Authorizes certified school psychologists to participate in the certification of certain persons as intellectually disabled or developmentally disabled; makes technical corrections to language.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8514
SPONSOR: Berger TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to
authorizing certified school psychologists to participate in the certif-
ication of certain persons as intellectually disabled or developmentally
disabled
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize certified school psychologists to participate in the
certification of certain persons as intellectually disabled or develop-
mentally disabled in surrogate's court.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends § 1750 of the surrogate's court procedure
act to authorize one licensed physician and one licensed school psychol-
ogist to certify certain persons as intellectually disabled in surro-
gate's court.
Section two of the bill amends § 1750-a of the surrogate court's proce-
dure act to authorize one licensed physician and one licensed school
psychologist to certify certain persons as developmentally disabled in
surrogate's court.
Section three of the bill provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
When parents wish to apply for SCPA Article 17- A guardianship, they
have to go through many steps including getting a certification of a
developmentally or intellectually disabled person. The current SCPA
defines that in order for a person to be intellectually disabled they
have to be certified by one licensed physician and one licensed psychol-
ogist or two licensed physicians. This allows a licensed physician to
certify that a person is disabled, however, it prevents unlicensed
school psychologists in NYC from providing a certification. This creates
a high demand and causes a holdup within the courts.
Typically, when a parent or proposed guardian wishes to apply for SCPA
Article 17-A guardianship, parents obtain the affidavit of the person's
licensed physician, who examines that person two to four times per
year., and an affidavit of a licensed psychologist or second physician,
who has never examined or treated that person, apart from this request.
The affidavits pertaining to the person's disability include short-form
answers only stating the diagnosis and minimal requirements to meet the
diagnosis. They usually dont inform the reader of the person's competen-
cies and limitations because the licensed physician or psychologist does
not have experience with the person like that of a parent or school
professional. Also, most times the actual exam and affidavits are based
on test scores, not experience, and the visit isn't covered by insur-
ance. On the other hand, every District 75 school in NYC has a School
psychologist and school counselor. They interact with the students a lot
and witness their development. They can explain in detail the capabili-
ties and weaknesses of children in their educational setting and their
future prognosis. This type of affidavit would be informative and
provide the court with a complete picture of the person for whom a
comprehensive guardianship is sought. School psychologists are required
to be certified to work within a school setting; it just doesn't require
a doctoral program.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8514
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BERGER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to
authorizing certified school psychologists to participate in the
certification of certain persons as intellectually disabled or devel-
opmentally disabled
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 1750 of the surrogate's
2 court procedure act, as amended by chapter 198 of the laws of 2016, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 1. For the purposes of this article, a person who is intellectually
5 disabled is a person who has been certified by one licensed physician
6 and one licensed psychologist, one licensed physician and one certified
7 school psychologist, or by two licensed physicians at least one of whom
8 is familiar with or has professional knowledge in the care and treatment
9 of persons with an intellectual disability, having qualifications to
10 make such certification, as being incapable to manage [him or herself
11 and/or his or her] themselves and/or their affairs by reason of intel-
12 lectual disability and that such condition is permanent in nature or
13 likely to continue indefinitely.
14 2. Every such certification pursuant to subdivision one of this
15 section, made on or after the effective date of this subdivision, shall
16 include a specific determination by such physician and psychologist,
17 such physician and such certified school psychologist, or by such physi-
18 cians, as to whether the person who is intellectually disabled has the
19 capacity to make health care decisions, as defined by subdivision three
20 of section twenty-nine hundred eighty of the public health law, for
21 [himself or herself] themself. A determination that the person who is
22 intellectually disabled has the capacity to make health care decisions
23 shall not preclude the appointment of a guardian pursuant to this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11582-01-5
A. 8514 2
1 section to make other decisions on behalf of the person who is intellec-
2 tually disabled. The absence of this determination in the case of guard-
3 ians appointed prior to the effective date of this subdivision shall not
4 preclude such guardians from making health care decisions.
5 § 2. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 1750-a of the surrogate's court
6 procedure act, as amended by chapter 198 of the laws of 2016, are
7 amended to read as follows:
8 1. When it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court that a person
9 is a person who is developmentally disabled, the court is authorized to
10 appoint a guardian of the person or of the property or of both if such
11 appointment of a guardian or guardians is in the best interest of the
12 person who is developmentally disabled. Such appointments shall be made
13 pursuant to the provisions of this article, provided however that the
14 provisions of section seventeen hundred fifty of this article shall not
15 apply to the appointment of a guardian or guardians of a person who is
16 developmentally disabled. For the purposes of this article, a person who
17 is developmentally disabled is a person who has been certified by one
18 licensed physician and one licensed psychologist, one licensed physician
19 and one certified school psychologist, or by two licensed physicians at
20 least one of whom is familiar with or has professional knowledge in the
21 care and treatment of persons with developmental disabilities, having
22 qualifications to make such certification, as having an impaired ability
23 to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of decisions
24 which result in such person being incapable of managing [himself or
25 herself and/or his or her] themselves and/or their affairs by reason of
26 developmental disability and that such condition is permanent in nature
27 or likely to continue indefinitely, and whose disability:
28 (a) is attributable to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neurological impair-
29 ment, autism or traumatic head injury;
30 (b) is attributable to any other condition of a person found to be
31 closely related to intellectual disability because such condition
32 results in similar impairment of general intellectual functioning or
33 adaptive behavior to that of persons with intellectual disabilities; or
34 (c) is attributable to dyslexia resulting from a disability described
35 in [subdivision one] paragraph (a) or [two] (b) of this [section] subdi-
36 vision or from intellectual disability; and
37 (d) originates before such person attains age twenty-two, provided,
38 however, that no such age of origination shall apply for the purposes of
39 this article to a person with traumatic head injury.
40 2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the
41 purposes of subdivision two of section seventeen hundred fifty and
42 section seventeen hundred fifty-b of this article, ["a] any reference
43 made to a person who is intellectually disabled [and his or her guardi-
44 an"] and/or such person's guardian shall [also] mean or include a person
45 [and his or her] and/or such person's guardian appointed pursuant to
46 this section; provided that such person has been certified, by the
47 physicians [and/or psychologists] or by the physician and the psychol-
48 ogist or the certified school psychologist, as specified in subdivision
49 one of this section, as (i) having an intellectual disability, or (ii)
50 having a developmental disability, as defined in section 1.03 of the
51 mental hygiene law, which (A) includes intellectual disability, or (B)
52 results in a similar impairment of general intellectual functioning or
53 adaptive behavior so that such person is incapable of managing [himself
54 or herself, and/or his or her] themself and/or their affairs by reason
55 of such developmental disability.
56 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
