By Thomas A. Parmalee
The governor of New Jersey recently signed legislation – A-3940/S-1635 – allowing for individuals to pursue funeral service as a career without having to embalm due to religious, cultural or personal reasons.
An article in The Forum, which is the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association’s magazine, noted that the association provided input on the bill along with legislation sponsors, legislative leaders and other stakeholders.
According to the article, “The law neither diminishes licensure requirements nor lowers academic standards. Funeral service students will still be required to obtain an associate or bachelor’s degree and attend an accredited funeral service education program to be instructed in arts and sciences. Non-embalming students will still be required to pass classroom instruction but will be exempted from the clinical embalming coursework.”
SCI New Jersey Funeral Services Inc. was among the stakeholders that provided input on the legislation, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed May 8.
In a statement of support that was submitted to the Legislature by Katz Government Affairs, it said, “This legislation is intended to address a serious workforce shortage and to recognize current cultural and other funeral practices while preserving the rigor of the current licensure requirements.”
The statement from SCI continued, “These bills will welcome into the funeral service profession individuals who may be well-suited to be exceptional funeral directors but who are otherwise reluctant to practice embalming. Under the current licensure framework, the profession may be missing out on a pool of individuals who possess the qualities that are often associated with being a good funeral director (people who are empathetic, patient, creative, great listeners and communicators, organized, flexible and knowledgeable of traditions and customs). Expanding the universe of qualified applicants for licensure would also address the labor shortage currently experienced across the state, a workforce shortage that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and continues today,” SCI said in its statement.”
In a nod to the increasing preference for cremation, SCI’s statement added, “Over the last several decades the percentage of funeral services not requiring embalming has significantly increased. Having 100% of the licensed population trained in embalming is no longer necessary and in fact may be counterproductive. This legislation would facilitate the funeral service profession’s response to New Jersey’s diverse population as well as to societal changes.”
The legislation also makes mention of changing trends in disposition, stating, “While prior to the enactment of the ‘Mortuary Science Act,’ individuals had options to be licensed as funeral directors, embalmers, or both, the law enacted in 1952 established a unified licensing system, under which licensed funeral service 18 professionals, defined as practitioners of mortuary science, were to be proficient in both funeral arts and funeral science. While the current licensing system serves the State’s traditional but declining demographic well, for religious, cultural, environmental, and philosophical reasons, an increasing number of funerals center around disposition without embalming. The existing licensing system, requiring proficiency in embalming for licensure as a practitioner of mortuary science, may be one of several reasons that discourage entry into funeral service by persons who are reluctant to practice embalming but would be eager to serve their communities.”
The legislation reclassifies the existing “practitioner of mortuary science” licensure category as a “practitioner of mortuary and embalming science” and preserves the internship/apprentice obligation for all applicants for licensure – including the newly designated practitioners of mortuary science. Practitioners of mortuary science would be exempt only from embalming training and an embalming examination requirement.
The legislation maintains the state mortuary board’s obligation and authority to establish continuing education requirements for all licensees.
According to the NJSFDA, more than 50% of New Jersey decedents are now cremated – and the Cremation Association of North America predicts that number will reach 80% in the next decade.
The law will go into effect in the fall of 2026.
Funeral professionals in New Jersy with a “Practitioner of Mortuary Science” license will not need to take any action once the legislation is implemented, the NJSFDA stated in The Forum. “Your license will simply transition to a ‘Practitioner of Mortuary and Embalming Science’ license upon the next license renewal in February 2027,” the article states.
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