Requires self-help practitioners to disclose information to clients regarding risks, to produce a risk management plan, and to create a registry within the department of state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1155
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law and the executive law, in
relation to requiring certain non-licensed professionals to disclose
information regarding risks
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 391-w to read as follows:
3 § 391-w. Self-help practitioner disclosure requirements. 1. Defi-
4 nitions:
5 (a) "Self-help practitioner" means any individual, his or her agent or
6 employee, or company that is publicly holding himself or herself out as
7 a "self-help guru" or other similar term in advertising or marketing and
8 is offering paid help to a client through financial, spiritual or educa-
9 tional guidance for the sake of improving personal awareness, identify-
10 ing and developing personal talent and potential, enhancing the quality
11 of life of a person and/or contributing to the realization of personal
12 aspirations. A "self-help practitioner" shall not include any individ-
13 ual licensed pursuant to the provisions of title eight of the education
14 law and such licensed individuals shall be exempt from any requirements
15 of this article.
16 (b) "Large print format" shall mean a printed font size of sixteen
17 points or larger.
18 (c) "Sweat lodge ceremonies" shall mean any ceremony that uses heated
19 rocks in which the individual is subjected to long periods of exposure
20 to intense heat, including but not limited to rites of preparation,
21 prayer, purification, or any other ritual or therapeutic sweating.
22 (d) "Trust exercise" shall mean any activity developed for the purpose
23 of group therapy or team building that involves putting an individual in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03725-01-3
S. 1155 2
1 a vulnerable position requiring him or her to depend on other group
2 members for physical support.
3 (e) "Strength exercise" shall mean physical acts using any part of an
4 individual's body to break, bend, or otherwise destroy another object,
5 including but not limited to breaking bricks, blocks, boards, or bending
6 steel.
7 (f) "Coercive control techniques" shall mean activities that seek to
8 change behaviors either on a group or individual level, including but
9 not limited to neuro-linguistic programming, public shaming, and sharing
10 of personal trauma in a public setting or large group.
11 (g) "Qualifying emergency" shall mean:
12 (i) a federal, state or local state of emergency has been declared.
13 (ii) severe weather or any other similar circumstance exists that may
14 result in an individual being placed in imminent danger of death or
15 injury, or may result in a building structure and/or its fixtures being
16 at risk of significant damage.
17 2. Every self-help practitioner that offers services to clients shall:
18 (a) at the time of each initial contract for services, provide the
19 client with a copy of the contract in which a disclosure of risk is
20 displayed in large print format. Such disclosure of risk shall clearly
21 explain, in plain language, what the risks are in contracting with such
22 self-help practitioner. Such disclosure shall include the following:
23 (i) Disclosure of risk of serious injury, bodily harm, psychological
24 harm, or death in relation to specific activities, events, and services
25 offered. Such activities may include, but are not limited to, sweat
26 lodge ceremonies, sensory deprivation, food deprivation, water depri-
27 vation, sleep deprivation, social isolation, exposure to loud noises or
28 music, fire walking, hypnosis, activities using an axe or any weapon
29 defined in section 265.00 of the penal law, tests of endurance, breath
30 manipulation to limit oxygen levels and induce altered mental states,
31 trust exercises, rope and other obstacle courses, hikes, rappelling,
32 strength exercises, and coercive control techniques.
33 (ii) A financial disclaimer that clearly and conspicuously states that
34 the self-help practitioner is not certified or registered to give
35 personal financial advice, whether as an attorney, accountant, or finan-
36 cial advisor.
37 (iii) A provision that clearly and conspicuously states all necessary
38 information to cancel and, if an available option, request a refund for
39 services, events, and activities not rendered.
40 (b) at the time of each initial contract for services, provide the
41 client with a copy of any credentials, training, or certifications held
42 by the self-help practitioner.
43 (c) produce a comprehensive risk management plan to ensure that steps
44 will be taken at each service or session of an activity to provide
45 protection for clients in the event that there is a reasonable expecta-
46 tion of risk of physical or emotional harm or a qualifying emergency.
47 Such activities may include, but are not limited to, sweat lodge ceremo-
48 nies, sensory deprivation, food deprivation, water deprivation, sleep
49 deprivation, social isolation, exposure to loud noises or music, fire
50 walking, hypnosis, activities using an axe or any weapon defined in
51 section 265.00 of the penal law, tests of endurance, breath manipulation
52 to limit oxygen levels and induce altered mental states, trust exer-
53 cises, rope and other obstacle courses, hikes, rappelling, strength
54 exercises, and coercive control techniques. Such comprehensive risk
55 management plan shall include the following:
S. 1155 3
1 (i) A detailed itemized list of emergency resources and their
2 locations, including but not limited to water, food, medical supplies,
3 and cooling and heating tents.
4 (ii) A detailed outline of the necessary actions by the self-help
5 practitioner or other sponsors of the activity in providing timely
6 notification to the responsible municipal, county, state agency or offi-
7 cial in the event of a qualifying emergency.
8 (iii) An emergency contact list for the self-help practitioner, event
9 leadership, and on-site medical professionals as required by paragraph
10 (d) of this subdivision, to be distributed to members attending the
11 activity.
12 (iv) Location of emergency exits, forms of egress in the event of a
13 fire or similar emergency, and location of shelter-in-place gathering
14 points.
15 (d) be responsible for ensuring that licensed professionals, including
16 but not limited to, medical professionals, social workers and psychol-
17 ogists, are made available to clients at each session or service when
18 there is a reasonable expectation of physical or emotional risk or if
19 any activity that requires a comprehensive risk management plan to be
20 developed in accordance with paragraph (c) of this subdivision is taking
21 place.
22 3. A violation by any self-help practitioner of subdivision two of
23 this section, if such violation constitutes the first such offense by
24 such self-help practitioner, is punishable by a civil penalty not to
25 exceed two hundred fifty dollars. A second offense and any offense
26 committed thereafter is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed five
27 hundred dollars.
28 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 109-a to
29 read as follows:
30 § 109-a. Registration of self-help practitioners. 1. For purposes of
31 this section, "self-help practitioner" shall mean any individual, his or
32 her agent or employee, or company that is publicly holding himself or
33 herself out as a "self-help guru" or other similar term in advertising
34 or marketing and who is offering paid help to a client through finan-
35 cial, spiritual or educational guidance for the sake of improving
36 personal awareness, identifying and developing personal talent and
37 potential, enhancing the quality of life of a person and/or contributing
38 to the realization of personal aspirations. A "self-help practitioner"
39 shall not include any individual licensed pursuant to the provisions of
40 title eight of the education law; such licensed individuals shall be
41 exempt from any requirements of this article.
42 2. The secretary of state shall promulgate rules and regulations
43 prescribing a registration form to be used by any self-help practitioner
44 who provides self-help services to clients.
45 3. Such registration form shall identify:
46 (a) the name, address, and telephone number of the self-help practi-
47 tioner; and
48 (b) a brief description of the nature of the self-help services
49 provided to each identified client.
50 4. Such registration shall be filed with the department of state and
51 shall cover a twelve month reporting period.
52 5. The secretary of state shall post the completed forms on the
53 department of state's website within thirty days of the close of each
54 reporting period.
55 6. The department of state may impose a civil penalty of up to seven
56 hundred fifty dollars upon any self-help practitioner who fails to file
S. 1155 4
1 a registration required by this section provided, however, that the
2 secretary of state shall provide such self-help practitioner a reason-
3 able opportunity to cure such a failure.
4 7. The department of state shall adopt, amend and rescind rules and
5 regulations defining the degree and extent of self-help services neces-
6 sary to require the reporting pursuant to this section.
7 8. Any representations disseminated in any manner or by any means
8 including digitally or by statement, word, design, device, sound or any
9 combination thereof, for the purpose of inducing, or which are likely to
10 induce, directly or indirectly, by any reasonable person, that the self-
11 help practitioner, his or her product, or his or her credentials are
12 endorsed, directly or indirectly, by the state as a result of such self-
13 help practitioner's registration in accordance with section three
14 hundred ninety-one-w of the general business law shall be prohibited.
15 9. The department of state shall impose a civil penalty of up to seven
16 hundred fifty dollars upon any self-help practitioner who is in
17 violation of subdivision eight of this section.
18 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
19 have become a law.