Bill Text: NY A09536 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Enacts "Stephen's law"; requires certified treatment programs to notify patients of their right to name an emergency contact.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2020-11-11 - SIGNED CHAP.270 [A09536 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A09536-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9536 IN ASSEMBLY January 24, 2020 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to requiring certi- fied treatment programs to notify patients of their right to name an emergency contact 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 "Stephen's 2 law". 3 § 2. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 32.17-a 4 to read as follows: 5 § 32.17-a Notification of emergency contact. 6 Every certified treatment program shall notify every patient of their 7 right to identify individuals who should be contacted in case of emer- 8 gency, as such term is defined by the commissioner. 9 § 3. The office of addiction services and supports shall develop 10 guidelines to encourage certified treatment programs to work with 11 patients to identify individuals who can assist in their treatment and 12 recovery, and to identify those individuals who can serve as an emergen- 13 cy contact person for such patient. Such guidelines shall provide 14 instruction to certified treatment programs regarding recommended proto- 15 cols for communicating with emergency contacts. 16 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 17 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the development of 18 guidelines necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective 19 date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such date. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05434-10-0