N.J. Admin. Code § 10:44D-6.1

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 10:44D-6.1 - Central Registry of Offenders Against Individuals with Developmental Disabilities informal hearing

(a) Whenever the Department shall find cause to place a person on the Central Registry, it shall notify the person of the intent and the reasons therefor, in writing, and provide an opportunity for an informal hearing, in addition to an opportunity for an Office of Administrative Law hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq. and the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1.

(b) The request for an informal hearing shall be filed within 10 business days from the date of receipt of the notice.

1. All requests for an informal hearing shall be in writing and shall be directed to the following address:

NJ Department of Human Services

Office of Legal, Regulatory and Guardianship Services

PO Box 700

6th Floor

222 South Warren Street

Trenton, NJ 08625-0700

2. All requests for an informal hearing shall include:

i. The date the request is written;

ii. The Unusual Incident Report number issued by the Critical Incident Management Unit upon which the decision to place the individual on the Central Registry was made;

iii. The full name of the person identified as the substantiated perpetrator (and the person's current name, if it has changed);

iv. A description of the evidence to be produced at the informal hearing that would indicate the person was placed on the Central Registry by error and, if proven, would dispel contested matters of fact and law;

v. The person's current street address, city, state, zip code and telephone number; and

vi. The person's signature.

(c) The Department hearing officer shall schedule an informal hearing to take place within 30 calendar days of receipt of such a request. If, after good faith efforts by the requesting party and the Office of Legal, Regulatory and Guardianship Services, an informal hearing cannot be arranged to take place within a reasonable period of time, the case may be transferred on appeal to the Office of Administrative Law as described in the appeals rules at 10:44D-6.2.

(d) The informal hearing shall take place in Trenton, New Jersey, at facilities provided by the Office of Legal, Regulatory and Guardianship Services. The informal hearing will be controlled by the Department hearing officer, who shall consider evidence, testimony or documents presented by the requester, as well as the Department's investigating unit.

(e) The purpose of the informal hearing is to allow the requester to show that placement on the Central Registry is not legally or factually warranted.

(f) After the informal hearing, the hearing officer shall decide whether or not the requester has sufficiently shown that placement on the Central Registry is inappropriate under the totality of the legal and factual case circumstances.

(g) If the hearing officer decides an error has been made and there remain no matters of fact or law in controversy, the hearing officer shall so advise the Commissioner, or designee, and ask that the decision to place the person on the Central Registry be reconsidered, by proffering the evidence presented at the informal hearing upon which the hearing officer based his or her decision. The Commissioner, or designee, shall consider the evidence and render a Department decision thereon. Within 30 days, the requester will be notified of the decision in writing. The requester shall have 10 business days from the date of notification in which to request, in writing, as a contested case, an Office of Administrative Law hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., as set forth in the appeals rule at N.J.A.C. 10:44D-6.2.

(h) If the hearing officer decides that there has not been a compelling evidentiary showing that a person will be placed inappropriately on the Central Registry or that there remain matters of fact or law in controversy, the hearing officer shall notify the requester within 30 days and allow the requester 10 business days from the date of notification within which to request, in writing, an Office of Administrative Law hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., as set forth in the appeals rule at N.J.A.C. 10:44D-6.2. The Department shall place the name of the individual substantiated for abuse, neglect and/or exploitation on the Central Registry of Offenders Against Individuals with Developmental Disabilities. If the individual substantiated for abuse, neglect and/or exploitation requests an Office of Administrative Law hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., as set forth in the appeals rules at 10:44D-6.2, the Department shall include on the Central Registry the fact that the individual has filed an appeal and that a final judicial determination is pending.

N.J. Admin. Code § 10:44D-6.1