NJ Governor Vetoes Leah's Law

Leah Coleman

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed “Leah’s Law,” endangering thousands of child welfare workers who are engaged in some of the most dangerous work in the state.

The bipartisan legislation was named for CWA Local 1038 member Leah Coleman who was stabbed more than 20 times by a deranged client in November 2014. The brutal attack, which nearly cost Leah her life, occurred just days after the Christie administration made the cost-cutting decision to pull all police officers out of New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) offices. Without security or metal detectors, the client walked into the building with a nine-inch kitchen knife in broad daylight. Thankfully, two CWA caseworkers were able to tackle and subdue the assailant, while three HPAE nurses treated Leah’s wounds until the ambulance arrived.

Leah’s Law would have required more police officers to be assigned to Human Services and stationed at offices. Police would accompany workers on potentially hazardous home visits and panic buttons would be installed in meeting rooms.

The Senate approved the measure last month by a vote of 33-0. It had passed the Assembly 52-17. But Christie balked, claiming that it was “tremendously costly” and that the state had already taken adequate steps to ensure the safety of caseworkers.

Yet, news reports pointed out that two caseworkers were attacked and injured by a client last July. In October, eight state child welfare offices received calls “threatening to shoot up the site or kill everyone in the building.”

CWA’s New Jersey Director Hetty Rosenstein said that since the assault on Leah, “there have been more than a dozen threats of bombings and shootings of DCF workers and workers have been threatened, held hostage and physically attacked in the field. The governor has shown a shocking disregard for the safety of these New Jersey heroes, who, every day, risk their lives rescuing abused and neglected children and saving families from violence.”

She added, “After Leah’s Law was passed by both houses, CWA requested a meeting with Governor Christie to try to discuss with him why he should support this desperately needed and responsible legislation. He never responded, just as he has not once responded to any request from CWA to meet in the last six years. It is astonishing that the governor has time to meet with tens of thousands of people in diners in New Hampshire but can’t spare a few minutes to make a call or send a card to one of his own employees injured in the line of duty, or to take a meeting to discuss their safety.”

CWA is planning the next steps for this much-needed legislation to keep members safe.