MANALAPAN – An administrator in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs has updated Manalapan officials about the status of residents at Manalapan Manor.
Manalapan Manor is a state-licensed residential health care facility on Route 33. According to municipal officials, the facility has been the scene of many calls for police assistance this year.
In addition, residents of the community at large have reported problematic interactions with residents of Manalapan Manor at businesses on nearby Woodward Road.
The living conditions at Manalapan Manor have been a recent source of concern for Manalapan officials and led to a request from the township to the state to close the facility.
State officials responded to the township’s request by reporting that the owner of Manalapan Manor was planning to renovate the facility and to remediate issues at the location.
On Dec. 2, Bernard A. Raywood, chief, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards, informed municipal officials about the status of Manalapan Manor’s residents.
Raywood reported that of the 36 individuals who were residing at Manalapan Manor at the beginning of November, 14 have moved, three are in a hospital receiving treatment for undisclosed health concerns, eight plan to remain at Manalapan Manor through the proposed renovations and 11 have been referred to other facilities and are in the process of moving.
In a related issue, Mayor Susan Cohen has said state assemblymen Robert Clifton and Ronald Dancer (both R-Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Middlesex) have introduced a bill, A-5795, regarding residential health care facilities.
According to a synopsis of the legislation, “This bill requires that the rules and regulations adopted for residential health care facilities include a requirement that all residential buildings at the facility have at least two staff members on duty at all times to provide resident supervision, (and the) supervision may be a primary or secondary duty of the staff members.
“The rules and regulations are to additionally require that all residential health care facilities develop, maintain and enforce a comprehensive plan concerning residents who leave the premises of the facility, including protocols for identifying and immediately reporting incidents in which a resident is missing for 24 hours,” according to the synopsis.
Cohen said the bill has been referred to the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee.
“We ask that any New Jersey residents send emails to Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin at [email protected] so the bill can be posted for a vote, as well as to the chairman of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, where the bill was referred, Assemblyman Herb Conaway, at [email protected]
“This should be a bipartisan concern and voted in the affirmative. This bill will affect all residential group homes in the state and not just Manalapan Manor,” Cohen said.
Cohen also stated:
“I want to thank Assemblyman Clifton, Assemblyman Clifton’s Chief of Staff Thomas Mann, Deputy Mayor Jack McNaboe, Police Commissioner Mary Ann Musich, Administrator Tara Lovrich and Police Chief Michael Fountain for all of their help working with me through this process as we strive to do what is best for the residents of Manalapan Manor as well as all the residents and businesses in Manalapan.”