Hub staff that are part of the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services, also called NJ4S, must complete fingerprinting and criminal background checks, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families noted in a letter to stakeholders.
As such, the NJDCF and the New Jersey Department of Education have signed an agreement that will facilitate faster compliance with this rule as hubs finalize hiring for their programs.
This fingerprinting process may cause temporary delays in the startup of Tier 2 and Tier 3 services during this first year of NJ4S programming. In the meantime, schools are encouraged to continue submitting applications for these services, so that coordination can begin immediately upon receipt of clearances.
Because many Tier 1 services are delivered remotely or in community locations, the fingerprinting requirements do not apply. Therefore, Tier 1 services are available now and advertised on the NJ4S Portal.
The NJDCF also noted that it has heard from some districts that are confused about Salesforce access. It noted in its letter that schools that are eligible to complete the survey are public middle and high schools and K-8 schools (for the upper 6-8 grades). This also includes charter schools. Elementary schools and private schools are not listed in the survey because they are not eligible to apply for Tier 2 and Tier 3 services. However, all schools can access the NJ4S Portal to locate Tier 1 services.
Superintendents and schools that have not already submitted contact information are encouraged to do so before services are needed, so that delays can be avoided. Do so using this survey link.
The survey will ask for a primary and secondary representative for each school and district. The information to be provided includes a first name, last name, title and email address. Please note that the security features of the information system require a unique email address for each school and a unique email address for each school district. Once the contact information is provided, it will take approximately 7-10 business days before you receive an email with login instructions, at which point the dashboard will be accessible and services can be requested.
If you have difficulty logging into the NJ4S information system after receiving login instructions via email, please contact the Help Desk. For nontechnical issues or questions, please email NJ4Sfeedback@dcf.nj.gov.