NJSBA headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

Capitol Report

Siblings Bill of Rights passes committee with amendments

The New Jersey Assembly Women and Children Committee approved an amended version of A1357 (Mosquera), which establishes a New Jersey Siblings' Bill of Rights. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) supported the bill with an amendment to notify siblings of permanency hearings and allow them to share with the court their wishes for placement of a sibling. While this amendment was not made to this version of the bill, Mosquera promised to continue to work on the bill to make amendments in line with recommendations from various stakeholders who testified.

"The Association recognizes the importance of this right—not only that it exists, but to give the child an unfettered ability to express these wishes concerning permanency planning as requested by the Youth Council," said the NJSBA in its letter to the sponsors urging the amendment. The original bill would have allowed such wishes to be expressed to the case worker to be placed in the case record. "The opportunity for a sibling to participate in the permanency planning decisions of the child and to tell the court directly what the sibling's wishes are will ensure better clarity of the child's position on the permanency plan or other issues."