What's happening
This bill establishes a statewide child psychiatry access project, a dedicated fund, and allows taxpayers to contribute to support child mental health services.
Why it matters
Improves access to child mental health care by connecting primary care providers with child psychiatrists for timely consultations. , which can help address behavioral health issues early and reduce long wait times for specialist care.
Creates regional teams that not only offer direct psychiatry consults but also help families navigate local mental health services. , provide transitional support, and make urgent referrals—potentially leading to more coordinated and continuous care for children.
Ensures equity of access by prohibiting discrimination based on a child or family's insurance status. when services are accessed through their primary care provider, aiming to reduce disparities in mental health care.
Establishes a dedicated state fund supported by voluntary taxpayer contributions and other sources. , increasing the potential resources available for child mental health initiatives without relying solely on state appropriations.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Child Psychiatry Access
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3199
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 4, 2019
Introduced by Sens. PARKER, RITCHIE -- 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 mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing the child psychiatry access project; to amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a gift for the child psychiatry access project; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the child psychiatry access fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 7.42 to read as follows: § 7.42 Child psychiatry access project.
(a) The office shall, within amounts appropriated therefor, establish or may contract for the establishment of regional child psychiatry access projects across the state to provide primary care providers with timely access to child psychiatry consultations in order to assist such primary care providers in meeting the mental health needs of the children and adolescents and their families.
(b) Regional teams shall consist of a child psychiatrist with appropriate support staff, and be established to provide child psychiatric telephone consultations to primary care providers within the designated region resulting in one of the following, depending upon the needs of the child patient and/or family:
1. Responding to the primary care physician's patient specific questions about behavioral health;
2. Assisting the family in accessing routine, local behavioral health services, with the understanding there may be a waiting period;
3. Providing transitional support to the child patient and family until the family can access routine, local behavioral health services;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08341-01-9
S. 3199 2
4. Making referral to a team child psychiatrist for an acute psychopharmacologic or diagnostic consultation.
(c) Regional teams may also provide mental health resource services, educational services, mental health advocacy and other related services to the provider and mental health community.
(d) Child psychiatry access services provided under this section shall not discriminate against children and families, based upon their insurance status, when such services are accessed through their primary care provider practicing in the region.
§ 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 628-a to read as follows:
§ 628-a. Gift for the child psychiatry access project. Effective for any tax year commencing on or after January first, two thousand twenty, an individual in any taxable year may elect to contribute to the child psychiatry access fund. Such contribution shall be in any whole dollar amount and shall not reduce the amount of state tax owed by such individual. The commissioner shall include space on the personal income tax return form to enable a taxpayer to make such contribution. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all revenues collected pursuant to this section shall be paid to the child psychiatry access fund established pursuant to and used only for those purposes enumerated in section eighty-nine-j of the state finance law.
§ 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 89-j to read as follows:
§ 89-j. Child psychiatry access fund. 1. A special fund to be known as the "child psychiatry access fund" is hereby established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance.
2. The fund shall consist of all moneys transferred to such fund pursuant to law, all moneys required by any provision of law to be paid into or credited to the fund, all moneys from gifts pursuant to section six hundred twenty-eight-a of the tax law and any interest earnings which may accrue from the investment of moneys in the fund. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into the fund according to law.
3. Moneys of the fund, when allocated, shall be made available to the office of mental health solely for the purpose of establishing child psychiatry projects pursuant to section 7.42 of the mental hygiene law.
4. Moneys shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the commissioner of mental health.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing the child psychiatry access project; to amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a gift for the child psychiatry access project; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the child psychiatry access fund
Purpose
This legislation would enhance access to mental health services for children and adolescents by creating regional teams specializing in behavioral health to consult with and provide support to primary care providers caring for children and families dealing with mental health issues.
Summary of provisions
Sections one of the bill creates a new section 7.42 of the mental hygiene law directing the office of mental health, within amounts appro- priated therefore, to establish regional child psychiatry access projects across the state designed to provide primary care providers with timely access to child psychiatry consultations regarding the chil- dren and adolescents they treat. The teams would consist of a child psychiatrist and appropriate support staff who would support primary health care providers in their region regardless of the patient's insur- ance status. The teams would answer questions, provide consultations, make referrals and in some cases provide transitional support, to the child and family until the family can access local behavioral health services. They may also provide educational and advocacy services to providers and the mental health community.
Read the full memo (712 words)
Section two of the bill adds a new Section 628-a to the Tax Law to provide for a tax check off for contributions to the child psychiatry access fund to be included on personal income tax returns beginning in tax year 2010.
Section three of the bill adds a new section 89-i to establish a child psychiatry access fund and direct funds to be made available to the Office of Mental Health to establish child psychiatry projects.
Section four provides for an effective date on the 90th day after it shall have become law.
Justification
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, about 20% of American children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness during a given year. Further, nearly 5 million American children and adolescents suffer from a serious mental illness (one that significantly interferes with their day-to-day life). Indications are that these numbers have not changed much over the last decade and, unfortunately, the vast majority of these children receive little or no treatment. Because of the inadequate numbers of child psychiatrists, primary care practitioners for children and adoles- cents arc often the ones who care for young people with behavioral and emotional problems. Providing primary care providers and families with timely access to expert guidance is essential in helping to make informed decisions about psycho-pharmacology and other treatments. This bill aims to provide that resource through regional child psychiatry access teams.
The bill will address the problems of access, inappropriate medication, and insurance barriers by establishing regional teams specialized in child and adolescent behavioral health who will be available to primary care practitioners to consult, answer questions and provide support and referrals for their Patients. It is a model that began in Massachusetts in 2004-05 and has proven very successful. In Massachusetts there are six regional teams covering the entire state who are able to respond to the primary care providers in their region, at no cost to the provider or patient, within about 30 minutes of a call. The program is not meant to replace emergency services or ongoing behavioral health care, This bill will provide support and information to primary care providers and timely access to mental health services for children and adolescents. With such legislation, "too little, too late," could become a description of the past for the children of New York State.
Legislative history
2017-18: S2220 -REFERRED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2015-16: S.2639A - Amend and Recommit to mental health and developmental disabilities 2013-14: S.3202 - Referred to mental health and developmental disabili- ties 2011-12: S.3434 - Referred to mental health and developmental disabili- ties 2009-10: S.187A/A.4577B - Held in Finance, Passed Assembly 2007-08: S.7033A - Veto 0122
Fiscal implications
Self supporting as the bill establishes a tax check off to allow state income tax filers to donate to the child psychiatry access project fund.
Effective date
90 days after enactment.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.