STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8074
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 11, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JACKSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to setting standards
for addiction professionals
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 19.07 of the mental hygiene law, as added by chap-
2 ter 223 of the laws of 1992, subdivisions (a) and (g) as amended by
3 chapter 271 of the laws of 2010, subdivisions (b) and (c) as amended by
4 chapter 281 of the laws of 2019, subdivision (d) as amended by section 5
5 of part I of chapter 58 of the laws of 2005, subdivision (e) as amended
6 by chapter 558 of the laws of 1999, subdivision (f) as added by chapter
7 383 of the laws of 1998, subdivision (h) as amended by section 118-f of
8 subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, subdivision (i)
9 as amended by section 31-a of part AA of chapter 56 of the laws of 2019,
10 subdivision (j) as amended by chapter 146 of the laws of 2014, subdivi-
11 sion (k) as added by chapter 40 of the laws of 2014, subdivision (l) as
12 added by chapter 323 of the laws of 2018 and subdivision (m) as added by
13 chapter 493 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
14 § 19.07 Office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
15 services and supports; scope of responsibilities.
16 (a) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
17 services and supports is charged with the responsibility for assuring
18 the development of comprehensive plans, programs, and services in the
19 areas of research, prevention, care, treatment, rehabilitation, includ-
20 ing relapse prevention and recovery maintenance, education, and training
21 of persons who [abuse or are dependent on alcohol and/or substances]
22 have or are at risk of an addictive disorder and their families. The
23 term addictive disorder shall include gambling disorder education,
24 prevention and treatment consistent with section 41.57 of this chapter.
25 Such plans, programs, and services shall be developed with the cooper-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10782-01-1
A. 8074 2
1 ation of the office, the other offices of the department where appropri-
2 ate, local governments, consumers and community organizations and enti-
3 ties. The office shall provide appropriate facilities and shall
4 encourage the provision of facilities by local government and community
5 organizations and entities. [The office is also responsible for develop-
6 ing plans, programs and services related to compulsive gambling educa-
7 tion, prevention and treatment consistent with section 41.57 of this
8 chapter.]
9 (b) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
10 services and supports shall advise and assist the governor in improving
11 services and developing policies designed to meet the needs of persons
12 who suffer from or are at risk of an addictive disorder and their fami-
13 lies, and to encourage their rehabilitation, maintenance of recovery,
14 and functioning in society.
15 (c) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
16 services and supports shall have the responsibility for seeing that
17 persons who suffer from or are at risk of an addictive disorder and
18 their families are provided with addiction services, care and treatment,
19 and that such services, care, treatment and rehabilitation is of high
20 quality and effectiveness, and that the personal and civil rights of
21 persons seeking and receiving addiction services, care, treatment and
22 rehabilitation are adequately protected.
23 (d) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
24 services and supports shall foster programs for the training and devel-
25 opment of persons capable of providing the foregoing services, including
26 but not limited to a process of issuing, either directly or through
27 contract, licenses, credentials, certificates or authorizations for
28 [alcoholism and substance abuse counselors or gambling] addiction [coun-
29 selors] professionals in accordance with the following:
30 (1) The office shall establish minimum qualifications [for counselors]
31 and a definition of the practice of the profession of an addiction
32 professional in all phases of delivery of services to persons and their
33 families who are suffering from [alcohol and/or substance abuse and/or
34 chemical dependence and/or compulsive gambling that shall include] or
35 are at risk of an addictive disorder including, but not be limited to,
36 completion of approved courses of study or equivalent on-the-job experi-
37 ence in [alcoholism and substance abuse counseling and/or counseling of
38 compulsive gambling] addiction disorder services.
39 (i) The office shall establish procedures for issuing, directly or
40 through contract, licenses, credentials, certificates or authorizations
41 to [counselors] addiction professionals who meet minimum qualifications,
42 including the establishment of appropriate fees, and shall further
43 establish procedures to suspend, revoke, or annul such licenses, creden-
44 tials, certificates or authorizations for good cause. Such procedures
45 shall be promulgated by the commissioner by rule or regulation.
46 (ii) The commissioner shall establish [a credentialing] an addiction
47 professionals board which shall provide advice concerning the licensing,
48 credentialing, certification or authorization process.
49 (iii) The commissioner shall establish fees for the education, train-
50 ing, licensing, credentialing, certification or authorization of
51 addiction professionals.
52 (2) The establishment, with the advice of the advisory council on
53 alcoholism and substance abuse services, of minimum qualifications for
54 [counselors] addiction professionals in all phases of delivery of
55 services to those suffering from [alcoholism, substance and/or chemical
56 abuse and/or dependence and/or compulsive gambling] or at risk of addic-
A. 8074 3
1 tive disorders and their families that shall include, but not be limited
2 to, completion of approved courses of study or equivalent on-the-job
3 experience in [counseling for alcoholism, substance and/or chemical
4 abuse and/or dependence] addiction disorder services and/or [compulsive]
5 gambling disorder services, and establish appropriate fees, issue
6 licenses, credentials, certificates or authorizations to [counselors]
7 addiction professionals who meet minimum qualifications and suspend,
8 revoke, or annul such licenses, credentials, certificates or authori-
9 zations for good cause in accordance with procedures promulgated by the
10 commissioner by rule or regulation.
11 (3) For the purpose of this title, the term "addiction professional",
12 including "credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor" or
13 "C.A.S.A.C.", means an official designation identifying an individual as
14 one who holds a currently registered and valid license, credential,
15 certificate or authorization issued or approved by the office of [alco-
16 holism and substance abuse services] addiction services and supports
17 pursuant to this section which documents an individual's qualifications
18 to provide [alcoholism and substance abuse counseling] addiction disor-
19 der services. The term "gambling addiction [counselor"] professional"
20 means an official designation identifying an individual as one who holds
21 a currently registered and valid license, credential, certificate or
22 authorization issued by the office of [alcoholism and substance abuse
23 services] addiction services and supports pursuant to this section which
24 documents an individual's qualifications to provide [compulsive] gambl-
25 ing [counseling] disorder services.
26 (i) No person shall use the title [credentialed alcoholism and
27 substance abuse counselor or "C.A.S.A.C." or gambling addiction counse-
28 lor] "addiction professional" or the title given to any licenses,
29 credentials, certificates or authorizations issued by the office unless
30 authorized [pursuant to] by the commissioner in accordance with this
31 title.
32 (ii) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall
33 constitute a violation as defined in the penal law.
34 (4) All persons holding previously issued and valid alcoholism or
35 substance abuse counselor credentials issued by the office or an entity
36 designated by the office, including a credentialed alcoholism and
37 substance abuse counselor, certified prevention specialist, credentialed
38 prevention professional, credentialed problem gambling counselor, gambl-
39 ing specialty designation, certified recovery peer advocate, on the
40 effective date of amendments to this section shall be deemed [C.A.S.A.C.
41 designated] an addiction professional consistent with their experience
42 and education.
43 (e) Consistent with the requirements of subdivision (b) of section
44 5.05 of this chapter, the office shall carry out the provisions of arti-
45 cle thirty-two of this chapter as such article pertains to regulation
46 and quality control of [chemical dependence] addiction disorder
47 services, including but not limited to the establishment of standards
48 for determining the necessity and appropriateness of care and services
49 provided by [chemical dependence] addiction disorder providers of
50 services. In implementing this subdivision, the commissioner, in consul-
51 tation with the commissioner of health, shall adopt standards including
52 necessary rules and regulations including but not limited to those for
53 determining the necessity or appropriate level of admission, controlling
54 the length of stay and the provision of services, and establishing the
55 methods and procedures for making such determination.
A. 8074 4
1 (f) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
2 services and supports shall develop a list of all agencies throughout
3 the state which are currently certified by the office and are capable of
4 and available to provide evaluations in accordance with section sixty-
5 five-b of the alcoholic beverage control law so as to determine need for
6 treatment pursuant to such section and to assure the availability of
7 such evaluation services by a certified agency within a reasonable
8 distance of every court of a local jurisdiction in the state. Such list
9 shall be updated on a regular basis and shall be made available to every
10 supreme court law library in this state, or, if no supreme court law
11 library is available in a certain county, to the county court library of
12 such county. The commissioner may establish an annual fee for inclusion
13 on such list.
14 (g) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
15 services and supports shall develop and maintain a list of the names and
16 locations of all licensed agencies and [alcohol and substance abuse]
17 addiction professionals, as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdi-
18 vision one of section eleven hundred ninety-eight-a of the vehicle and
19 traffic law, throughout the state which are capable of and available to
20 provide an assessment of, and treatment for, [alcohol and substance
21 abuse and dependency] addiction disorders. Such list shall be provided
22 to the chief administrator of the office of court administration and the
23 commissioner of motor vehicles. Persons who may be aggrieved by an agen-
24 cy decision regarding inclusion on the list may request an administra-
25 tive appeal in accordance with rules and regulations of the office. The
26 commissioner may establish an annual fee for inclusion on such list.
27 (h) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
28 services and supports shall monitor programs providing care and treat-
29 ment to inmates in correctional facilities operated by the department of
30 corrections and community supervision who have a history of [alcohol or
31 substance abuse or dependence] an addiction disorder. The office shall
32 also develop guidelines for the operation of [alcohol and substance
33 abuse treatment programs] addiction disorder services in such correc-
34 tional facilities in order to ensure that such programs sufficiently
35 meet the needs of inmates with a history of [alcohol or substance abuse
36 or dependence] an addiction disorder and promote the successful transi-
37 tion to treatment in the community upon release. No later than the first
38 day of December of each year, the office shall submit a report regarding
39 the adequacy and effectiveness of alcohol and substance abuse treatment
40 programs operated by the department of corrections and community super-
41 vision to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the
42 speaker of the assembly, the chairman of the senate committee on crime
43 victims, crime and correction, and the chairman of the assembly commit-
44 tee on correction.
45 (i) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
46 services and supports shall periodically, in consultation with the state
47 director of veterans' services: (1) review the programs operated by the
48 office to ensure that the needs of the state's veterans who served in
49 the U.S. armed forces and who are recovering from [alcohol and/or
50 substance abuse] an addiction disorder are being met and to develop
51 improvements to programs to meet such needs; and (2) in collaboration
52 with the state director of veterans' services and the commissioner of
53 the office of mental health, review and make recommendations to improve
54 programs that provide treatment, rehabilitation, relapse prevention, and
55 recovery services to veterans who have served in a combat theatre or
A. 8074 5
1 combat zone of operations and have a co-occurring mental health and
2 [alcoholism or substance abuse] addiction disorder.
3 (j) The office, in consultation with the state education department,
4 shall identify or develop materials on problem gambling among school-age
5 youth which may be used by school districts and boards of cooperative
6 educational services, at their option, to educate students on the
7 dangers and consequences of problem gambling as they deem appropriate.
8 Such materials shall be available on the internet website of the state
9 education department. The internet website of the office shall provide a
10 hyperlink to the internet page of the state education department that
11 displays such materials.
12 (k) Heroin and opioid addiction awareness and education program. The
13 commissioner, in cooperation with the commissioner of the department of
14 health, shall develop and conduct a public awareness and educational
15 campaign on heroin and opioid addiction. The campaign shall utilize
16 public forums, social media and mass media, including, but not limited
17 to, internet, radio, and print advertising such as billboards and post-
18 ers and shall also include posting of materials and information on the
19 office website. The campaign shall be tailored to educate youth,
20 parents, healthcare professionals and the general public regarding: (1)
21 the risks associated with the abuse and misuse of heroin and opioids;
22 (2) how to recognize the signs of addiction; and (3) the resources
23 available for those needing assistance with heroin or opioid addiction.
24 The campaign shall further be designed to enhance awareness of the
25 opioid overdose prevention program authorized pursuant to section thir-
26 ty-three hundred nine of the public health law and the "Good Samaritan
27 law" established pursuant to sections 220.03 and 220.78 of the penal law
28 and section 390.40 of the criminal procedure law, and to reduce the
29 stigma associated with addiction.
30 (l) The office of [alcoholism and substance abuse services] addiction
31 services and supports, in consultation with the state education depart-
32 ment, shall develop or utilize existing educational materials to be
33 provided to school districts and boards of cooperative educational
34 services for use in addition to or in conjunction with any drug and
35 alcohol related curriculum regarding the misuse and abuse of alcohol,
36 tobacco, prescription medication and other drugs with an increased focus
37 on substances that are most prevalent among school aged youth as such
38 term is defined in section eight hundred four of the education law. Such
39 materials shall be age appropriate for school age children, and to the
40 extent practicable, shall include information or resources for parents
41 to identify the warning signs and address the risks of substance [abuse]
42 misuse and addiction.
43 (m) (1) The office shall report on the status and outcomes of initi-
44 atives created in response to the heroin and opioid epidemic to the
45 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
46 chairs of the assembly and senate committees on alcoholism and drug
47 abuse, the chair of the assembly ways and means committee and the chair
48 of the senate finance committee.
49 (2) Such reports shall include, to the extent practicable and applica-
50 ble, information on:
51 (i) The number of individuals enrolled in the initiative in the
52 preceding quarter;
53 (ii) The number of individuals who completed the treatment program in
54 the preceding quarter;
55 (iii) The number of individuals discharged from the treatment program
56 in the preceding quarter;
A. 8074 6
1 (iv) The age and sex of the individuals served;
2 (v) Relevant regional data about the individuals;
3 (vi) The populations served; and
4 (vii) The outcomes and effectiveness of each initiative surveyed.
5 (3) Such initiatives shall include opioid treatment programs, crisis
6 detoxification programs, 24/7 open access centers, adolescent club hous-
7 es, family navigator programs, peer engagement specialists, recovery
8 community and outreach centers, regional addiction resource centers and
9 the state implementation of the federal opioid state targeted response
10 initiatives.
11 (4) Such information shall be provided quarterly, beginning no later
12 than July first, two thousand nineteen.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
