STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4126--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 1, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Develop-
mental Disabilities -- recommitted to the Committee on Mental Health
and Developmental Disabilities in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec.
8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, the state finance law and the
general municipal law, in relation to establishing a crisis inter-
vention team program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding three new
2 sections 7.49, 7.51 and 7.53 to read as follows:
3 § 7.49 Crisis intervention team training program.
4 (a) The commissioner shall establish a crisis intervention team train-
5 ing demonstration program for the purpose of assisting law enforcement
6 officers in responding to crisis situations involving persons with
7 mental illness and/or substance abuse problems.
8 (b) The commissioner shall establish within the office the position of
9 crisis intervention team training program coordinator who will serve at
10 the pleasure of the commissioner and who shall work with the New York
11 police department and any other law enforcement agency in the state that
12 requests assistance to coordinate the provision of crisis intervention
13 team training to its first responders as a part of a specialized
14 response team or as part of the training for first responders.
15 (c) The crisis intervention team training program coordinator shall:
16 (i) work with communities to develop partnerships, coordinate activ-
17 ities and promote cooperation and collaboration between the office,
18 office of addiction services and supports, law enforcement agencies,
19 disability service providers and people with psychiatric or other disa-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04283-04-0
S. 4126--A 2
1 bilities and their families to provide crisis intervention team train-
2 ing;
3 (ii) provide coordination activities and funding support for crisis
4 intervention team training;
5 (iii) provide support, training and community coordination to ensure
6 that mental health service providers in the community provide alterna-
7 tives to incarceration;
8 (iv) through federal and private grants, gifts or contributions,
9 provide funding to support training and community coordination costs as
10 necessary. All moneys shall be deposited in the crisis intervention team
11 training fund established by section ninety-nine-gg of the state finance
12 law;
13 (v) in consultation with the crisis intervention team training program
14 advisory committee established by this article, distribute crisis inter-
15 vention team training fund moneys as needed for support, training and
16 community coordination costs; and
17 (vi) submit a report to the governor, temporary president of the
18 senate, speaker of the assembly and the crisis intervention team train-
19 ing program advisory committee on or before November fifteenth of each
20 year that contains the following:
21 (A) a review of all law enforcement agencies that have provided crisis
22 intervention team training to their officers and the number of officers
23 that have completed the training;
24 (B) a list of communities in this state that have implemented the
25 crisis intervention team training program through training and coordi-
26 nation, including the length of implementation and current status of the
27 program;
28 (C) recommendations for improvement in the community based partner-
29 ships that support crisis intervention team responses;
30 (D) recommendations for improvement in the law enforcement and public
31 safety agencies that provide crisis intervention team responses; and
32 (E) a review of all funding resources that the crisis intervention
33 team training program coordinator has applied for to increase available
34 funding, including the status of all funding requests and the total of
35 moneys received.
36 (d) The crisis intervention team training program established pursuant
37 to this section shall end five years after the effective date of this
38 section.
39 § 7.51 Crisis intervention team training program advisory committee.
40 (a) There is hereby established a crisis intervention team training
41 program advisory committee.
42 (b) The committee shall consist of:
43 (1) the commissioner, who shall serve as chairperson of the committee
44 and who is a nonvoting member;
45 (2) the crisis intervention team training program coordinator, who is
46 a nonvoting member;
47 (3) one member appointed by the commissioner who is a consumer of
48 mental health services;
49 (4) one member appointed by the commissioner who is an immediate fami-
50 ly member of a consumer of mental health services;
51 (5) one member appointed by the commissioner who represents a state-
52 wide advocacy agency that serves persons with mental disabilities and
53 their families;
54 (6) one member appointed by the commissioner who is a psychiatrist or
55 psychologist licensed in the state;
S. 4126--A 3
1 (7) one member appointed by the commissioner of addiction services and
2 supports;
3 (8) one member appointed by the commissioner of addiction services and
4 supports who represents a statewide behavior advocacy group, agency or
5 association;
6 (9) one member appointed by the commissioner of the office for people
7 with developmental disabilities who is either a family member or guardi-
8 an of a person with a developmental disability;
9 (10) one member appointed by the commissioner of the office for people
10 with developmental disabilities who is a person with a developmental
11 disability;
12 (11) one member recommended by the New York city peace officer benevo-
13 lent association who is a certified peace officer;
14 (12) one member appointed by the commissioner of the division of crim-
15 inal justice services who is a law enforcement officer; and
16 (13) one member appointed by the New York police department who
17 represents law enforcement.
18 (c) The committee shall:
19 (1) meet at least two times in each full calendar year. The committee
20 shall meet at the request of its chairperson; and
21 (2) review the report required by section 7.49 of this article and
22 based on that report make recommendations to the office of mental
23 health, the office for people with developmental disabilities, the
24 office of addiction services and supports, the division of criminal
25 justice services, the New York police department, the governor, the
26 temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly.
27 (d) Committee members shall not be compensated but are eligible for
28 reimbursement of reasonable expenses.
29 § 7.53 Crisis intervention team training fund grant program.
30 (a) The commissioner shall establish the crisis intervention team
31 training fund grant program which shall include, but not be limited to,
32 providing financial support when necessary and as available for training
33 and community coordination costs for the implementation of the crisis
34 intervention team training program to law enforcement agencies as
35 requested.
36 (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the fund shall consist of
37 up to one million dollars from the state general fund.
38 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-gg to
39 read as follows:
40 § 99-gg. Crisis intervention team training fund. 1. There is hereby
41 established in the joint custody of the comptroller and the commissioner
42 of the office of mental health a fund to be known as the crisis inter-
43 vention team training fund.
44 2. The crisis intervention team training fund shall consist of all
45 moneys received from the federal government, private grants, gifts,
46 contributions and devises.
47 3. Any contractors that receive moneys pursuant to this section shall
48 submit quarterly reports to the commissioner of the department of mental
49 health regarding the use and effectiveness of the distributed moneys.
50 The commissioner of the department of mental health shall include a
51 summary of the fund analysis in the annual report required pursuant to
52 section 7.49 of the mental hygiene law.
53 § 3. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section
54 209-h to read as follows:
55 § 209-h. Crisis intervention teams. 1. The commissioner of the New
56 York state division of criminal justice services, in consultation with
S. 4126--A 4
1 the commissioners of the office of mental health, office for people with
2 developmental disabilities and office of addiction services and
3 supports, shall, for all local police officers in law enforcement units
4 and any other enforcement agency that chooses to participate:
5 (a) establish criteria for the development of crisis intervention
6 teams; and
7 (b) establish, and implement on an ongoing basis, a training program
8 for all current and new employees regarding the policies and procedures
9 established pursuant to this section. The curriculum shall include a
10 minimum of forty hours of mandatory training in mental health issues.
11 2. The goals of the crisis intervention team program shall be to:
12 (a) provide immediate response by specifically trained law enforcement
13 officers;
14 (b) reduce the amount of time police officers spend out of service
15 awaiting assessment and disposition;
16 (c) afford persons with mental illness and/or substance abuse problems
17 a sense of dignity in crisis situations;
18 (d) reduce the likelihood of physical confrontation;
19 (e) identify underserved populations with mental illness and/or
20 substance abuse problems and refer them to appropriate care;
21 (f) decrease the use of arrest and detention of persons experiencing
22 mental health and/or substance abuse crises by providing better access
23 to timely treatment;
24 (g) provide therapeutic locations or protocols for officers to bring
25 individuals in crisis for assessment that is not a law enforcement or
26 jail facility; and
27 (h) decrease injuries to law enforcement officers during crisis
28 events.
29 3. Other state agencies shall provide cooperation and assistance to
30 the program to assist in the effective performance of its duties.
31 § 4. Section 19.07 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a
32 new subdivision (n) to read as follows:
33 (n) The office of addiction services and supports shall, in collab-
34 oration with law enforcement and the office of mental health establish
35 criteria for the development of crisis intervention teams that shall
36 include assessment of the effectiveness of the plan for community
37 involvement, training and therapeutic response alternatives and a deter-
38 mination of whether law enforcement officers have effective agreements
39 with mental health care providers and all other community stakeholders.
40 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.