§ 38A:21A-6 — Veteran Advocate, redress of systemic issues.

6. a. If the Veteran Advocate identifies a systemic problem in how the department protects veterans, the Veteran Advocate shall meet with the department to provide a reasonable opportunity to discuss the problem and identify possible responses the agency may consider. Taking into account any information provided during the meeting and discussion, the Veteran Advocate shall provide its findings and recommendations in writing to the department and, except as provided in subsections b. and c. of section 11 of this act, P.L.2025, c.172 (C.38A:21A-11), make those findings and recommendations available to the public. The recommendations made by the Veteran Advocate shall not conflict with or violate any State or federal statute or regulation, or court order. b. Within 30 days of the receipt of the Veteran Advocate’s findings and recommendations, the department shall develop a corrective action response that addresses the findings and recommendations of the Veteran Advocate and specifies what actions, if any, the department will take in response to the systemic problem identified by the Veteran Advocate, which response may be developed in conjunction with the Veteran Advocate. The corrective actions shall not conflict with or violate any State or federal statute or regulation or court order. If the department does not agree with the assessments made in the Veteran Advocate’s findings and recommendations, the department may challenge the assessments within 30 days of the receipt of the findings and recommendations. The challenge made by the department shall be available to the public. c. The department shall submit its corrective action response to the head of the department and simultaneously provide a copy to the Veteran Advocate. d. The Veteran Advocate shall monitor the department’s implementation of its corrective action response. The department shall provide the Veteran Advocate with periodic reports on the status of the actions taken by the facility pursuant to its corrective action response. The Veteran Advocate shall monitor the department’s implementation of its corrective action response for a period of one year, during which time the department shall provide the Veteran Advocate with periodic reports, except that the Veteran Advocate may determine that the monitoring and periodic reports are required for a period of less than one year. The department’s obligation to provide periodic reports on the implementation of its corrective action response may exceed a period of one year if the Veteran Advocate and the department jointly agree that an extended reporting period is appropriate. The Veteran Advocate and the department shall jointly develop criteria for the department to meet within one year, or another time period as appropriate, in order for the department to no longer be subject to monitoring by the Veteran Advocate. The criteria shall not conflict with or violate State or federal statute or regulation or court order. e. The Veteran Advocate shall promulgate rules and regulations regarding a timeline for implementation of a corrective action response by the department at a facility and regarding actions the Veteran Advocate may take if the department fails to implement the corrective action response. f. A department shall make public the corrective action responses and periodic status reports required by this section. L.2025, c.172, s.6.