Senate Bill S7559

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7559

SPONSOR: RATH
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to domestic violence
training for health and mental health professionals

 
PURPOSE:

This bill requires that the New York Office for the Prevention of Domes-
tic Violence update training for health and mental health providers
annually, so as to adjust for changing trends in the field.  Addi-
tionally, the bill requires the Office for the Prevention of Domestic
Violence establish a task force to collect data on the participation in
such trainings by health and mental health professionals to gauge the
level of interaction and effect statewide.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 575 of the executive law by adding a new subdi-
vision 11 which contains the following provisions for health and mental
              

health professional training:

(a) Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence shall ensure that
trainings developed and delivered to health and mental health profes-
sionals are reviewed and updated annually

(b) Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence shall convene a task
force responsible for ensuring that all health and mental health profes-
sionals in the state receive appropriate trainings on an annual basis.
Such task force shall additionally collect data on the participation of
such trainings.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, on average,
twenty people are physically abused by their partners every minute.  The
result is more than ten million victims of abuse every year.  Mitigating
these events is critical, and often, health care and mental health
professionals are in direct positions to identify victims of abuse. This
proposed legislation seeks to bolster the information and training
available to health care and mental health professionals, helping iden-
tify and stop cases of abuse.

Domestic violence is a complex and nuanced issue, one that often has
changing trends. To keep care professionals up to date with appropriate
training and techniques, the proposed legislation requires that the New
York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence revise its
training and information annually. By modifying annually, the Office
will maintain essential tools for health care and mental health profes-
sionals to promptly identify abuse.

Additionally, the proposed legislation establishes protocols for track-
ing and collecting data on participation in domestic violence training.
Data collection will play an integral role in isolating potential flaws
in the training network.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.