New Law Allows Telehealth for Special Education during States of Emergency
April 16, 2020
Autism New Jersey secures amendment to include all related services
On Tuesday April 14th, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law bill A3904/S2337 which permits the use of virtual or remote instruction to meet the minimum 180-day school year requirement under certain circumstances. More importantly for the autism community, this bill includes specific language that requires districts to provide IEP-mandated services via virtual instruction during declared states of emergency.
Amid the flurry of legislative activity to address the statewide effects of the pandemic, the initial version of the bill did not include all IEP-mandated services. Autism New Jersey immediately notified and worked with legislators to amend the language of the bill to ensure that the scope of services that could be provided via virtual instruction was not limited and included all IEP-mandated related services.
We thank the bill’s sponsors, Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-3), Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-39), Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-6), Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-27), Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield (R-8), Senator Gerald Cardinale (R-39), Senator James Beach (D-6), Senator Thomas Kean (R-21) and Governor Murphy for hearing our concerns and making these changes that will provide students with autism and other disabilities access to the services that they need during these challenging times.
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Autism New Jersey is following recommendations from the CDC and state Department of Health and is implementing telework and remote meetings for its employees to help reduce the community spread of the coronavirus.
During this time, our 800.4.AUTISM Helpline will remain open. Please leave a message with specific dates and times you are available for a call-back, or email information@autismnj.org. You can also message us via our website, and we’ll aim to reply promptly.
We remain focused on our mission to be a resource for the autism community. With a fluid situation and great uncertainty, we’ll share relevant, accurate information as it becomes available. We encourage you to regularly visit our central hub of coronavirus resources for the autism community.