What's happening
This bill expands protections for people with disabilities from sexual abuse and broadens the definition of service recipients and mental health care providers.
Why it matters
Expands who is protected. The bill extends abuse protections to individuals for up to six months after they leave a facility or stop receiving services, recognizing that vulnerable relationships and risks can persist after discharge.
Targets post-discharge abuse. By covering “post-discharge relationships” that violate agency policies, the bill addresses situations where former staff or caregivers may exploit prior professional relationships for abuse, closing a loophole in current law.
Broadens who counts as a “mental health care provider”. Adding credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselors to the definition means more professionals are explicitly covered under sexual abuse and professional misconduct statutes, potentially increasing accountability.
Strengthens institutional responsibility. Facilities and provider agencies will need to review and potentially update their policies, rules, and training to ensure post-discharge relationships are appropriately monitored and addressed, which may lead to changes in how transitions and aftercare are managed.
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Who cares
Former service recipients
The bill would extend the definition of service recipient to people who received facility or provider agency services within the prior six months when an alleged reportable incident involves a post-discharge relationship with a custodian that violates agency or facility policies, rules or regulations.
Facilities, provider agencies and custodians
Their policies on post-discharge relationships would help determine whether an alleged incident involving a former recipient falls within the expanded definition.
Credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselors
The bill would add them to the Penal Law’s definition of mental health care provider.
Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs
The bill, introduced at the center’s request, would broaden the Social Services Law’s service-recipient definition to cover specified post-discharge incidents.
Headline styles
Protect Disabled from Sexual Abuse
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 62
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.834
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5297
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 20, 2017
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- (at request of the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
AN ACT to amend the social services law and the penal law, in relation to enhancing protections for persons with disabilities from sexual abuse
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 488 of the social services law, as added by section 1 of part B of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
9. "Person receiving services," or "service recipient" shall mean an individual who resides or is an inpatient in a residential facility or who receives services from a facility or provider agency; or an individual who has resided in or received services from a facility or provider agency within the prior six months of the date of an alleged reportable incident, and the allegation of a reportable incident involves a postdischarge relationship between the service recipient and a custodian that violates the facility or provider agency's policies, rules or regulations.
§ 2. Subdivision 13 of section 130.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 230 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
13. "Mental health care provider" shall mean a licensed physician, licensed psychologist, registered professional nurse, licensed clinical social worker or a licensed master social worker under the supervision of a physician, psychologist or licensed clinical social worker, or a credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10125-02-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the social services law and the penal law, in relation to enhancing protections for persons with disabilities from sexual abuse
This bill would amend the Social Services Law and the Penal Law to enhance the Justice Center's ability to hold certain caregivers responsible for having inappropriate sexual relationships with vulnerable persons in the period of time immediately following discharge from residential services.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill would amend the definition of a "service recipient" or "person receiving services" in Social Services Law (SSL) § 488(9) to include a six-month period after a service recipient has stopped receiving services from a facility or provider agency when a reported allegation of sexual abuse or neglect involves a post-discharge relationship that violates the facility or provider agency's policy.
Section 2 of the bill would amend Penal Law § 130.00(13) to add credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselors (CASACs) to the definition of a mental health care provider, so that a client or patient of the CASAC cannot legally consent to certain sexual conduct if the act of sexual conduct occurs during a treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination.
Section 3 of the bill would set forth the effective date.
Justification
Under current law, the Justice Center is only authorized to hold caregivers accountable for engaging in sexual and other personal relationships with service recipients when: (i) a service recipient is a resident in a facility or provider agency; or (ii) receive services from a facility or provider agency. However, this does not account for situations where inappropriate relationships between caregivers and service recipients begin during treatment, but do not commence until the service recipient is discharged -- a time when the service recipient is particularly vulnerable.
This bill would address this issue by amending the definition of a "service recipient" to include an individual who has received services from a facility or provider agency within the six months prior to the date of an alleged reportable incident, the reportable incident involves sexual abuse or neglect, and this post-discharge relationship between the service recipient and the caregiver violates the facility or provider agency's policies, rules or regulations. This will further enhance the protections for vulnerable persons who may become the victims of sexual or other inappropriate relationships with their caregivers or former caregivers.
This bill would also address inappropriate relationships involving CASACs, who are credentialed pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law § 19.07 to provide alcoholism and/or substance abuse services in both residential and non-residential settings. Under current law, if these services are provided in a residential setting, Penal Law § 130.05(3)(i) deems the individual receiving the services incapable of consenting to sexual acts with the CASAC. If, however, the services are provided in a non-residential setting, there is no similar incapacity to consent provision, even if the sexual acts occurs in an inherently coercive setting, such as during a counseling session. This bill would add CASACs to the list of mental health care providers set forth in Penal Law § 130.00(13), so that the incapacity to consent provisions set forth in Penal Law § 130.05(3)(h) would apply to sexual acts committed during an outpatient treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination involving a CASAC.
Prior legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
This bill would be implemented within existing resources.
Effective date
The bill would take effect 30 days after it is signed into law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.