This report originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed legislation to create a central registry of offenders against individuals with developmental disabilities within the Department of Human Services (DHS). The database is to protect those persons with developmental disabilities and who need assistance from caregivers by ensuring that those persons are immediately safeguarded from further injury and possible death and that the legal rights of the disabled persons are fully protected. States with similar databases include Delaware, Louisiana, Ohio, Missouri, New Mexico and Tennessee.

The legislation also requires persons employed or volunteering services for individuals with developmental disabilities to immediately report, with reasonable cause, suspected cases of abuse, neglect or exploitation to the DHS. The DHS will assign a unit to investigate the reports and take action to ensure the safety of the individual.


For the registry, new rules and regulations will be established for inclusion of an offending caregiver and notification to the caregiver. The standard of inclusion on the registry in a substantiated incident of abuse is that the caregiver acted with intent, recklessness or careless disregard to cause or potentially cause injury to an individual with a developmental disability. For neglect, the standard is that the caregiver acted with gross negligence, recklessness or in a pattern of behavior that causes or potentially causes harm to an individual with a developmental disability.

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