Section 52:17B-236.5 - Community Crisis Response Advisory Council pilot program, select counties; Attorney General, proposal requestsa. The Attorney General shall establish a pilot program in Camden, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, and Passaic Counties to permit eligible municipalities and community-based organizations to operate community crisis response teams in accordance with the provisions of P.L. 2023, c. 259 (C.52:17B-236.1 et al.).b. The Attorney General shall develop a request for proposals, in accordance with the minimum application requirements outlined in section 6 of P.L. 2023, c. 259 (C.52:17B-236.6), from municipalities and organizations interested in participating in the pilot program, to review completed proposals, create a scoring panel for submitted proposals, and to issue grant awards to municipalities or organizations to plan or implement a community crisis response team, as defined in section 3 of P.L. 2023, c. 259 (C.52:17B-236.3). The Attorney General shall publish a request for proposals pursuant to this section not later than 90 days after the effective date of P.L. 2023, c. 259 (C.52:17B-236.1 et al.). The Attorney General shall announce grants awards not later than 90 days after the completion of the request for proposals. The council shall not be involved in the grant award process. Organizations represented by or affiliated with a member of the council shall not be disqualified from applying for a grant award.c. Grants may be used for the following purposes: (1) project planning and community engagement, including: (a) research and assessment of need;(b) development of staffing plans;(e) development of community engagement plan;(g) engagement with technical assistance providers or consulting services; and(h) evaluation planning; and(2) project implementation, including: (a) staffing and recruitment;(c) operational costs, including costs of startup or expansion activities, marketing, language translation, and transportation;(d) engagement with technical assistance providers;g. program and project evaluation, including evaluation of program and project efficacy, staff performance, and service delivery; andh. programming and service interventions that include activities that prioritize human service interventions, by entities other than law enforcement, over interventions by law enforcement, or activities that include triaging emergencies, through emergency dispatch operators, in a manner that results in a referral to a wholly non-police entity.Added by L. 2023, c. 259, s. 5, eff. 1/12/2024.