New Jersey A 196: Requires children's psychiatric facilities to have designated staff members visually supervise patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Bill Text

A196 

ASSEMBLY, No. 196 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires children's psychiatric facilities to have 
designated staff members visually supervise patients 24 hours a day, seven days 
a week.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act concerning children�s psychiatric facilities, 
amending R.S.9:6-2,� and supplementing Title 9 of the Revised Statutes.

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� R.S.9:6-2 is amended to 
read as follows:

���� 9:6-2. "Parent," 
[,] as used in this chapter, shall include the stepfather and 
stepmother and the adoptive or resource family parent.� "The person having 
the care, custody, and control of any child," [,] 
as used in this chapter, shall mean any person who has assumed the care of a 
child, or any person with whom a child is living at the time the offense is 
committed, and shall include a teacher, employee, or volunteer, whether 
compensated or uncompensated, of an institution as defined in section 1 of 
P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.21), or an agency administrator or home, program, 
or facility director of a children�s psychiatric facility as defined in section 
2 of P.L.��� , c.�� (C.��� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) 
who is responsible for the child's welfare, and a person who legally or 
voluntarily assumes the care, custody, maintenance, or support of the 
child.� Custodian also includes any other staff person of an institution 
regardless of whether or not the person is responsible for the care or 
supervision of the child.� Custodian also includes a teaching staff member or 
other employee, whether compensated or uncompensated, of a day school as 
defined in section 1 of P.L.1974, c.119 (C.9:6-8.21).

(cf: P.L.2004, c.130, s.20)

���� 2.� (New section)� 
Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary,� a.� children�s 
psychiatric facility shall provide daily care to and supervision of the 
children receiving treatment at the facility, and the agency administrator or 
home, program, or facility director shall designate trained staff members to 
provide active 24 hour, seven day a week visual supervision of each child at 
the facility, including, but not limited to, video monitoring with equipment 
capable of streaming live video wirelessly to a remote location.� Video 
monitoring of a child shall only be allowed if one or more of the designated 
staff members can continuously and actively watch the children via monitor.

���� b.� At no time shall a child 
receiving treatment at the facility be left:

���� (1) unsupervised by designated 
staff members, except when that child is using the bathroom, shower, or 
changing facilities; or

���� (2) alone with one or more 
children without active, visual supervision by designated staff members.

���� c.� As used in this section, 
�children�s psychiatric facility� means a hospital contracted with a children�s 
crisis intervention services unit or a private health care facility to provide 
acute child psychiatric or short-term psychiatric care.

���� 3.� The Department of Children 
and Families, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the 
purposes of this act. 

���� 4.� This act shall take effect 
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires a 
children�s psychiatric facility to provide daily care to and supervision of the 
children receiving treatment at the facility, and the agency administrator or 
home, program, or facility director is to designate trained staff members to 
provide active, 24 hour, seven day a week visual supervision of each child at 
the facility including, but not limited to, video monitoring with equipment 
capable of streaming live video wirelessly to a remote location.� Video 
monitoring of the child would only be allowed if one or more of the designated 
staff members can continuously and actively watch the children via monitor. 

���� The bill amends R.S.9:6-2 to 
expand the definition of �the person having the care, custody and control of 
any child� to include the agency administrator or home, program, or facility 
director of a children�s psychiatric facility.

���� The bill stipulates that at no 
time would a child receiving treatment at the facility be left unsupervised by 
designated staff members, except when that child is using the bathroom, shower, 
or changing facilities, or be left alone with one or more children without 
active, visual supervision by designated staff members. 

���� As used in the bill, 
�children�s psychiatric facility� means a hospital contracted with a children�s 
crisis intervention services unit or a private health care facility to provide 
acute child psychiatric o