Prohibits public funding to facilities or programs using aversive interventions on children; establishes a holistic autism spectrum disorder treatment center.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2225
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to prohibiting
public funding to facilities using aversive interventions; and to
amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing a holistic
autism spectrum disorder treatment center
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 7, 8 and 9 of section 483-d of the social
2 services law are renumbered subdivisions 8, 9 and 10 and a new subdivi-
3 sion 7 is added to read as follows:
4 7. Aversive interventions. (a) No public funding shall support place-
5 ment of a child in any program or school that engages in the use of
6 aversive interventions on children in violation of this subdivision. A
7 school or program using aversive interventions in violation of this
8 subdivision shall be removed from any registry of approved schools or
9 programs after written notice by the member agency.
10 (b) Definitions. As used in this subdivision:
11 (i) "Aversive interventions" means an intervention known or intended
12 to induce pain or discomfort for the purpose of eliminating or reducing
13 maladaptive behaviors, and include but are not limited to:
14 (1) contingent application of noxious, painful, intrusive stimuli or
15 activities;
16 (2) any form of noxious, painful, or intrusive taste, spray, or inha-
17 lant;
18 (3) withholding sleep, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities or cloth-
19 ing;
20 (4) contingent food programs that include denial or delay of meals or
21 intentionally altering staple food or drink in order to make it
22 distasteful;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04673-01-5
A. 2225 2
1 (5) movement limitation used as a punishment, including but not limit-
2 ed to use of helmets and mechanical restraint devices;
3 (6) electric shock therapy; and
4 (7) other similar stimuli, treatments, interventions, or actions.
5 The foregoing to the contrary notwithstanding, aversive interventions
6 do not include interventions such as voice control, limited to loud,
7 firm commands; time-limited ignoring of a specific behavior; token fines
8 as part of a token economy system; brief physical prompts to interrupt
9 or prevent a specific behavior; interventions medically necessary for
10 the treatment or protection of the student; or other similar inter-
11 ventions.
12 (ii) "Child" means an individual who is twenty-one years of age or
13 less, provided that a member agency may utilize an alternative defi-
14 nition of a child, including specifying a different age, for purposes of
15 compliance with this subdivision, so long as such definition is standard
16 and appropriate to its placement procedures.
17 (iii) "Member agency" means a state agency that is a member of the
18 out-of-state placement committee.
19 (iv) "Public funding" means funding for care, services, programs, and
20 services programs which are provided or approved directly or indirectly
21 by or under the jurisdiction of a member agency, exclusive of funding
22 for which federal requirements or directives override, supersede, or
23 require approval in a manner contrary to the requirements of this subdi-
24 vision, or for which, in the judgment of the member agency, compliance
25 with this subdivision would violate federal law or regulations.
26 (v) The terms "care", "services", and "services programs" have the
27 same meanings as in subdivision one of section four hundred eighty-
28 three-b of this article.
29 (vi) "School" means any residential or non-residential public or
30 private school located within or outside the state that provides
31 instruction to a child and that: (A) is subject to oversight,
32 inspection, regulation, approval or licensure or certification by any
33 member agency; or (B) receives public funding, including funding for the
34 placement of any child in such school. School as used herein includes a
35 public school, BOCES, charter school, preschool program, private school,
36 state-operated or state-supported school in this state, approved out-of-
37 state day or residential school, or registered nonpublic nursery,
38 kindergarten, elementary or secondary school in this state.
39 (vii) "Program" means any residential or non-residential public or
40 private program, other than a school, that provides care, services,
41 programs, and services programs to a child and that: (A) is subject to
42 oversight, inspection, regulation, approval or licensure or certif-
43 ication by any member agency; or (B) receives public funding, including
44 funding for the placement of any child in such school.
45 § 2. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 13.44
46 to read as follows:
47 § 13.44 Holistic autism spectrum disorder treatment center.
48 (a) There is hereby established within the children's hospital at SUNY
49 downstate medical center a holistic autism spectrum disorder treatment
50 center. The center shall focus on innovative and demonstrably effective
51 treatments that avoid any of the aversive interventions as described in
52 subdivision seven of section four hundred eighty-three-d of the social
53 services law, and that attempt, to the extent feasible, to minimize the
54 use of prescription drugs and focus on complementary and alternative
55 medicine.
A. 2225 3
1 (b) The center shall also attempt to integrate holistic treatment
2 techniques into existing communities with special emphasis on providing
3 access to affordable holistic care and treatment, organic and natural
4 food regimens, family respite opportunities, violence prevention best
5 practices, and educational course coordination.
6 (c) The holistic autism spectrum disorder treatment center shall serve
7 as the applied medicine focus of the autism spectrum disorders advisory
8 board as established in section 13.42 of this article.
9 (d) The autism spectrum disorders advisory board shall, within one
10 year of the effective date of this section, recommend to the chairs of
11 the senate and assembly health committees a minimum budget and funding
12 for the holistic spectrum disorder treatment center and oversee a
13 selection search for a chair of the center.
14 (e) The center shall also serve as a designated center of excellence
15 for research into holistic therapies for the treatment of the array of
16 autism spectrum disorders.
17 (f) In order to tap fully the benefits to the people of New York state
18 the holistic autism spectrum disorder treatment center will require
19 affiliation with and cooperation among all major centers of higher
20 learning, including medical colleges, and existing life science research
21 institutes in the state. The board of trustees of the state university
22 is encouraged to enter into appropriate legal agreements to enable this
23 cooperation to prosper.
24 § 3. Severability. If any portion of this act or the application ther-
25 eof to any person or circumstances shall be adjudged invalid by a court
26 of competent jurisdiction, such order or judgment shall be confined in
27 its operation to the controversy in which it was rendered, and shall not
28 affect or invalidate the remainder of any provision of this act or the
29 application of any part thereof to any other person or circumstances and
30 to this end each of the provisions of this act are hereby declared to be
31 separable.
32 § 4. This act shall take effect January 1, 2026. Effective immediate-
33 ly, the addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
34 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
35 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
