Authorizes the commissioner of mental health to establish up to three, three-year pilot programs in community behavioral health organizations for the purposes of creating social worker pilot programs to support the ongoing retention and recruitment of licensed clinical social workers.
Defines mental health practitioners with diagnostic authority for the purposes of providing services under the workers' compensation law; includes such practitioners as providers.
Requires two qualified psychiatrists to be employed by each school district to perform and coordinate the provision of mental health services in the public schools.
Establishes a regional or county-based peer support services program for transgender and non-binary individuals that provides support services including but not limited to, peer counseling for mental illness including alcohol and substance abuse counseling, family support services, domestic violence, mental health and physical health.
Requires the office of mental health, office of addiction services and supports and the department of education to create a behavioral health website which shall provide information on various behavioral health issues such as depression, eating disorders, anxiety, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
Ensures that the office of mental health and the office for people with developmental disabilities provide materials to individuals in English and the top six languages spoken in the state.
Establishes the rural suicide prevention council to identify barriers to mental health and substance use treatment and prevention services and other policies, practices, resources, services, and potential legislation that aim to reduce death by suicide and suicide attempts and acknowledge the demographic and cultural differences in rural communities; makes related provisions.
This bill establishes New York's "First Responder Peer Support Program Act," creating a statewide grant program to fund peer-to-peer mental health support for first responders. It directly affects firefighters, police officers, EMTs, 911 operators, emergency dispatchers, coroners, and other emergency personnel by providing grants to local entities for trauma-informed training and mental health services. Key provisions include mandatory evidence-based training on suicide prevention and resilience, strict confidentiality rules prohibiting disclosure of personal information, and annual reporting requirements that exclude identifiable data. The program aims to improve mental health access while ensuring privacy and reducing barriers for those in high-stress emergency response roles.
Sets the reimbursement for mobile crisis intervention services to be a rate that is not less than the rate that would be paid for such services pursuant to the medical assistance program under title eleven of article five of the social services law.
Imposes a duty to protect upon mental health practitioners; requires reasonable efforts to modify aspects of treatment in order to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm, initiating procedures for hospitalization, notifying the intended victim or victims, or notifying law enforcement officials when a person directly communicates a threat of serious, imminent harm to self or against a readily identifiable person or persons, and the threat includes both a serious intent to act and the ability to carry out the threat; does not require a mental health practitioner to take any action which, in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment, would endanger such mental health practitioner or increase the danger to a potential victim or victims.
