Authorized By: State Board of Social Work Examiners, Edie Nugent, Executive Director.

Authority: N.J.S.A. 45:15BB-11.

Calendar Reference: See Summary below for explanation of exception to calendar requirement.

Proposal Number: PRN 2023-039.

Submit comments by July 14, 2023, to:

Edie Nugent, Executive Director
State Board of Social Work Examiners
124 Halsey Street
PO Box 45033
Newark, New Jersey 07101
or electronically at: http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Proposals/Pages/default.aspx.

The agency proposal follows:

Summary

P.L. 2019, c. 59, the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act (Act), permits an attending physician to write a prescription for medication that would enable a qualified, terminally ill patient to end his or her life. Pursuant to the Act, a person would not be considered a qualified, terminally ill patient until a consulting physician has confirmed the attending physician's diagnosis of a terminal disease. If either an attending physician or consulting physician determines that a patient may not be capable, defined in the Act as "having the capacity to make health care decisions and to communicate them to a health care provider, including communication through persons familiar with the patient's manner of communicating, if those persons are available," the physician must refer the patient to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or licensed clinical social worker who would determine if the patient is capable. Medication could not be prescribed until the psychiatrist, psychologist, or licensed clinical social worker notifies the attending physician, in writing, that the patient is capable. The Board of Social Work Examiners (Board) proposes to amend N.J.A.C. 13:44G-3.1 to recognize that determining whether a terminally ill patient is capable and notifying a physician of this determination is within the scope of practice for licensed clinical social workers.

As the Board has provided a 60-day comment period for this notice of proposal, this notice is excepted from the rulemaking calendar requirement, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:30-3.3(a)5.

Social Impact

The proposed amendment will not have any social impact.

Economic Impact

The proposed amendment will not have any economic impact.

Federal Standards Statement

A Federal standards analysis is not required because there are no Federal laws or standards applicable to the proposed amendment.

Jobs Impact

The Board does not believe that the proposed amendment will result in the creation or loss of jobs in the State.

Agriculture Industry Impact

The proposed amendment will have no impact on the agriculture industry in the State.

Regulatory Flexibility Statement

Any licensed clinical social worker, licensed by the Board, who owns and operates a "business which is resident in this State, independently owned and operated and not dominant in its field, and which employs fewer than 100 full-time employees" constitutes a "small business" within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-16 et seq. (RFA). To the extent a licensed clinical social worker's practice qualifies as a "small business" pursuant to the RFA, the following analysis applies, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-19.

The proposed amendment imposes no new costs and the Board does not believe that licensed clinical social workers will need to employ any professional services to comply with the requirements of the proposed amendment. The proposed amendment imposes no new compliance costs, reporting, or recordkeeping requirements.

Housing Affordability Impact Analysis

The proposed amendment will have an insignificant impact on the affordability of housing in New Jersey and there is an extreme unlikelihood that the proposed amendment would evoke a change in the average costs associated with housing because the proposed amendment concerns the scope of practice for licensed clinical social workers.

Smart Growth Development Impact Analysis

The proposed amendment will have an insignificant impact on smart growth and there is an extreme unlikelihood that the proposed amendment would evoke a change in housing production in Planning Areas 1 or 2, or within designated centers, under the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in New Jersey because the proposed amendment concerns the scope of practice for licensed clinical social workers.

Racial and Ethnic Community Criminal Justice and Public Safety Impact

The Board has evaluated this rulemaking and determined that it will not have an impact on pretrial detention, sentencing, probation, or parole policies concerning adults and juveniles in the State. Accordingly, no further analysis is required.

Full text of the proposal follows (additions indicated in boldface thus; deletions indicated in brackets [thus]):

SUBCHAPTER 3. AUTHORIZED PRACTICE

13:44G-3.1 Practice as an LCSW; scope

(a) The scope of practice of an LCSW includes, but is not limited to:

1.-2. (No change.)

3. Custody/parenting time evaluations as set forth in Subchapter 13; [and]

4. Supervising, pursuant to Council on Social Work Education standards, students who are completing undergraduate or graduate social work coursework[.]; and

[page=1002] 5. Pursuant to N.J.SA. 26:16-8, determining whether a terminally ill patient is capable, as the term is defined at N.J.S.A. 26:16-3, and notifying a physician of this determination, in writing.