A 2054 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Requires Division of Children's System of Care to make changes to certain polices regarding the provision of family support and respite care services for certain eligible individuals.

This bill requires New Jersey's Division of Children's System of Care to change how respite care services are authorized for individuals under 21 with developmental disabilities. It establishes a 12-month authorization period (replacing the current 90-day renewal) and mandates that families receive a separate "bank" of respite care hours - distinct from regular family support hours - to use for agency-hired, agency-weekend, or self-hired respite care based on their needs. Families must undergo an annual review of service needs and outcomes but cannot have their authorized respite hours reduced. The bill applies directly to families of eligible youth and ensures continuity of care while maintaining current service levels.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jun 1, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill Introduced · 4 edits · Jan 13, 2026
MODERATE
This is a procedural transition from committee-reported status to introduced status for Assembly Bill 2054, which concerns respite care authorization for individuals under 21 with developmental disabilities. The bill's operative text is unchanged; the primary additions are a formal statement section describing the bill's purpose and removal of two sponsors (Assemblywoman Murphy and Assemblyman Carter).
SCOPE

Bill status changed from 'As reported by the Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee with technical review' to 'Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel,' indicating it moved back to a pre-committee stage.

TECHNICAL

Assemblywoman Carol A. Murphy (District 37, Bergen) was removed as a sponsor, along with her district listing.

Assemblyman Carter was removed from the co-sponsor list.

A STATEMENT section was added describing the bill's purpose: expanding respite care authorization from 90 days to 12 months, removing caps on service hours (currently 60 hours for agency-hired and self-hired, 75 hours for agency-weekend), and replacing annual reapplication with an annual reevaluation process.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
2
Jun 1, 2026
Committee
Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee
lower
May 7, 2026
Committee
Reported and Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee
lower
2 primary · 7 co-sponsors

Sponsors