S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2416
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 22, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. RODRIGUEZ, BLAKE, RA, PERRY, WALKER -- Multi-
   Sponsored by -- M.   of A. COOK --  read  once  and  referred  to  the
   Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to permitting entities to
   employ certain licensed professionals and to repeal certain provisions
   of such law relating thereto

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1.  Section 6503-a of the education law is REPEALED and a  new
 section 6503-a is added to read as follows:
   §  6503-A.  EXEMPTION  FOR  ENTITIES  PROVIDING  CERTAIN  PROFESSIONAL
 SERVICES. 1. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LAWS TO THE  CONTRARY,  AN  ENTITY  MAY
 EMPLOY OR CONTRACT WITH A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL TO PROVIDE: (I) SERVICES
 UNDER  ARTICLE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FOUR OR ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE OF THIS
 TITLE FOR WHICH LICENSURE WOULD BE REQUIRED; OR (II) SERVICES CONSTITUT-
 ING THE PROVISION OF PSYCHOTHERAPY AS  DEFINED  IN  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF
 SECTION  EIGHTY-FOUR  HUNDRED  ONE  OF  THIS  TITLE  AND  AUTHORIZED AND
 PROVIDED UNDER ARTICLE ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE, ONE HUNDRED  THIRTY-NINE,
 OR ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE OF THIS TITLE.
   2.  SUCH SERVICES MAY BE PROVIDED EITHER DIRECTLY THROUGH THE ENTITY'S
 EMPLOYEES OR INDIRECTLY BY CONTRACT  WITH  INDIVIDUALS  OR  PROFESSIONAL
 ENTITIES  DULY  LICENSED,  REGISTERED,  OR  AUTHORIZED  TO  PROVIDE SUCH
 SERVICES.
   § 2. Subdivision 8 of section 6527 of the education law, as  added  by
 chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   8. Nothing in this article shall prohibit the provision of psychother-
 apy  as defined in subdivision two of section eighty-four hundred one of
 this title to the extent permissible within the  scope  of  practice  of
 medicine,  by  any  not-for-profit  corporation or education corporation
 providing services within the state of New York [and operating  under  a
 waiver  pursuant  to  section sixty-five hundred three-a of this title],
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD06978-01-9

 A. 2416                             2
 
 provided that such entities offering such psychotherapy  services  shall
 only  provide such services through an individual appropriately licensed
 or otherwise authorized to provide such services or a professional enti-
 ty authorized by law to provide such services.
   §  3.  Paragraph  h  of subdivision 1 of section 6908 of the education
 law, as added by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read  as
 follows:
   h.  As prohibiting the provision of psychotherapy as defined in subdi-
 vision two of section eighty-four hundred  one  of  this  title  to  the
 extent permissible within the scope of practice of nursing as defined in
 this  title,  by any not-for-profit corporation or education corporation
 providing services within the state [and operating under a waiver pursu-
 ant to section sixty-five hundred three-a of this title,] provided  that
 such  entities  offering  such psychotherapy services shall only provide
 such services through an individual appropriately licensed or  otherwise
 authorized  to provide such services or a professional entity authorized
 by law to provide such services.
   § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 7603 of the education law, as amended by
 chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   (3) Experience: have two years of supervised employment or  engagement
 in  appropriate  psychology  activities satisfactory to the board and in
 accordance with the commissioner's regulations[. Satisfactory experience
 obtained in an entity operating pursuant  to  a  waiver  issued  by  the
 department  pursuant to section sixty-five hundred three-a of this title
 may be accepted by the department, notwithstanding that such  experience
 may  have  been  obtained  prior  to  the effective date of such section
 sixty-five hundred three-a and/or prior to the entity having obtained  a
 waiver.  The  department  may, for good cause shown, accept satisfactory
 experience that was obtained in a setting that would have been  eligible
 for  a waiver but which has not obtained a waiver with the department or
 experience that was obtained in good faith by the  applicant  under  the
 belief  that appropriate authorization had been obtained for the experi-
 ence, provided that such experience meets  all  other  requirements  for
 acceptable experience];
   §  5.  Subdivision 9 of section 7605 of the education law, as added by
 chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   9. The provision of psychotherapy as defined  in  subdivision  two  of
 section  eighty-four hundred one of this title to the extent permissible
 within the scope of practice of psychology, by any not-for-profit corpo-
 ration or education corporation providing services within the  state  of
 New  York  [and  operating under a waiver pursuant to section sixty-five
 hundred three-a of this title,] provided  that  such  entities  offering
 psychology services shall only provide such services through an individ-
 ual  appropriately  licensed  or  otherwise  authorized  to provide such
 services or a professional entity authorized  by  law  to  provide  such
 services.
   §  6.  Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 7704 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (c)  Experience:  have at least three years full-time supervised post-
 graduate clinical social work experience  in  diagnosis,  psychotherapy,
 and  assessment-based  treatment  plans,  or  its  part-time equivalent,
 obtained over a continuous period not to exceed  six  years,  under  the
 supervision,  satisfactory  to  the  department,  of  a  psychiatrist, a
 licensed psychologist, or a licensed clinical social worker in a facili-
 ty setting or other supervised settings  approved  by  the  department[.

 A. 2416                             3

 Satisfactory  experience  obtained in an entity operating under a waiver
 issued by the department pursuant to section sixty-five hundred  three-a
 of  this  title  may be accepted by the department, notwithstanding that
 such  experience  may  have been obtained prior to the effective date of
 such section sixty-five hundred  three-a  and/or  prior  to  the  entity
 having  obtained  a  waiver.  The  department may, for good cause shown,
 accept satisfactory experience that was obtained in a setting that would
 have been eligible for a waiver but which has not obtained a waiver from
 the department or experience that was obtained  in  good  faith  by  the
 applicant  under  the  belief  that  appropriate  authorization had been
 obtained for the experience, provided that  such  experience  meets  all
 other requirements for acceptable experience];
   §  7.  Subdivision 6 of section 7706 of the education law, as added by
 chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   6. Prohibit the practice of licensed master social  work  or  licensed
 clinical  social  work,  to  the  extent permissible within the scope of
 practice of such  professions,  by  any  not-for-profit  corporation  or
 education  corporation  providing  services within the state of New York
 [and operating under a waiver pursuant  to  section  sixty-five  hundred
 three-a  of  this  title,] provided that such entities offering licensed
 master social work or licensed clinical social work services shall  only
 provide  such  services  through an individual appropriately licensed or
 otherwise authorized to provide such services or a  professional  entity
 authorized by law to provide such services.
   §  8.  Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8402 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (c)  Experience:  An applicant shall complete a minimum of three thou-
 sand hours of post-master's supervised experience relevant to the  prac-
 tice  of  mental  health  counseling  satisfactory  to  the board and in
 accordance with the commissioner's regulations[. Satisfactory experience
 obtained in an entity operating under a waiver issued by the  department
 pursuant  to  section  sixty-five  hundred  three-a of this title may be
 accepted by the department, notwithstanding  that  such  experience  may
 have  been  obtained  prior to the effective date of such section sixty-
 five hundred three-a and/or prior to the entity having obtained a  waiv-
 er.  The department may, for good cause shown, accept satisfactory expe-
 rience that was obtained in a setting that would have been eligible  for
 a  waiver  but  which  has  not obtained a waiver from the department or
 experience that was obtained in good faith by the  applicant  under  the
 belief  that appropriate authorization had been obtained for the experi-
 ence, provided that such experience meets  all  other  requirements  for
 acceptable experience];
   §  9.  Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8403 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (c)  Experience:  The completion of at least one thousand five hundred
 client contact hours of supervised clinical experience, by persons hold-
 ing a degree from a master's or doctoral  program,  or  the  substantial
 equivalent,  in  accordance  with  the commissioner's regulations or the
 completion of at least one thousand five hundred client hours of  super-
 vised  post-master's  clinical experience in marriage and family therapy
 satisfactory to the department in  accordance  with  the  commissioner's
 regulations[.  Satisfactory  experience  obtained in an entity operating
 under a waiver issued by the department pursuant to  section  sixty-five
 hundred  three-a  of  this  title  may  be  accepted  by the department,

 A. 2416                             4

 notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained prior to the
 effective date of such section sixty-five hundred three-a  and/or  prior
 to  the  entity  having  obtained a waiver. The department may, for good
 cause  shown,  accept  satisfactory  experience  that  was obtained in a
 setting that would have been eligible for a waiver  but  which  has  not
 obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was obtained in
 good  faith  by the applicant under the belief that appropriate authori-
 zation had been obtained for the experience, provided that such  experi-
 ence meets all other requirements for acceptable experience];
   §  10. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8404 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (c) Experience: Have completed at least fifteen hundred hours of post-
 master's  supervised  experience  in one or more creative arts therapies
 satisfactory to the department and in accordance with the commissioner's
 regulations[. Satisfactory experience obtained in  an  entity  operating
 under  a  waiver issued by the department pursuant to section sixty-five
 hundred three-a of  this  title  may  be  accepted  by  the  department,
 notwithstanding that such experience may have been obtained prior to the
 effective  date  of such section sixty-five hundred three-a and/or prior
 to the entity having obtained a waiver. The  department  may,  for  good
 cause  shown,  accept  satisfactory  experience  that  was obtained in a
 setting that would have been eligible for a waiver  but  which  has  not
 obtained a waiver from the department or experience that was obtained in
 good  faith  by the applicant under the belief that appropriate authori-
 zation had been obtained for the experience, provided that such  experi-
 ence meets all other requirements for acceptable experience];
   §  11. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 8405 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
 as follows:
   (c)  Experience:  Have completed a minimum of fifteen hundred hours of
 supervised clinical practice  satisfactory  to  the  department  and  in
 accordance with the commissioner's regulations[. Satisfactory experience
 obtained  in an entity operating under a waiver issued by the department
 pursuant to section sixty-five hundred three-a  of  this  title  may  be
 accepted  by  the  department,  notwithstanding that such experience may
 have been obtained prior to the effective date of  such  section  sixty-
 five  hundred three-a and/or prior to the entity having obtained a waiv-
 er. The department may, for good cause shown, accept satisfactory  expe-
 rience  that was obtained in a setting that would have been eligible for
 a waiver but which has not obtained a  waiver  from  the  department  or
 experience  that  was  obtained in good faith by the applicant under the
 belief that appropriate authorization had been obtained for the  experi-
 ence,  provided  that  such  experience meets all other requirements for
 acceptable experience];
   § 12. Subdivision 7 of section 8410 of the education law, as added  by
 chapter 130 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  Prohibit  the  practice  of mental health counseling, marriage and
 family therapy, creative arts therapy or psychoanalysis, to  the  extent
 permissible  within  the  scope  of practice of such professions, by any
 not-for-profit corporation or education corporation  providing  services
 within  the  state of New York [and operating under a waiver pursuant to
 section sixty-five hundred three-a of this title,]  provided  that  such
 entities offering mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy,
 creative arts therapy or psychoanalysis services shall only provide such
 services  through  an  individual  appropriately  licensed  or otherwise

 A. 2416                             5
 
 authorized to provide such services or a professional entity  authorized
 by law to provide such services.
   § 13. This act shall take effect immediately.