S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9452
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 14, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Mental Health
AN ACT in relation to establishing a statewide person-centered mental
health services work group to improve statewide mental health planning
and outcomes to achieve a person-centered, prevention-first integrated
and tiered system of care for holistic health and wellness
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Statewide person-centered mental health services work
group. 1. There is hereby created person-centered mental health
services work group to examine, evaluate, determine, recommend, and
oversee implementation of how to improve statewide mental health plan-
ning and outcomes to achieve a person-centered, prevention-first inte-
grated and tiered system of care for holistic health and wellness.
2. The work group shall consist of twenty statewide members, four ex
officio members, and twenty-eight regional representative members,
appointed as follows:
(a) Statewide members. Statewide members shall be appointed within
sixty days of the effective date of this act:
(i) three members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the
senate, one of which must be a peer or consumer representative;
(ii) three members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly,
one of which must be a peer or consumer representative;
(iii) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
senate;
(iv) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
assembly;
(v) three members shall be appointed by the governor, one of which
must be a peer or consumer representative;
(vi) three members shall be appointed by the council of local mental
hygiene directors;
(vii) two members shall be appointed by the behavioral health services
advisory council; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14417-01-4
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(viii) two members shall be appointed by the most integrated setting
coordinating council.
(b) Ex officio members. The commissioners of the office of addiction
services and supports, the office of mental health, the department of
health, and the New York city department of health and mental hygiene,
or their designees, shall serve as ex officio members of the work group.
(c) Regional membership and appointments. (i) For purposes of this
act, there shall be nine regions, consisting of the same geographic
areas and counties as the social care networks described in the January
2024 New York State Department of Health Request for Applications: New
York Health Equity Reform: Social Care Networks:
(1) Region 1: Capital;
(2) Region 2: Western;
(3) Region 3: Hudson Valley;
(4) Region 4: New York City;
(5) Region 5: Finger Lakes;
(6) Region 6: Southern Tier;
(7) Region 7: Central;
(8) Region 8: Long Island;
(9) Region 9: North Country.
(ii) There shall be three members from each region, except New York
City, which shall have four.
(iii) Regional members shall be selected through a nominating process
conducted by the New York alliance for rights and recovery. A majority
of the candidates must have lived experience as a person who is current-
ly or was previously in the shelter system, used or using public housing
vouchers, court-involved, and/or the public health and mental health
systems. The New York alliance for rights and recovery shall be compen-
sated for this work through a negotiated contract with the office of
mental health.
3. Appointments shall be made within sixty days of the effective date
of this act. Vacancies in the work group shall be filled in the same
manner provided for original appointments.
4. The work group membership shall accurately reflect the race and
ethnicity of people who use public health and mental health services.
The minority leader of the senate and the speaker of the assembly shall
review the composition of the work group following the nominating proc-
ess and shall, if necessary, select alternative members proposed by the
relevant nominating bodies to achieve the inclusion and equity targets
described herein.
5. All work group members shall be required to disclose any financial,
personal, or professional conflicts of interest related to the subject
and decisions under consideration by the work group.
6. Participation by non-voting members encourages the inclusion of
diverse viewpoints but does not dilute the decision-making authority of
the work group members who use mental health services. Non-voting
members may participate in all actions afforded members but may not vote
on any resolutions. If not otherwise selected to be a member of the work
group, the following shall be non-voting members:
(a) the director of recipient affairs from any local or state govern-
mental unit;
(b) representatives of trade associations representing housing and
service providers, hospital associations, and health insurance compa-
nies;
A. 9452 3
(c) representatives of social justice and legal advocacy organizations
with an established track record of public testimony and/or policy
research related to the provision of mental health service;
(d) a representative selected by the national alliance on mental
illness of New York state; and
(e) additional non-voting members may be added at the discretion of
the work group.
7. Work group members shall receive no compensation for their efforts
and services as members for the actual and necessary expenses incurred
in the performance of their duties. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
however, compensation shall be provided to work group members, both
voting and non-voting, with lived experiences who are not otherwise
compensated for their time devoted to work group activities. Such
compensation shall be equivalent to the average compensation of the work
group membership that is voted on and agreed to by the voting members of
the work group. Such compensation shall be allocated from the work
group operating budget. Members shall be considered public officers for
the purpose of section 17 of the public officers law.
8. A quorum shall consist of a majority of members of the work group
entitled to vote on the matter under consideration. Approval of any
matter shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the members
voting thereon. The quorum must include a proportionate number of
members with lived experiences that is equal to or greater than the
proportion of the work group as a whole.
9. The work group shall be authorized to adopt by-laws for the manage-
ment and regulation of its affairs.
10. The statewide person-centered mental health services work group
shall develop the recommendations for:
(a) A regional and statewide mental health planning system to:
(i) Establish regional short and long-range strategic goals and strat-
egies that integrate behavioral health and physical health;
(ii) Ensure that persons with lived experiences have a leadership role
in the development of these goals;
(iii) Ensure adoption through a community consensus process;
(iv) Identify measurable outcomes, accountability, and funding for the
strategic goals; and
(v) Ensure there is a transparent annual evaluation and quality
improvement process that is consistent across all regions.
(b) Establishing a statewide clearinghouse of best practices to be
posted publicly, regularly updated, and on the office of mental health,
the office of addiction services and supports, the department of health,
and the New York city department of health and mental hygiene websites
to ensure the implementation of programs that have proved effective in
one region could be scaled up across the entire system.
(c) Establishing an annual budgeting system to ensure regional-identi-
fied priorities are adequately funded.
(d) A bill, to be called the "person-centered mental health services
act" that authorizes the establishment of planning, implementation,
funding, evaluation, and recommendations of services, supports, and
outcomes for people who use the public behavioral health systems that
are consistent with the recommendations of the work group.
11. In carrying out its functions, the work group shall foster
discussions among, and conduct formal public hearings with requisite
public notice to solicit input from, local stakeholders' interests. It
will conduct research and evaluate strategic planning tools and tech-
niques used in the public sphere that have proven to be effective in
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soliciting and incorporating meaningful community input into comparable
regional plans and meet the requirements described in paragraph (a) of
subdivision ten of this section.
12. (a) The commissioners of the office of mental health, the office
of addiction services and supports, the department of health, and the
New York city department of health and mental hygiene shall designate a
sufficient number of employees of their offices as are reasonably neces-
sary to provide support services to the statewide work group and its
efforts. The work group may employ additional staff and consultants, who
shall be paid from amounts available to the work group for that purpose.
(b) The commissioners of the office of mental health, the office of
addiction services and supports, the department of health, and local
county health care agencies shall appoint representatives of their
respective offices to serve as a liaison between their offices and the
work group. All state agencies, public authorities and public benefit
corporations shall provide such assistance as may be reasonably
requested.
13. The work group's tasks shall be supported by an independent
outside consulting firm that possesses the requisite experience and
expertise in human-centered design, design thinking, or related
concepts. The firm shall be selected by a majority vote of the work
group from a list of three candidates identified through a request for
proposal process overseen by the department of health.
14. Deliberations, meetings and other proceedings of the work group,
and any committees thereof, shall be governed by article 7 of the public
officers law. Any one or more members of the work group may participate
in a meeting by means of a conference telephone, conference video or
similar communications equipment allowing all persons participating in
the meeting to hear each other at the same time. Participation by such
means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting. At any meetings
of the work group conducted by means of a conference telephone, confer-
ence video or similar communications equipment, other than executive
sessions, the public shall be given an opportunity to listen. If a
meeting other than an executive session is to be conducted by means of a
conference telephone, conference video or similar communications equip-
ment, the public notice for the meeting shall inform the public that
such equipment will be used and identify the means by which the public
may listen to such meeting.
15. (a) Upon consideration of factors identified in subdivision ten of
this section, the work group shall develop recommendations for reform of
the state's local mental health planning process to ensure it is
informed by consumers and reflective of local needs.
(b) The work group shall transmit a report containing these specific
recommendations to the governor and the legislature on or before Novem-
ber 1, 2025. The report and recommendations shall simultaneously be
posted on the websites of the office of mental health, the office of
addiction services and supports, and the department of health, as well
as distributed to the public via the same media channels used to
announce major program or policy changes, or procurement opportunities.
16. The work group's annual budget is five million dollars, subject to
an appropriation therefor. In the furtherance of its duties, the work
group shall be authorized to expend not more than the approved annual
budget for reasonable and standard consulting and research fees, tech-
nology devices, travel and lodging, compensation of members eligible as
described in subdivision seven of this section, and any other items
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considered essential for its work. The work group may make a request for
additional funding to the office of mental health, as needed.
17. The work group shall be authorized and entitled to receive any
grants offered pursuant to section 54 of the state finance law.
18. (a) If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or
part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdic-
tion to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invali-
date the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to
the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
been rendered.
(b) It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature that
this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions had not
been included herein.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.