---
type: "Bill"
title: "Permits certain mental health professionals working in school districts to refer or help facilitate referral of students to professional counselors.*"
description: "Permits certain mental health professionals working in school districts to refer or help facilitate referral of students to professional counselors.*"
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "221"
identifier: "A 1657"
citation: "New Jersey A 1657 (221)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["MENTAL HEALT", "SCH BOARDS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Beach, James", "Burgess, Renee C.", "Greenwald, Louis D.", "Lampitt, Pamela R.", "Speight, Shanique"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 10
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-09T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-01-12T05:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2c605edb-3ed1-4dea-bed9-aa88f1469254"
source_url: "https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/leg-databases/"
source_hash: "fc8f4f7cb10a56d71c241b4b0c216b5665b66ac9322d9a50f6a337abff18369d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey A 1657 (221) — Permits certain mental health professionals working in school districts to refer or help facilitate referral of students to professional counselors.*

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/A2000/1657_I1.HTM)
2. **Reprint AED 9/19/24 1R** (committee substitute) — [source](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/A2000/1657_R1.HTM)
3. **Reprint SED 11/10/25 2R** (committee substitute) — [source](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/A2000/1657_R2.HTM)

## Votes

- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **21–14** (pass) · upper
- Reported out of Senate committee with amendments — **3–2** (pass) · upper
- Reported out of Assembly committee with amendments — **7–2** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR IN SA — **58–12** (pass) · lower
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **56–12** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Beach, James — primary (person)
- Burgess, Renee C. — primary (person)
- Greenwald, Louis D. — primary (person)
- Lampitt, Pamela R. — primary (person)
- Speight, Shanique — primary (person)
- Bagolie, Rosaura — cosponsor (person)
- Diegnan, Patrick J. — cosponsor (person)
- Donlon, Margie — cosponsor (person)
- Drulis, Mitchelle — cosponsor (person)
- Flynn, Victoria A. — cosponsor (person)
- Freiman, Roy — cosponsor (person)
- Lopez, Yvonne — cosponsor (person)
- Matsikoudis, Michele — cosponsor (person)
- Murphy, Carol A. — cosponsor (person)
- Peterpaul, Luanne M. — cosponsor (person)
- Reynolds-Jackson, Verlina — cosponsor (person)
- Rodriguez, Gabriel — cosponsor (person)
- Sampson, William B. — cosponsor (person)
- Stanley, Sterley S. — cosponsor (person)
- Timberlake, Britnee N. — cosponsor (person)
- Turner, Shirley K. — cosponsor (person)
- Verrelli, Anthony S. — cosponsor (person)
- Wimberly, Benjie E. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-09T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Education Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2024-09-19T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2024-12-19T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (56-12-4) `passage`
- **2025-01-14T05:00:00+00:00** Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee `referral-committee`
- **2025-11-10T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2025-12-18T05:00:00+00:00** Substituted for S2380 (1R)
- **2025-12-18T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (21-14) `passage`
- **2025-12-18T05:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly, 2nd Reading on Concurrence
- **2025-12-22T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (58-12-1) `passage`
- **2026-01-12T05:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2025, c.225. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2c605edb-3ed1-4dea-bed9-aa88f1469254`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).