Bill Text: NJ A1797 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes New Jersey Center for Study and Prevention of Suicide at Rutgers School of Public Health; appropriates $500,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A1797 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1797-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman REGINALD W. ATKINS
District 20 (Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Reynolds-Jackson and Lampitt
SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Center for Study and Prevention of Suicide at Rutgers School of Public Health; appropriates $500,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing a New Jersey Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established a New Jersey Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, hereinafter referred to as the center, at the Rutgers School of Public Health. The purpose of the center shall be to research the causes of and prevention and reduction measures for suicide.
b. The center shall conduct research and derive scientific evidence on which sound suicide prevention policies and programs may be based. The center's research shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) the nature of suicide, including individual and societal determinants of suicide;
(2) the individual, community, and societal consequences of suicide; and
(3) treatment for suicidal thoughts at the individual, community, and societal levels.
c. The center shall work on a continuing basis with State policymakers to identify, implement, and evaluate innovative suicide prevention policies and programs.
d. To help ensure a successful, long-term effort to understand and prevent suicides, the center shall recruit and provide specialized training opportunities for new researchers who have recently completed college degrees.
e. As a supplement to its own research, the center may administer a small grant program for research on suicide. Research funds under the grant program shall be awarded on the basis of merit as determined by an open, competitive peer review process that assures objectivity, consistency, and high quality.
2. State departments and agencies including, but not limited to, the Department of Health, the Department of Law and Public Safety, the Division of State Police, and the Department of Human Services shall provide to the center, upon request, data necessary for the center to conduct research.
3. One year following the establishment of the New Jersey Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, and every five years thereafter, the Rutgers School of Public Health shall submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), regarding the work of the center. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information on the center's current research projects, the amount and sources of funding utilized, and the future direction of the center's research. If the center administers a grant program for suicide research, the report also shall include information on the grants made, pending grants, and accomplishments of the program.
4. The center and any recipients of grants awarded by the center shall provide copies of their research publications to the Governor, to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and to any State departments or agencies that supplied data used in connection with that research, as soon as practicable following publication.
5. a. There is appropriated from the General Fund to Rutgers, The State University, the sum of $500,000 to effectuate the provisions of this act.
b. The Legislature shall, in addition to the funds appropriated pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), annually appropriate such monies as are necessary to fund the activities and research of the New Jersey Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide.
c. The center may solicit and accept any grants, gifts, donations, or other funds from public or private sources, which may be available for research related to suicide.
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the New Jersey Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
The purpose of the center is to research the causes of and prevention and reduction measures for suicide. The center is to conduct research and derive scientific evidence on which sound suicide prevention policies and programs may be based. The center's research is to include the following: (1) the nature of suicide, including individual and societal determinants of suicide; (2) the individual, community, and societal consequences of suicide; and (3) treatment for suicidal thoughts at the individual, community, and societal levels.
The bill requires the center to work on a continuing basis with State policymakers to identify, implement, and evaluate innovative suicide prevention policies and programs. To help ensure a successful, long-term effort to understand and prevent suicides, the center is to recruit and provide specialized training opportunities for new researchers who have recently completed college degrees. As a supplement to its own research, the center may administer a small grant program for research on suicide. Research funds under the grant program are to be awarded on the basis of merit as determined by an open, competitive peer review process that assures objectivity, consistency, and high quality.
The bill provides that, one year following the establishment of the center, the Rutgers School of Public Health is to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature regarding the work of the center. The report is to include information on the center's current research projects, the amount and sources of funding utilized, and the future direction of the center's research. If the center administers a grant program for suicide research, the report is to also include information on the grants made, pending grants, and accomplishments of the program.
The bill appropriates $500,000 to the center and requires that the Legislature is to annually appropriate such monies as are necessary to fund the activities and research of the center. The center may solicit and accept any grants, gifts, donations, or other funds from public or private sources, which may be available for research related to suicide.
