New Jersey A 4312: Excludes donations up to $15,000 when determining income eligibility for applicants to the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund program.

Bill Text

A4312 

ASSEMBLY, No. 4312 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Grants children placed in resource family care right 
to have certain signage displayed in home. 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� As introduced.

�� 

An Act concerning children in resource family care and amending P.L.1991, c.290.

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

���� 1. Section 4 of P.L.1991, 
c.290 (C.9:6B-4) is amended to read as follows:���� 

���� 4.��� A child placed outside 
his home shall have the following rights, consistent with the health, safety 
and physical and psychological welfare of the child and as appropriate to the 
individual circumstances of the child's physical or mental development:� 

���� a.���� To placement outside 
his home only after the applicable department has made every reasonable effort, 
including the provision or arrangement of financial or other assistance and 
services as necessary, to enable the child to remain in his home;� 

���� b.��� To the best efforts of 
the applicable department, including the provision or arrangement of financial 
or other assistance and services as necessary, to place the child with a 
relative;� 

���� c.�� To the best efforts of 
the applicable department, including the provision or arrangement of financial 
or other assistance and services as necessary, to place the child in an 
appropriate setting in his own community; 

���� d.��� To the best efforts of 
the applicable department to place the child in the same setting with the 
child's sibling if the sibling is also being placed outside his home;� 

���� e.���� To visit with the 
child's parents or legal guardian immediately after the child has been placed 
outside his home and on a regular basis thereafter, and to otherwise maintain 
contact with the child's parents or legal guardian, and to receive assistance 
from the applicable department to facilitate that contact, including the 
provision or arrangement of transportation as necessary;� 

���� f.���� To visit with the 
child's sibling on a regular basis and to otherwise maintain contact with the 
child's sibling if the child was separated from his sibling upon placement 
outside his home, including the provision or arrangement of transportation as 
necessary;� 

���� g.��� To placement in the 
least restrictive setting appropriate to the child's needs and conducive to the 
health and safety of the child;� 

���� h.��� To be free from physical 
or psychological abuse and from repeated changes in placement before the 
permanent placement or return home of the child;� 

���� i.���� To have regular contact 
with any caseworker assigned to the child's case who is employed by the 
applicable department or any agency or organization with which the applicable 
department contracts to provide services and the opportunity, as appropriate to 
the age of the child, to participate in the planning and regular review of the 
child's case, and to be informed on a timely basis of changes in any placement 
plan which is prepared pursuant to law or regulation and the reasons therefor 
in terms and language appropriate to the child's ability to understand;� 

���� j.���� To have a placement 
plan, as required by law or regulation, that reflects the child's best 
interests and is designed to facilitate the permanent placement or return home 
of the child in a timely manner that is appropriate to the needs of the child;� 

���� k.��� To services of a high 
quality that are designed to maintain and advance the child's mental and 
physical well-being;� 

���� l.���� To be represented in 
the planning and regular review of the child's case, including the placement 
and development of, or revisions to, any placement plan which is required by 
law or regulation and the provision of services to the child, the child's parents 
or legal guardian and the temporary caretaker, by a person other than the 
child's parent or legal guardian or temporary caretaker who will advocate for 
the best interests of the child and the enforcement of the rights established 
pursuant to this act, which person may be the caseworker, as appropriate, or a 
person appointed by the court for this purpose;� 

���� m.�� To receive an educational 
program which will maximize the child's potential;

���� n.��� To receive adequate, 
safe and appropriate food, clothing and housing;

���� o.��� To receive adequate and 
appropriate medical care; [and]

���� p.��� To be free from 
unwarranted physical restraint and isolation; and

���� q.��� To have conspicuous 
signage displayed in no less than three locations in the home that lists 
contact information for children who are abused or who require mental health 
services.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.290, s.4) 

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill amends the �Child