2C:43-24 Statewide Veterans Diversion Program.

2. a. There is hereby established a Statewide Veterans Diversion Program that shall have the purpose of diverting eligible servicemembers away from the criminal justice system and into appropriate case management and mental health services as early as possible following an interaction with law enforcement where the servicemember is alleged to have committed an eligible offense.

b. The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs shall collaborate with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Veterans Health Administration, United States Vet Centers, the New Jersey Department of Human Services and other federal, State, and local government agencies to prepare a directory of Veterans Diversion Resource entities within New Jersey. Each Veterans Diversion Resource entity shall serve as a point of entry to facilitate the law enforcement diversion or referral of eligible servicemembers who are veterans into existing case management and mental health services offered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the New Jersey Department of Human Services, or other appropriate case management and mental health services that are available to veterans or persons with mental illness. A Veterans Diversion Resource entity, or an agency to which an eligible servicemember is referred to by the Veterans Diversion entity, shall be capable of providing screening, counseling, treatment and case management for mental health issues and other co-occurring health disorders to eligible servicemembers who are veterans, or coordinating such services through the appropriate federal, State, and local government agencies that offer assistance to veterans. To the extent feasible, a Veterans Diversion Resource entity, or an agency to which an eligible servicemember is referred to by the entity, shall be capable of accepting emergent referrals of eligible servicemembers who are veterans and are being diverted from the criminal justice system. A Veterans Diversion Resource entity, or an agency to which a eligible servicemember is referred to by the Veterans Diversion Resource entity, that accepts the referral of an eligible servicemember who is a veteran shall be capable of providing law enforcement officials with periodic status reports regarding the participation and recovery progress of an eligible servicemember, when the servicemember consents to the release of such information, as a condition of diversion from prosecution. The department shall also prepare a similar resource directory to facilitate the law enforcement diversion and referral of non-veteran eligible servicemembers from the criminal justice system. The department shall provide the Attorney General, the Administrative Director of the Courts, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, and the Chairman of the State Parole Board with a directory of Veterans Diversion Resource entities available within the State or shall publish the directory on its departmental Internet web site.

L.2017, c.42, s.2.