NY State Senate Bill 2025-S7786

Senate Bill S7786

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Authorizes the Department of Veterans' Services to consult and collaborate with relevant offices in the department of health and other HCBS experts to develop educational materials for veterans and their families

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Veterans, Homeland Security And Military Affairs Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 06, 2025	referred to veterans, homeland security and military affairs

2025-S7786 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7627
Current Committee:: Senate Veterans, Homeland Security And Military Affairs
Law Section:: Veterans' Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§4 & 15, Veterans' Services L

2025-S7786 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S7786 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7786

SPONSOR: ADDABBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the veterans' services law, in relation to availability
of information on home care services

 
PURPOSE:

Authorizes the Department of Veterans' Services to consult and collab-
orate with relevant offices in the Department of Health and other HCBS
experts to develop educational materials to improve availability of and
accessibility to information on home and community based services for
veterans and their families.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision 37 of section 4 of the veterans' services
law as amended by chapter 447 of the laws of 2024 to authorize the
department of veterans' services to collaborate with the State Depart-
ment of health to develop educational materials on accessibility to home

and community-based services for veterans and their families.

Section 2 amends subdivision 1 of section 15 of the veterans' services
law, as amended by chapter 445 of the laws of 2024 to authorize local
veterans' services agencies to post on its website and/or make available
at its office location educational materials relating to the availabili-
ty of and accessibility to home and community-based services.

Section 3 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York has the 5th highest veteran population in the country, and
recent studies estimate that 80% of veterans will have some need for
long-term care services and supports in their lifetime. To address this
development, NYS must improve efforts to inform veterans about the
availability of home and community-based services (HCBS).

Many HCBS programs are available to veterans including adult day
centers, home based primary care, home health aide services, telehealth,
respite care, skilled nursing services, and more. While the high number
of programs and providers can be very beneficial for veterans, the
breadth and variety of the HCBS system can be overwhelming and difficult
to navigate.

To overcome this challenge, this common-sense legislation simply author-
izes the Department of Veterans' Services to consult and collaborate
with relevant offices in the Department of Health and other HCBS experts
to develop educational materials for veterans and their families. Bene-
ficial HCBS programs are ready to be utilized by veterans, but the first
step in accessing these, services is to heighten awareness of the vari-
ous programs, eligibility requirements, providers, services, locations,
and benefits.

In short, HCBS create reliable and innovative ways to meet individual
health needs right in their own homes and communities, the preferred
place to receive care. This bill makes HCBS information easily accessi-
ble for veterans and their families - which can increase healthcare
access, decrease social isolation, and improve the overall quality of
life for our veterans.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2025-S7786 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7786
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 6, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Securi-
   ty and Military Affairs
 
 AN ACT to amend the veterans' services law, in relation to  availability
   of information on home care services

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 37 of section 4 of the veterans' services  law,
 as  amended  by  chapter  447 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as
 follows:
   37. To develop collaborative relationships among state,  federal,  and
 local  agencies,  veterans' liaisons pursuant to section [twenty nine-b]
 TWENTY-NINE-B of this article, and private organizations, including  but
 not  limited to the office of mental health, state office for the aging,
 and office of addiction services and supports, to help facilitate access
 to services by members of the uniformed services and  veterans  who  are
 residents  of  the  state  and their families.   THE DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO
 COLLABORATE WITH RELEVANT OFFICES OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF  HEALTH  TO
 DEVELOP  EDUCATIONAL  RESOURCES ON THE AVAILABILITY OF AND ACCESSIBILITY
 TO HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES FOR VETERANS  AND  THEIR  FAMILIES.
 SUCH  RESOURCES  MAY INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF DEDICATED WEBSITES, WEBLINKS
 TO HOME CARE RESOURCES, AND/OR PRINTED EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS. TO  EFFEC-
 TUATE  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SUBDIVISION,  THE  DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO
 CONSULT WITH OR SEEK INPUT FROM VARIOUS HOME CARE STAKEHOLDERS,  INCLUD-
 ING  HOME  CARE  PROVIDERS  AND  PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, PARTICULARLY
 THOSE WITH EXPERTISE OR EXPERIENCE WITH SERVING VETERANS AND THEIR FAMI-
 LIES.
   § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 15 of the  veterans'  services  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  445  of  the  laws  of 2024, is amended to read as
 follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11096-01-5
 S. 7786                             2

 
   1. A local veterans' service agency shall have power under the  direc-
 tion  of the state veterans' service agency, and it shall be its duty to
 inform military and naval authorities of the United  States  and  assist
 members  of  the  uniformed  services and veterans, who are residents of
 this state, and their families, in relation to (1) matters pertaining to
 educational training and retraining services and facilities, (2) health,
 medical  and  rehabilitation  services and facilities, (3) provisions of
 federal, state and local laws and regulations affording  special  rights
 and  privileges  to  members  of the uniformed services and veterans and
 their families, (4) employment and re-employment services, (5) the proc-
 ess of  submitting  an  application  for  a  discharge  upgrade  to  the
 discharge  upgrade  advisory  board,  and  (6) other matters of similar,
 related or appropriate nature.  The local veterans' service  agency  may
 also  assist  families  of  members  of  the  reserve  components of the
 uniformed services and the organized militia ordered into active duty to
 ensure that they are made aware of and  are  receiving  all  appropriate
 support  available  to  them and are placed in contact with the agencies
 responsible for such support, including, but not limited to,  the  divi-
 sion  of military and naval affairs and other state agencies responsible
 for providing such support.  THE LOCAL VETERANS' SERVICE AGENCY MAY ALSO
 POST ON ITS WEBSITE AND/OR MAKE AVAILABLE AT ITS OFFICE LOCATION  EDUCA-
 TIONAL  MATERIALS  RELATING  TO THE AVAILABILITY OF AND ACCESSIBILITY TO
 HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED  SERVICES  THAT  HAVE  BEEN  DEVELOPED  BY  THE
 DEPARTMENT  PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION THIRTY-SEVEN OF SECTION FOUR OF THIS
 ARTICLE. The local veterans' service  agency  also  shall  perform  such
 other duties as may be assigned by the state commissioner.
   §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

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