Governor Murphy signed S-4590/A-5792. This legislation provides workers' compensation coverage of certain counseling services for first responders, including 9-1-1 first responder dispatchers, law enforcement officers, paid firefighters and paid EMS responders who experience a critical incident in the course of their employment, related to their experience of the critical incident. In addition, c interactions related to mental health support between a law enforcement officer and a resiliency program officer, or a member of a peer support team, are confidential, except if the law enforcement officers is reasonably believed to be a risk to themselves or others.
The League, along with the Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund (MEL-JIF) urged that the legislation better define “Mental Health Professional” in a similar PTSD bill, S-2373, resulting in a compromise that was just incorporated into that legislation. The definition of Mental Health Professional in S-4590 and A-5792 should have been amended so it is consistent with this compromise language. The definition of a mental health professional should be:
A person who maintains a clinical practice and has been approved by an employer and employee and is a professional licensed by the Alcohol and Drug Counselor Committee; the State Board of Creative Arts and Activities Therapies; the State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners; the State Board of Medical Examiners; the Professional Counselor Examiners Committee; the Certified Psychoanalysts Advisory Committee; the State Board of Psychological Examiners; the State Board of Social Work Examiners; the New Jersey Board of Nursing or any other entity created hereafter under Title 45 to license or otherwise regulate a mental health profession.
However, the definition of “mental health professional” remained as a licensed mental health professional, who holds a current, valid license issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:15AA-1 et seq, who is culturally competent in mental health issues related to first responders and specializes in treating first responders related to critical incidents in law enforcement and firefighting.
P.L. 2025, c. 134 took effect on August 21, 2025. We encourage you to review this new law with your municipal professionals.
Contact: Paul Penna, Director of Government Affairs, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.