STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6971--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 29, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. TAYLOR, L. ROSENTHAL, D'URSO, SOLAGES, ORTIZ,
          RICHARDSON, CRESPO,  FERNANDEZ,  DE LA ROSA,  COOK,  WEPRIN,  PRETLOW,
          GOTTFRIED,   LAVINE,  HYNDMAN,  DICKENS,  BRONSON,  CUSICK,  ABINANTI,
          ARROYO,  RIVERA,  JEAN-PIERRE,  DAVILA,  McDONALD,  STECK,   WILLIAMS,
          JOYNER, EPSTEIN, D. ROSENTHAL, O'DONNELL, STERN, VANEL, BARRON, DINOW-
          ITZ,  JAFFEE,  BRABENEC, RAIA, WRIGHT, PAULIN, FALL, SEAWRIGHT, GALEF,
          MOSLEY, RAYNOR -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted  to  said  committee -- again reported from said committee
          with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to  said
          committee

        AN  ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring anaphy-
          lactic policies for child care services

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Elijah's Law".
     2    §  2. Section 2500-h of the public health law, as added by chapter 579
     3  of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
     4    § 2500-h. Anaphylactic policy for  school  districts  and  child  care
     5  providers.  1.    (a) The commissioner, in consultation with the commis-
     6  sioner of education, shall establish an anaphylactic policy  for  school
     7  districts  setting  forth  guidelines  and procedures to be followed for
     8  both the prevention  of  anaphylaxis  and  during  a  medical  emergency
     9  resulting  from  anaphylaxis.    Such  policy  shall  be developed after
    10  consultation with representatives of pediatric physicians, school nurses
    11  and other health care providers with expertise in treating children with
    12  anaphylaxis, parents of children with life threatening allergies, school
    13  administrators, teachers, school food service directors and  appropriate
    14  not-for-profit  corporations  representing  allergic individuals at risk
    15  for anaphylaxis.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01766-07-9

        A. 6971--B                          2

     1    (b) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner  of  chil-
     2  dren  and  family  services,  shall establish an anaphylactic policy for
     3  child day care providers as defined in section three hundred  ninety  of
     4  the  social  services  law setting forth guidelines and procedures to be
     5  followed  for  both  the  prevention of anaphylaxis and during a medical
     6  emergency resulting from anaphylaxis. Such  policy  shall  be  developed
     7  after  consultation  with  representatives  of  pediatric physicians and
     8  other health care providers with expertise  in  treating  children  with
     9  anaphylaxis,  parents of children with life threatening allergies, child
    10  day care administrators and personnel,  and  appropriate  not-for-profit
    11  corporations  representing allergic individuals at risk for anaphylaxis.
    12  The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of children  and
    13  family  services,  shall  create  informational materials detailing such
    14  anaphylactic polices to be distributed to child day care centers.
    15    (c) In  establishing  policies  pursuant  to  this  subdivision,  such
    16  commissioners  shall  consider existing requirements, as well as current
    17  and best practices for schools and child day care providers on allergies
    18  and anaphylaxis, including those in place for child care  centers  regu-
    19  lated  by  the  New  York  city department of health and mental hygiene.
    20  Such commissioners shall also  consider  the  voluntary  guidelines  for
    21  managing food allergies in schools and early care and education programs
    22  issued  by the United States department of health and human services, to
    23  the extent appropriate for the setting.
    24    (d) The commissioner shall create  informational  materials  detailing
    25  such  anaphylactic  policies to be distributed to local school boards of
    26  education, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational  services,
    27  and  child  day  care centers, and shall make the materials available on
    28  the department's website.
    29    2. The anaphylactic [policy] policies established [by] under  subdivi-
    30  sion one of this section shall include the following:
    31    (a)  a procedure and treatment plan, including emergency protocols and
    32  responsibilities for school nurses  and  other  appropriate  school  and
    33  child day care personnel, for responding to anaphylaxis;
    34    (b)  a  training  course  for  appropriate  school  and child day care
    35  personnel for preventing and responding to anaphylaxis. The commissioner
    36  shall, in consultation with the  commissioner  of  children  and  family
    37  services  and  the commissioner of education, consider existing training
    38  programs for responding to anaphylaxis in  order  to  avoid  duplicative
    39  training  requirements.  Such  pre-existing  program  shall  fulfill the
    40  requirement for a training course pursuant to this  subdivision  if  the
    41  standards of such pre-existing program are deemed by the commissioner to
    42  be at least as stringent as the standards promulgated by the commission-
    43  er in the development of the training course by the state;
    44    (c)  a  procedure and appropriate guidelines for the development of an
    45  individualized emergency health care plan for children with  a  food  or
    46  other allergy which could result in anaphylaxis;
    47    (d)  a  communication plan for intake and dissemination of information
    48  provided by the state regarding children with a food  or  other  allergy
    49  which  could  result  in anaphylaxis, including a discussion of methods,
    50  treatments and therapies to  reduce  the  risk  of  allergic  reactions,
    51  including anaphylaxis; [and]
    52    (e) strategies for the reduction of the risk of exposure to anaphylac-
    53  tic causative agents, including food and other allergens[.]; and
    54    (f) a communication plan for discussion with children that have devel-
    55  oped adequate verbal communication and comprehension skills and with the

        A. 6971--B                          3

     1  parents  or  guardians  of  all  children  about foods that are safe and
     2  unsafe and about strategies to avoid exposure to unsafe food.
     3    3. [On or before June thirtieth, two thousand eight] At least once per
     4  calendar  year,  schools shall send a notification to the parents and/or
     5  guardians of all children under the care of such schools  to  make  them
     6  aware  of  such anaphylactic policies, as developed by the commissioner.
     7  For children under the care  of  the  child  day  care  providers,  such
     8  notification  shall  be provided by the child day care provider when the
     9  child is enrolled and  annually  thereafter.  Such  notifications  shall
    10  include  contact information for parents and guardians to engage further
    11  with the school or child day care provider to learn more about  individ-
    12  ualized aspects of such policies.
    13    4.  Within six months of the effective date of the chapter of the laws
    14  of two thousand nineteen which amended this section, [an] the anaphylac-
    15  tic [policy] policies established under this section  shall  be  jointly
    16  forwarded by the commissioner [and]as well as the commissioner of educa-
    17  tion  or the commissioner of children and family services as appropriate
    18  to each local school board of education, charter school, [and] board  of
    19  cooperative educational services and child day care service provider, as
    20  defined  in  section three hundred ninety of the social services law, in
    21  the state. Each such [board and charter school] entity  shall  [consider
    22  and  take action in response to such] implement or update as appropriate
    23  their anaphylactic policy in accordance  with  those  developed  by  the
    24  state within six months of receiving the anaphylactic policies.
    25    5.  The  anaphylactic  policies  established  by this section shall be
    26  updated at least once every three  years,  or  more  frequently  if  the
    27  commissioner  determines  it  to  be  necessary  or  desirable  for  the
    28  protection of children with a food allergy or other allergy which  could
    29  result in anaphylaxis.
    30    §  3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
    31  ments to subdivision 3 of section 2500-h of the public health  law  made
    32  by  section  one  of  this act shall take effect one year after this act
    33  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,  amendment
    34  and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
    35  of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to be made and
    36  completed on or before such effective date.