Establishes the school mental health services program coordinator to provide qualifying public and nonpublic schools with mental health services professionals.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1310
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. CANZONERI-FITZPATRICK, BORRELLO, OBERACKER, RHOADS
-- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating a school
mental health services program coordinator
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-c
2 to read as follows:
3 § 2801-c. New York state school mental health services program coordi-
4 nator. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "school mental health
5 services program coordinator" shall mean a mental health services
6 professional, with qualifications determined by regulation by the
7 commissioner, whose role and responsibility shall be to work with
8 students, faculty and other mental health and health care professionals
9 to identify, report and address mental health issues of students, facul-
10 ty and administration at any public or non-public school that could pose
11 a risk to public safety.
12 2. Any public or non-public school may employ a mental health services
13 professional, in either the classified or unclassified service, deter-
14 mined in regulation by the commissioner to be qualified, as a mental
15 health services program coordinator. Any such public or non-public
16 school may also contract with the state of New York, a county, city,
17 town or village, or with a private mental health services provider, for
18 the provision of a mental health services professional, determined in
19 regulation by the commissioner to be qualified, to serve as a mental
20 health services program coordinator.
21 3. The commissioner shall, by regulation, determine the qualifications
22 for a mental health services program coordinator. A school district
23 shall be authorized to employ or contract for as many mental health
24 services program coordinators, as such district deems necessary. The
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00956-01-5
S. 1310 2
1 commissioner shall by regulation, establish the mandatory reports, the
2 persons or entities with whom such reports shall be filed, and the
3 treatment services that may be offered or directed by a mental health
4 services program coordinator.
5 § 2. Section 3602 of the education law is amended by adding a new
6 subdivision 5-b to read as follows:
7 5-b. Mental health services program coordinator aid. Every school
8 district employing or contracting for the services of a mental health
9 services program coordinator, in either the classified or unclassified
10 service, in accordance with section twenty-eight hundred one-c of this
11 chapter, shall be entitled to a payment of mental health services
12 program coordinator aid in the amount of the district's expenditure for
13 the cost of such employment or contracting of such mental health
14 services program coordinator. But in no event shall such aid to such
15 school district be in excess of fifty thousand dollars annually. The
16 mental health services program coordinator aid provided by this subdivi-
17 sion shall be limited to the payment for one mental health services
18 program coordinator per school district.
19 § 3. Section 3602-c of the education law is amended by adding a new
20 subdivision 11 to read as follows:
21 11. Aid shall be made available to all non-public schools under this
22 section, for mental health services program coordinators, in the same
23 manner as for public schools in subdivision five-b of section thirty-six
24 hundred two of this article.
25 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
