TRENTON — Before they hire applicants to work as caregivers for people with developmental disabilities, all employers will have an "offender registry" to consult containing the names of people determined committed acts of abuse and neglect, Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez announced today. The registry is prospective; findings of abuse and neglect reached by state Human Services investigators prior...
Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez, pictured in a January photo, today announced the creation of a private database employers can use to access information on workers who abused people in their care.TRENTON — Before they hire applicants to work as caregivers for people with developmental disabilities, all employers will have an "offender registry" to consult containing the names of people determined committed acts of abuse and neglect, Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez announced today.
The registry is prospective; findings of abuse and neglect reached by state Human Services investigators prior to today will not be recorded, state Human Services spokeswoman Pam Ronan said.
But advocacy groups say the registry is vital to vet both paid employees and volunteers who will work closely in group homes, developmental centers, and daily work and recreation programs with people diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The database — confidential to all except employers — will contain the names of people the state Department of Human Services' investigators found had exploited, abused or neglected the people in their care, but who acts did not rise to the level of a crime.
Without the registry, "there was this gap between the people we know have abused people, and the people we can get convicted criminally,'' said Liz Shea, assistant executive director for the Arc of New Jersey, which lobbied for a registry for about seven years. Getting a conviction in these cases can be tough because prosecutors must rely on witnesses and victims who may be non-verbal or have other difficulties articulating what happened to them, Shea said.
"This central registry law and regulations provide a fair and formal way to reduce the risk of potentially rehiring, in Department of Human Services funded programs, caregivers who have been found to have neglected, abused or exploited individuals with developmental disabilities entrusted to their care,'' Velez said in a prepared statement.
Gov. Chris Christie signed the law creating the registry in April.