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A04596 Summary:

BILL NOA04596
 
SAME ASSAME AS S01396
 
SPONSORJensen
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §461-v, Soc Serv L; amd §§2899 & 2899-a, Pub Health L
 
Relates to criminal history records of maintenance employees in adult residential health and assisted living facilities.
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A04596 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          4596
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    February 4, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Health
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend the social services law and the public health law, in
          relation to criminal history records of maintenance employees in adult
          residential health and assisted living facilities

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section
     2  461-v to read as follows:
     3    § 461-v. Access to criminal history records. 1. For  the  purposes  of
     4  this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a) "Maintenance employee" shall mean any individual to be employed or
     6  used by a provider, including those persons employed through a temporary
     7  employment  or  staffing  agency, and who provide supportive maintenance
     8  services to such facility, included,  but  not  limited  to  beautician,
     9  security, janitorial, laundry, recreational and groundskeeping services.
    10  Such term shall not include volunteers.
    11    (b)  "Provider"  shall  mean  an assisted living facility, residential
    12  health care facility, skilled nursing facility  or  any  other  type  of
    13  facility  that provides residential or institutional care to the elderly
    14  or disabled.
    15    2. Subject to the rules and regulations of the  division  of  criminal
    16  justice services, the department of health shall have access to criminal
    17  history  records  maintained  by such division pertaining to any mainte-
    18  nance employee or such persons as the department of health at  any  time
    19  deems necessary to determine their criminal histories.
    20    3.  Every  court  in  which  a  maintenance  employee of a provider is
    21  convicted of a crime while performing  their  intended  duties  at  such
    22  facility  shall,  within  seven days after either the entry of a plea of
    23  guilty, or the verdict of the court or a jury, notify the department  of
    24  health  in  writing  of such conviction. The department of health, after
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04347-01-5

        A. 4596                             2
 
     1  receipt of such notification or at any time  the  department  of  health
     2  becomes  aware  of the conviction of such maintenance worker, shall have
     3  the authority, granted pursuant to subdivision one of this  section,  to
     4  have access to the criminal history records of such individual.
     5    4.  Any  request  for  criminal  history  records made pursuant to the
     6  provisions of this section shall be accompanied by the  fingerprints  of
     7  the person who is the subject of such request.
     8    § 2. Subdivisions 3 and 5 of section 2899 of the public health law, as
     9  amended  by  chapter  331  of  the  laws of 2006, are amended to read as
    10  follows:
    11    3. "Employee" shall mean any person  to  be  employed  or  used  by  a
    12  provider,  including  those  persons  employed by a temporary employment
    13  agency, to provide direct care or supervision to patients  or  residents
    14  or  an  individual  who  serves  as a maintenance employee as defined in
    15  section four hundred sixty-one-v of the  social  services  law.  Persons
    16  licensed  pursuant  to title eight of the education law or article twen-
    17  ty-eight-D of this chapter are excluded from  the  meaning  of  employee
    18  under this article. Such term shall not include volunteers.
    19    5.  "Prospective  employee"  shall  mean  any  individual, including a
    20  potential maintenance employee, not currently an employee, who files  an
    21  application  for  employment  as  an  employee  with  a provider and the
    22  provider has a reasonable expectation to  hire  such  individual  as  an
    23  employee.
    24    §  3.  Subdivision  10  of section 2899-a of the public health law, as
    25  amended by section 7 of part RRR of chapter 58 of the laws of  2020,  is
    26  amended to read as follows:
    27    10.  Notwithstanding  subdivision  eleven  of  section  eight  hundred
    28  forty-five-b of the executive  law,  a  certified  home  health  agency,
    29  licensed home care services agency or long term home health care program
    30  certified, licensed or approved under article thirty-six of this chapter
    31  or  a  home  care services agency exempt from certification or licensure
    32  under article thirty-six of this chapter, a hospice program under  arti-
    33  cle forty of this chapter, or an adult home, enriched housing program or
    34  residence for adults licensed under article seven of the social services
    35  law,  or  an assisted living facility licensed under article forty-six-B
    36  of this chapter, or a health home, or any subcontractor of  such  health
    37  home,  who  contracts with or is approved or otherwise authorized by the
    38  department to provide health home services, including enrollees who  are
    39  under  twenty-one years of age, under section three hundred sixty-five-l
    40  of the social services law, except for a health home, or any subcontrac-
    41  tor of such health home, who contracts with or is approved or  otherwise
    42  authorized  by  the  department  to  provide health home services to all
    43  those enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of a developmental disability  as
    44  defined  in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene
    45  law; or any entity that provides home and community  based  services  to
    46  enrollees  who  are  under twenty-one years of age under a demonstration
    47  program pursuant to section eleven hundred fifteen of the federal social
    48  security act may temporarily approve a prospective  employee  while  the
    49  results  of the criminal history information check and the determination
    50  are pending, upon the condition that the provider  conducts  appropriate
    51  direct  observation  and evaluation of the temporary employee, while [he
    52  or she] such person is temporarily employed,  and  the  care  recipient;
    53  provided,  however,  that  for  a health home, or any subcontractor of a
    54  health home, who contracts with or is approved or  otherwise  authorized
    55  by  the  department to provide health home services, including enrollees
    56  who are under twenty-one years  of  age,  under  section  three  hundred

        A. 4596                             3
 
     1  sixty-five-l  of  the  social services law, except for a health home, or
     2  any subcontractor of such health home, who contracts with or is approved
     3  or otherwise  authorized  by  the  department  to  provide  health  home
     4  services  to  all  those  enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of a develop-
     5  mental disability as defined in subdivision twenty-two of  section  1.03
     6  of the mental hygiene law; or any entity that provides home and communi-
     7  ty  based  services  to  enrollees who are under twenty-one years of age
     8  under a demonstration program pursuant to section eleven hundred fifteen
     9  of the federal social security act, direct observation and evaluation of
    10  temporary employees shall not be required until July first, two thousand
    11  nineteen. The results of such observations shall be  documented  in  the
    12  temporary  employee's  personnel  file  and  shall  be  maintained.  For
    13  purposes of providing such appropriate  direct  observation  and  evalu-
    14  ation, the provider shall utilize an individual employed by such provid-
    15  er  with  a minimum of one year's experience working in an agency certi-
    16  fied, licensed or approved under article thirty-six of this  chapter  or
    17  an adult home, enriched housing program or residence for adults licensed
    18  under  article  seven  of the social services law, a health home, or any
    19  subcontractor of such health home, who contracts with or is approved  or
    20  otherwise  authorized by the department to provide health home services,
    21  including enrollees who are under twenty-one years of age, under section
    22  three hundred sixty-five-l of the social  services  law,  except  for  a
    23  health  home,  or  any  subcontractor of such health home, who contracts
    24  with or is approved or otherwise authorized by the department to provide
    25  health home services to all those enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of  a
    26  developmental disability as defined in subdivision twenty-two of section
    27  1.03  of  the  mental  hygiene law; or any entity that provides home and
    28  community based services to enrollees who are under twenty-one years  of
    29  age  under  a  demonstration  program pursuant to section eleven hundred
    30  fifteen of the federal social security act. If the temporary employee is
    31  working under contract with  another  provider  certified,  licensed  or
    32  approved  under  article thirty-six or article forty-six-B of this chap-
    33  ter, such contract provider's appropriate direct observation and  evalu-
    34  ation  of the temporary employee, shall be considered sufficient for the
    35  purposes of complying with this subdivision.
    36    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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