Amd §1.03, add §22.12, Ment Hyg L; add §95-i, St Fin L
Provides for the reinvestment of funds generated by savings due to declines in the state prison census into community-based services for persons suffering from chemical dependence and for the establishment of the chemical dependence reinvestment fund; provides for the establishment of the state interagency council on chemical dependence reinvestment fund utilization and for the composition thereof.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4009
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 1, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Develop-
mental Disabilities
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law and the state finance law, in
relation to the reinvestment of funds into community-based services
for persons suffering from chemical dependence
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent and findings. The legislature finds
2 that declines in the state prison inmate census, due to the utilization
3 of alternatives to incarceration and changes in the sentencing laws for
4 persons convicted of drug offenses, create concomitant demand and strain
5 on community-based chemical dependence treatment services.
6 The legislature also finds that as state expenditures for incarcerated
7 individuals are reduced due to the aforementioned interventions, it is
8 necessary and appropriate to establish a dedicated fund, comprised of
9 those savings, which will be reinvested into the development and expan-
10 sion of community-based chemical dependence treatment and prevention
11 programs.
12 The legislature further finds that as it is well established that
13 chemical dependence prevention and treatment is the most effective
14 response to chemical abuse and addiction and the resulting criminal
15 offenses, the availability of effective prevention and treatment
16 programs should be a prominent component of the state's response.
17 § 2. Section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new
18 subdivision 59 to read as follows:
19 59. "Community chemical dependence reinvestment services" shall
20 include chemical dependence services as defined in subdivision fifty-
21 five of this section.
22 § 3. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 22.12
23 to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04246-01-7
S. 4009 2
1 § 22.12 Community reinvestment program.
2 (a) The commissioner of the office of alcoholism and substance abuse
3 services shall plan, promote, establish, develop, coordinate, evaluate,
4 and conduct programs and services of prevention, diagnosis, examination,
5 care, treatment, rehabilitation, education and vocational training, and
6 research for the benefit of individuals who suffer from and/or are at
7 risk for chemical dependence. Such programs shall be licensed or
8 approved by the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services and
9 shall include but not be limited to inpatient, residential, half-way
10 house, outpatient, methadone maintenance treatment, emergency, rehabili-
11 tative, educational and vocational and other appropriate treatment,
12 prevention and support services.
13 (b) All moneys received or accepted pursuant to this section shall be
14 deposited into the chemical dependence reinvestment fund established
15 pursuant to section ninety-five-i of the state finance law.
16 (c) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, in approving
17 funds pursuant to section ninety-five-i of the state finance law, the
18 commissioner of the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services
19 shall consider the extent to which local governmental units have main-
20 tained local contributions for expenditures in any local fiscal year for
21 local or unified services, as applicable, provided to persons diagnosed
22 with chemical dependence and made pursuant to this article, at a level
23 equal to or greater than the amount expended that fiscal year. Such
24 commissioner shall be authorized to reduce payments made to local
25 governmental units which have received grants pursuant to this section,
26 in the following fiscal year for failure to maintain expenditures. Funds
27 annually appropriated by the legislature for community chemical depend-
28 ence reinvestment services are intended to pay for the development,
29 expansion, and operation of community chemical dependence services.
30 Annual community chemical dependence reinvestment funds shall not be
31 used to supplant or replace community chemical dependence costs of any
32 provider that were previously paid from the prior year's office of alco-
33 holism and substance abuse services general fund appropriations for the
34 identical purpose.
35 (d) There is hereby established the state interagency council on chem-
36 ical dependence reinvestment fund utilization. This council shall devel-
37 op and implement a schedule for studying chemical dependence prevention
38 and treatment programs, focusing on the availability of such programs
39 and whether these programs adequately meet the needs of those inmates
40 released from department of corrections facilities. Further, this coun-
41 cil shall recommend any needed expansions to chemical dependence treat-
42 ment programs. By January first of the year following implementation of
43 this section, this council shall report its finding to the governor, the
44 temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly. Such
45 council shall operate independently and shall consist of a chairperson,
46 chosen by the council members, and the commissioners of the office of
47 alcoholism and substance abuse services, the office of court adminis-
48 tration, the division of criminal justice services, the department of
49 corrections and community supervision, and the office of children and
50 family services. The council shall also consist of nine representatives
51 selected from the following three communities as follows: three repre-
52 sentatives from the service provider community; three representatives
53 from the consumer community; and three representatives who shall be
54 family members of consumers. One representative from each of these three
55 communities shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate,
S. 4009 3
1 the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the
2 assembly and the minority leader of the senate.
3 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 95-i to
4 read as follows:
5 § 95-i. Chemical dependence reinvestment fund. 1. There is hereby
6 established in the joint custody of the comptroller and the commissioner
7 of taxation and finance a fund to be known as the chemical dependence
8 reinvestment fund.
9 2. Moneys of the fund, following appropriation by the legislature and
10 allocation by the director of budget, shall be available to the commis-
11 sioner of the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services for the
12 development, expansion and operation of new and expanded community chem-
13 ical dependence services, including but not limited to, services
14 rendered to persons mandated into chemical dependence treatment in lieu
15 of incarceration by the criminal justice system. Specific amounts shall
16 be made available for appropriation upon determinations made by such
17 commissioner. Such funds made available to the office of alcoholism and
18 substance abuse services may also be used to develop state operated
19 services, including emergency and crisis services, case management
20 service, education and vocational services, services for homeless chemi-
21 cally-addicted persons with and/or at risk for HIV infection, HIV-relat-
22 ed illnesses or AIDS, persons dually-diagnosed with chemical dependence
23 and mental illness, other hard to serve populations, and other special-
24 ized services as approved by such commissioner.
25 § 5. Each year an independent actuarial accounting of the savings
26 generated from declines in the state prison census shall be conducted
27 and the results reported to the governor, the division of the budget,
28 the senate finance committee and the assembly ways and means committee
29 no later than one year following the effective date of this act.
30 § 6. This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding
31 the date on which it shall have become a law.
