program,
which may operate in Camden, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, and Passaic [Counties] counties,
to permit eligible municipalities and community-based organizations to operate
community crisis response teams in accordance with the provisions of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.1 et al.).
���� b.��� The Attorney General
shall develop a request for proposals, in accordance with the minimum
application requirements outlined in section 6 of P.L.2023, c.259
(C.52:17B-236.6), from [municipalities] each
municipality and [organizations] organization
interested in participating in the [pilot] program[, to review] that
includes standards for reviewing completed proposals, [create] creating
a scoring panel for submitted proposals, and [to
issue]
issuing grant awards to municipalities or organizations to plan or
implement a community crisis response team, as defined in section 3 of
P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.3). �The Attorney General shall annually publish
a request for proposals pursuant to this section [not later than 90 days after the
effective date of P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.1 et al.)]. �The
Attorney General shall announce [grants] grant
awards not later than 90 days after the completion of the request for
proposals.� The council shall not be involved in the grant award process. �Organizations
represented by or affiliated with a member of the council shall not be
disqualified from applying for a grant award.
���� c.���� Grants may be used for
the following purposes:
���� (1)�� project planning and
community engagement, including:
���� (a)�� research and assessment
of need;
���� (b)�� development of staffing
plans;
���� (c)�� resource mapping;
���� (d)�� training;
���� (e)�� development of a community
engagement plan;
���� (f)�� fiscal planning;
���� (g)�� engagement with
technical assistance providers or consulting services; and
���� (h)�� evaluation planning; and
���� (2)�� project implementation,
including:
���� (a)�� staffing and
recruitment;
���� (b)�� [facilities] facility
costs;
���� (c)�� operational costs,
including costs of startup or expansion activities, marketing, language
translation, and transportation;
���� (d)�� engagement with
technical assistance providers;
���� (e)�� consulting services;
���� (f)�� training;
���� [g] (g)������� program and
project evaluation, including evaluation of program and project efficacy, staff
performance, and service delivery; and
���� [h.] (h)������ programming and
service interventions that include activities that prioritize human service
interventions[,] by entities
other than law enforcement, over interventions by law enforcement, or
activities that include triaging emergencies, through emergency dispatch
operators, in a manner that results in a referral to a wholly non-police
entity.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.259, s.5)
���� 2.��� Section 6 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.6) is amended to read as follows:
���� 6.��� a. To be eligible to
receive a grant pursuant to the [pilot] program
established in section 5 of P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5):
���� (1)�� a municipality shall be
a municipality of the first class in Essex, Hudson, [and] or Passaic [Counties] county;
a municipality of the second class having a population of more than 70,000 and
density of 8,000 to 12,000 according to the 2020 federal decennial census in
Camden [and] or
Mercer [Counties] county;
[and] or a
municipality of the second class having a population of more than 55,000 and
density of between 10,000 and 11,000 according to the 2020 federal decennial
census in Middlesex [County] county;
and have an entity that operates as a violence interrupter community street
team within its boundaries; and
���� (2)�� a community-based
organization shall be located within a municipality that meets the criteria set
forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
���� Additionally, an applicant is
required to demonstrate an established relationship with a State-approved harm
reduction center, be a State-approved community violence intervention program,
or both.� The Department of Law and Public Safety shall be required to
prioritize issuing grants to an applicant that currently operates as a violence
interrupter community street team and has been State-approved for a period of
not less than two years.
���� b.��� An applicant shall
submit an application to the Department of Law and Public Safety as outlined in
the request for proposals that includes, at a minimum, the following:
���� (1)�� for planning grants:
���� (a)�� a list of stakeholders
and potential stakeholders that will participate in the planning process, which
may include community-based organizations and government partners[,] and shall
include a State-approved harm reduction center or another organization that
provides harm reduction services; and
���� (b)�� strategies for sustained
community engagement and feedback processes; and
���� (2)�� for implementation
grants:
���� (a)�� a list of stakeholders
and potential stakeholders that will participate in the project, which shall
include a State-authorized harm reduction center or another organization that
provides harm reduction services;
���� (b)�� a framework for how the
program will be incorporated into a government department or work in
cooperation with a government department;
���� (c)�� a dispatch model and
flowchart;
���� (d)�� the metrics by which the
program will be evaluated;
���� (e)�� strategies for peer
staffing and retention;
���� (f)�� strategies for warm
handoff and sustained follow-up of participants;
���� (g)�� a statement describing
the manner in which a community crisis response team will divert behavioral
health calls from the purview of law enforcement [of response] while
ensuring rapid, sufficient medical response when needed;
���� (h)�� a statement describing
the manner in which a community crisis response team will prevent and divert
individuals from involvement in the criminal justice system;
���� (i)��� a statement describing
the manner in which the program will prioritize racial and gender equity in the
allocation of services and resources; and
���� (j)��� a proposed community
crisis response team budget.
���� c.���� Grants awarded annually
under the [pilot] program [shall not
exceed a total of $12,000,000 and the amount awarded] to applicants in each eligible
municipality shall not exceed $2,000,000 per municipality.� Applicants and
municipalities may be awarded grants in successive years. �A law
enforcement agency shall not be the recipient of a grant.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.259, s.6)
���� 3.��� Section 7 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.7) is amended to read as follows:
���� 7.��� The council shall submit
an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the status of the [pilot] program established in
section 5 of P.L.2023, c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5). �Three years following the
date of enactment, the council shall submit a [final] report to the
Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164
(C.52:14-19.1), on the outcomes resulting from the [pilot] programs to-date and
recommendations for the actions necessary to support the continuation and
expansion of community crisis response models in the State of New Jersey. �The
reports issued pursuant to this section shall be public.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.259, s.7)
���� 4.��� (New section) For fiscal
year 2028 and in each subsequent fiscal year, the Department of Law and Public
Safety shall request annually as part of its budget proposal a minimum of
$6,000,000 to support the activities and staffing of the council and award
grants to participants of the program established in section 5 of P.L.2023,
c.259 (C.52:17B-236.5).
���� 5.��� There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Department of Law and Public Safety the sum of
$6,000,000 to effectuate the provisions of this act.
���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill converts the
community crisis response team pilot program established by the
�Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act� into a permanent
program.�
���� Under the
�Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act,� a �community crisis
response team� means a team that provides professional, on-site,
community-based intervention for individuals experiencing a behavioral health
crisis.� Currently, the act provides for a one-time $12 million appropriation
to the Department of Law and Public Safety to administer a pilot program
facilitating the operation of community crisis response teams and to support
the Community Crisis Response Advisory Council, which was also created by the
act.
���� This bill provides for a $6
million supplemental appropriation for fiscal year 2027 and, beginning in
fiscal year 2028, requires the Department of Law and Public Safety to request
$6 million annually to support the activities and staffing of the Community
Crisis Response Advisory Council and award grants to applicants to the
community crisis response team program. �The Attorney General is required to
publish annually a request for proposals to allocate this funding to grant
applicants. �While a municipality may receive funding in successive years, a
municipality and its applicants may only receive a maximum of $2 million in
grant funding each year under the bill.