Joseph Vitale

TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the prime sponsor of legislation creating the new Department of Children and Families in State Government, issued the following statement today regarding the Senate confirmation of Kevin Ryan to head the new Department by a vote of 34-0:

“I’ve known Kevin as a passionate and capable advocate for children, both as the first New Jersey Child Advocate and as the Commissioner of Human Services. In each of those capacities, he has devoted his all to making sure New Jersey does what’s best for kids and does not shirk its responsibilities to the most vulnerable children in our care.

TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale and Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen applauded today’s New Jersey Supreme Court decision which holds that John Hardwicke, a victim of sexual abuse, able to sue American Boychoir, the school that put him in harm’s way.

Last year, Senator Vitale and Assemblyman Cohen authored legislation breaking down the protection of “charitable immunity” for charitable organizations that, through negligence, put children in danger of being sexually abused. The measure was signed into law in January.

WOODBRIDGE – Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vitale has vowed to introduce legislation and hold a hearing to discuss this week’s State Supreme Court decision not to rule on a case regarding the required continuation of sibling visitation after adoption.

“Removing children from their parents’ custody is an extremely traumatic experience – an experience that can be made easier on the children knowing that their siblings are with them,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “Children need the support of their siblings to help maintain a sense of self and of continuity. Unfortunately, not all siblings can be adopted by the same family, which is where the importance of legislation addressing sibling visitation comes into play.”

TRENTON – Two Senate Democrats, Raymond J. Lesniak and Joseph F. Vitale, today called for the creation of a joint Task Force to recommend the best way to restructure the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with Rutgers University by the end of this year.

“Herb Stern is trying to breathe life into a corpse,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union, about the federal monitor, former U.S. District Court Judge Herbert J. Stern, who has been overseeing the State’s scandal-plagued medical university. “UMDNJ needs to be totally restructured now if it is going to emerge as a nationally prominent research and teaching facility. Worrying about who is going to be its next president is really just tinkering.”

TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and a leading advocate of providing comprehensive prescription drug benefits for the State’s seniors and disabled individuals, made the following statement today after NJ Citizen Action released a report on the shortcomings of the Federal Medicare Part D prescription drug program:

“Today’s report by Citizen Action just adds more evidence to what I and other proponents of prescription drug coverage for seniors have been saying for months – Medicare Part D is broken.