Parents of children with developmental disabilities are furious, bombarding Sweeney's email and phone line to demand an explanation.
TRENTON -- A month after winning near-unanimous support in the state Assembly, a bill that calls for the nation's toughest inspection standards for group homes has hit an obstacle.
That obstacle is Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who also happens to be the bill's prime sponsor.
The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee was poised to hold a hearing Monday on what is known as the Stephen Komninos bill - named for the 22-year-old man with developmental disabilities who choked to death 10 years ago while under the supervision of a state-licensed nonprofit agency.
Committee Chairman Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) said Thursday Sweeney "asked me to hold off. He wants to look at it more closely."
Assembly OKs stricter scrutiny of group homes
Tom Baffuto, executive director of the Arc of New Jersey, confirmed he asked Sweeney's staff to delay the hearing until they could discuss a compromise.
Baffuto said one of the bill's onerous requirements says group home workers, who earn about $10.50 an hour to start, would have to pay for their own drug tests.
"This bill would devastate our system," Baffuto said. "How are we going to be able to staff these programs?"
The Kimninos family and other parents of adult children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are furious, bombarding Sweeney's email account and phone line at his district office to demand an explanation.
They even took a personal shot against Sweeney - questioning how the father of a daughter with Down syndrome could block his own bill, which would provide better protection for this vulnerable population.
"I called you an ambassador in protecting the developmentally disabled from abuse and neglect," according to an email sent by Martha Cray of Roselle Park, whose son suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of numerous incidents of abuse and neglect at past facilities. "Yet now you fold at the last minute...You blocked this bill because you are concerned how this bill will effect the providers?"
"You clearly broke my heart and the hearts of many," according to Cray's email.
Sweeney has not returned parents' calls explaining the delay, Cray said.
Sweeney's spokesman Richard McGrath said on Sunday the bill was pulled from consideration while a more "realistic" alternative is developed.
"The efforts to put reforms in place are in no way being blocked. We are working on new legislation that will provide safeguards for the care of the disabled, requirements that will hold caregivers accountable and practices that will allow the families to stay fully informed and fully involved," McGrath's statement to NJ Advance Media said. "It is important, however, that we find solutions that are realistic and workable. Putting standards on paper that don't work in real life is not fair to anyone."
"This is an emotional issue for most everyone involved, including Senator Sweeney, who is the father of a young woman with a developmental disability," McGrath added. "No one has fought longer or harder than Senator Sweeney on behalf of those with disabilities and their families to see that they receive the care they deserve and are treated with respect and dignity. We should be working together to get this done."
The bill, (A2503) has been the subject of debate for six years, as lawmakers have met repeatedly with families and representatives from the private agencies which operate group homes and staff job and recreation sites. With the Christie administration closing two institutions in 2014, so has the demand grown for group homes and supervised apartments for disabled citizens. But filling these low-paid and labor-intensive positions has gotten more difficult, and quality has suffered.
Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), the other prime sponsor on the bill, said on Thursday she did not know why Sweeney delayed the committee hearing. He didn't call her to explain it.
Beck said she suspects Sweeney may object to changes the state Assembly made before the bill passed by a 76-0 vote.
"Many of those amendments were made without Senate input. It changed a lot," Beck said. "It may also be that the he didn't focus on the details of the bill" until he saw it scheduled for a hearing on Monday, she said.
Beck, a moderate Republican, is facing re-election in what is expected to be close race in her Monmouth County district. Does Beck think politics is playing a role in the bill's delay?
"I think it's possible. It's New Jersey, after all," Beck said with a laugh. "I think it's more he has found substantial" problems with the bill, she said.
The current bill would require the Department of Human Services to make six unannounced inspections a year, instead of the three inspections that was included in the bill introduced last year. There is no money attached to legislation to allow the department to hire additional inspectors, which would likely be needed to inspect 2,300 dwellings.
The most recent version of the bill also requires group home staff to notify parents or guardians that their loved one suffered an injury within an hour of the incident. The earlier version gave the agencies two hours, with eight hours allowed "under extraordinary circumstances."
"There are elements that are very prescriptive that department (of Human Services) may find challenging, but it's hard to argue when someone has lost a loved one the way these parents have lost a child," Beck said.
Beck said she hoped there was a way to bring all the parties together again.
"I have put more time and energy into this bill than any other I've ever done," Beck said. "I would really like to see this bill signed."
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.