NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7904
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the mental hygiene law and the social
services law, in relation to making technical changes to the protection
of people with special needs act
PURPOSE OF BILL:
This bill would amend the Mental Hygiene Law and the Social Services Law
to make technical corrections to the Protection of People with Special
Needs Act.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill would amend Mental Hygiene Law § 31.35(a) to
make a technical correction to refer to the Justice Center for the
Protection of People with Special Needs (Justice Center) instead of the
Office of Mental Health (OMH).
Section two of the bill would amend Social Services Law § 488(4)(e) to
remove a mistaken reference to schools accepting students pursuant to
emergency interim placements, because these placements are in out-of-
state schools, for which there are different reporting requirements, as
set forth in Social Services Law § 490(5).
Section three of the bill provides that it shall take effect on the same
date as the Protection of People with Special Needs Act (Chapter 501 of
the Laws of 2012) becomes effective.
EXISTING LAW:
The Protection of People with Special Needs Act amended Mental Hygiene
Law § 16.33 to make the Justice Center, rather than Office for People
with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), responsible for requesting and
receiving criminal history information from the Division of Criminal
Justice Services for conducting the statutorily required criminal histo-
ry background checks for prospective operators, employees and volunteers
of facilities or providers under the jurisdiction of OPWDD. A corre-
sponding change was not made to Mental Hygiene Law § 31.35, for prospec-
tive operators, employees and volunteers of providers of services
authorized by OMH.
The definition of a "facility" or "provider agency" in Social Services
Law § 488(4), for purposes of reporting incidents to the Vulnerable
Persons Central Register, includes certain private schools that have a
residential program and provide special education services or programs.
Social Services Law § 490(5) sets forth different reporting requirements
for out-of-state schools.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT:
One aspect of the Protection of People with Special Needs Act was to
consolidate certain criminal history information check functions
currently performed by OMH, OPWDD and the Office of Children and Family
Services within the Justice Center. Therefore, the requirement in Mental
Hygiene Law § 16.33 for OPWDD to perform these background check func-
tions was changed to require the Justice Center to perform these func-
tions. A parallel reference in Mental Hygiene Law § 31.35 that required
OMH to perform these functions was not similarly amended. This bill
would correct this oversight so that the Justice Center would be
required to perform these functions.
The State Education Department has determined that the reference to
schools accepting students pursuant to emergency interim placements is
mistakenly included in the definition of facilities or providers
contained in Social Services Law § 488(4). Emergency interim placements
are out-of-state residential placements and the specific reporting
requirements for out-of-state residential placements are contained in
Social Services Law § 490(5), and not the general reporting requirements
for in-state facilities and providers to which the definitions in
section 488(4) apply. This bill would remove that mistaken reference in
order to prevent any confusion among out-of-state schools concerning
their reporting requirements.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect on the same day and in the same manner as
the Protection of People with Special Needs Act (Chapter 501 of the laws
of 2012) takes effect.
