NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A9042
SPONSOR: Brown K
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to permitting clini-
cians to be dually licensed under the office of mental health and the
office of addiction services and supports
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to permit clinicians to be dually licensed
under the office of mental health and the office of addiction services
and supports.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill amends section 7.09 of the mental hygiene law
to add a new subdivision providing for the Commissioner of the Office of
Mental Health to work in conjunction with the Commissioner of the Office
of Addiction Services and Support to develop a program for the dual
licensing of clinicians by both the Office of Mental Health and the
Office of Addiction Services and Support.
Section two of this bill amends section 19.09 of the mental hygiene law
to add a new subdivision providing for the Commissioner of the Office of
Addiction Services and Support to work in conjunction with the Commis-
sioner of the Office of Mental Health to develop a program for the dual
licensing of clinicians by both the Office of Mental Health and the
Office of Addiction Services and Support.
Section three of this bill establishes the effective date.
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
N/A
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently there is no dual licensing for clinicians who work with the
Office of Mental Health or those that work with the Office of Addiction
Services and Support. Because of this lack of dual certification clini-
cians can only work with one aspect of the treatment plan for those
patients who suffer from co-occurring disorders. This leads to the
patient having to go back and forth between different clinicians and the
treatment for both disorders starts to fall apart. This bill introduces
the dual certification which would allow for a treatment plan for a
co-occurring disorder to come from one source. Co-occurring disorders
refer to when an individual suffers from a mental health disorder in
conjunction with a substance use disorder. In these cases, individual
often use substances as a means of coping with mental health struggles
and often exasperates the symptoms of the mental health disorder which
in turn drives the individual to further substance use.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9042
IN ASSEMBLY
February 5, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. K. BROWN, BENDETT, HAWLEY -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Mental Health
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to permitting clini-
cians to be dually licensed under the office of mental health and the
office of addiction services and supports
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 7.09 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding
2 a new subdivision (n) to read as follows:
3 (n) The commissioner shall, in conjunction with the commissioner of
4 the office of addiction services and supports, develop a licensing
5 program wherein clinicians can be dually licensed by both the office and
6 the office of addiction services and supports.
7 § 2. Section 19.09 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a
8 new subdivision (m) to read as follows:
9 (m) The commissioner shall, in conjunction with the commissioner of
10 the office of mental health, develop a licensing program wherein clini-
11 cians can be dually licensed by both the office and the office of mental
12 health.
13 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
14 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
15 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
16 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
17 on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13875-01-3