What's happening
This bill allows schools to hire mental health services program coordinators and provides state aid to help cover their costs.
Why it matters
Addresses School Safety and Student Well-Being. By enabling schools to hire or contract mental health services program coordinators, the bill aims to proactively identify and address issues that could impact student and staff safety, potentially reducing crises related to mental health.
Standardizes Qualifications and Reporting. The bill requires the state education commissioner to set qualification standards for coordinators and to establish mandatory reporting protocols, ensuring a consistent and professional approach to student mental health support across schools.
Expands Access to Mental Health Support. Both public and non-public (private) schools are eligible, and the state will help cover costs, making it more feasible for a broader range of schools—including those with limited resources—to provide specialized mental health services.
Limits and Encourages Strategic Investment. While the aid is capped at $50,000 per district for one coordinator, districts retain the flexibility to hire or contract for additional coordinators at their own expense, allowing local adaptation to community needs while maintaining state budget controls.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require School Mental Health Coordinators
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1310
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 9, 2025
Introduced by Sens. CANZONERI-FITZPATRICK, BORRELLO, OBERACKER, RHOADS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating a school mental health services program coordinator
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-c to read as follows:
§ 2801-c. New York state school mental health services program coordinator. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "school mental health services program coordinator" shall mean a mental health services professional, with qualifications determined by regulation by the commissioner, whose role and responsibility shall be to work with students, faculty and other mental health and health care professionals to identify, report and address mental health issues of students, faculty and administration at any public or non-public school that could pose a risk to public safety.
2. Any public or non-public school may employ a mental health services professional, in either the classified or unclassified service, determined in regulation by the commissioner to be qualified, as a mental health services program coordinator. Any such public or non-public school may also contract with the state of New York, a county, city, town or village, or with a private mental health services provider, for the provision of a mental health services professional, determined in regulation by the commissioner to be qualified, to serve as a mental health services program coordinator.
3. The commissioner shall, by regulation, determine the qualifications for a mental health services program coordinator. A school district shall be authorized to employ or contract for as many mental health services program coordinators, as such district deems necessary. The
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00956-01-5
commissioner shall by regulation, establish the mandatory reports, the persons or entities with whom such reports shall be filed, and the treatment services that may be offered or directed by a mental health services program coordinator.
§ 2. Section 3602 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 5-b to read as follows:
5-b. Mental health services program coordinator aid. Every school district employing or contracting for the services of a mental health services program coordinator, in either the classified or unclassified service, in accordance with section twenty-eight hundred one-c of this chapter, shall be entitled to a payment of mental health services program coordinator aid in the amount of the district's expenditure for the cost of such employment or contracting of such mental health services program coordinator. But in no event shall such aid to such school district be in excess of fifty thousand dollars annually. The mental health services program coordinator aid provided by this subdivision shall be limited to the payment for one mental health services program coordinator per school district.
§ 3. Section 3602-c of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 11 to read as follows:
11. Aid shall be made available to all non-public schools under this section, for mental health services program coordinators, in the same manner as for public schools in subdivision five-b of section thirty-six hundred two of this article.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to creating a school mental health services program coordinator
Purpose
This bill would establish a Mental Health Services Coordinator Program under the education law and establish a mental health services program coordinator education aid program to reimburse school districts outside the city of New York, $50,000 for the hiring of such a mental health services professional.
Summary of provisions
This bill would add a new section 2801-c to the education law to:
- Define the term Mental Health Services Program Coordinator to include a mental health services professional, with qualifications determined by regulation by the commissioner of education.
- Authorize school districts to hire mental health services program coordinators, or contract for their services with mental health services providers.
- Define the role and responsibility of a mental health services program coordinator as working with students, faculty and other mental health and health care professionals to identify, report and address mental health issues of students, faculty and administration, at any public or non-public school, that could pose a risk to public safety.
- Authorize the state department of education by regulation, to deter- mine the qualifications for a mental health services program coordina- tor, and establish the mandatory reports, the persons or entities with whom such reports shall be filed, and the treatment services that may be offered or directed by a mental health services program coordinator.
This bill would further amend the education law, to establish mental health services program coordinator aid for the hiring of mental health services professionals.
Justification
School attacks across the nation have demonstrated an important need to increase security at schools. In many of these tragedies, it has been demonstrated that the failure to properly identify and address mental illness of the attacker has led, at least in part, to the failure to prevent the attack. Therefore, one of the best possible preventive and responsive measures is the deployment of mental health services to iden- tify, report and address individuals who they, in their clinical and professional judgment could pose a threat to public safety and security.
This bill would provide a specific definition of Mental Health Services Program Coordinator, requiring such persons to be experienced mental health services professional, with the qualifications determined by regulations established by the state department of education. It further provides, for the first time, an important state aid component, which will allow all schools across the state, to have the necessary funds to retain the services of such invaluable mental health services professions who could seriously enhance public protection.
Legislative history
2023-24 - S5683: Referred to Education
2021-22 - S1956: Referred to Education
2019-20 - S2462: Referred to Education
2018 - S7805: Passed Senate
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.