§ 26:18-24 — Board, coordinate, community advisory committee.

8. a. The board shall coordinate with a community advisory committee to support and inform the work of the authority. The community advisory committee shall consist of 11 members representing diverse community groups with relevant experience as providers of maternal, infant, and childhood health care services or as recipients of maternal health care services, with a preference for individuals who received maternal health care services within the past three years. b. The members of the community advisory committee shall be appointed by the Governor, who shall consider any recommended candidates presented by the board. The board may solicit applications for candidates to the advisory committee in order to inform its recommendations to the Governor. Committee members shall serve for a term of three years, except that, of the committee members first appointed to the committee, five shall serve for a term of one year and six shall serve for a term of two years. The successors to the initially appointed members shall each be appointed for a term of three years, except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term. The members of the community advisory committee shall be eligible for reappointment to the committee. c. The chairperson and vice-chairperson of the community advisory committee shall be annually selected by the Governor from among the public members of the board pursuant to subparagraph (d) of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of section 5 of P.L.2023, c.109 (C.26:18-21). The chairperson shall coordinate the activities of the community advisory committee. In the event that the chairperson position is vacant or the chairperson is absent from a meeting of the community advisory committee, the vice-chairperson shall act as chairperson of the committee. d. Four members of the community advisory committee, including either the chairperson or vice-chairperson of the community advisory committee, shall be residents of the City of Trenton with background as either a mother with personal experience in receiving perinatal services in Trenton or as a community stakeholder. The remaining members of the community advisory committee shall be residents of municipalities in different geographic regions of the State with the highest rates of Black and Hispanic infant mortality, and shall have backgrounds as mothers with personal experience in receiving perinatal services or as community stakeholders. e. The committee members shall receive an annual stipend of $20,000, to be paid in increments as determined by the board. L.2023, c.109, s.8.