Bill Text: NY S07079 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

---

Bill Title: Establishes the "first responder peer support program act" which supplies peer-to-peer mental health programs to first responders.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 7-3)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-23 - PRINT NUMBER 7079A [S07079 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S07079-Amended.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7079--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 17, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  HARCKHAM, ASHBY, HELMING, STEC, TEDISCO, WEBER --
          read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
          the  Committee  on  Mental  Health  -- recommitted to the Committee on
          Mental Health 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, in relation to the "First
          Responder Peer Support Program Act"

          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 the "First
     2  Responder Peer Support Program Act".
     3    § 2. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 7.51 to
     4  read as follows:
     5  § 7.51 First responder peer support program.
     6    (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms  shall  have
     7  the following meanings:
     8    1. "The program" shall mean the "first responder peer support program"
     9  established by this section.
    10    2.  "Eligible entities" shall mean an entity or county first responder
    11  peer program which submits to the commissioner an application, in a form
    12  prescribed by the commissioner, containing such information  and  assur-
    13  ances  as  the commissioner may require to provide initial and continued
    14  training in mental illness, including but not limited to, helping  indi-
    15  viduals gain a better understanding about the effects of trauma, repeti-
    16  tive  exposure,  signs  and  symptoms of trauma, triggers of a traumatic
    17  event, coping mechanisms,  suicide  prevention,  as  well  as  available
    18  tools,  resources,  and local mental health services for first responder
    19  peer volunteers, volunteer and  paid  individuals  who  are  trained  to
    20  respond  to  emergency  situations  and provide immediate assistance and
    21  care to those in need.  This would include individuals who work as fire-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09287-04-3
        S. 7079--A                          2

     1  fighters,  police  officers, 9-1-1 operators, emergency dispatchers  and
     2  emergency medical services  personnel.
     3    (b)  The  commissioner,  in  consultation with the commissioner of the
     4  department of health, the office of fire  prevention  and  control,  the
     5  municipal  police training council,  and  the  superintendent  of  state
     6  police, shall, subject to appropriation,  establish  a  statewide  grant
     7  program  to  be known as the "first responder peer support program". The
     8  program shall provide grants, with appropriations therefor, to  eligible
     9  entities  for  the  purpose  of  establishing peer-to-peer mental health
    10  programs for first responders.
    11    (c) The commissioner  shall  establish  standards  applicable  to  the
    12  program.  Such  standards  shall include, but not be limited to, initial
    13  and continued training for first responder peer volunteers,  administra-
    14  tive staffing needs, and best practices for addressing the needs of each
    15  first responder served, including, but not limited to, a warm handoff to
    16  mental health services for individuals identified as being in duress.
    17    (d)  The  commissioner  shall  not  require the recipient of any grant
    18  under this section to  maintain  records  on  first  responders  seeking
    19  support or report any personal identifying information directly or indi-
    20  rectly  to  the  commissioner,  a first responder's employer, or a first
    21  responder's organization.
    22    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    23  it shall have become a law.