New York Laws
Article 19 - Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
19.07 - Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services; Scope of Responsibilities.

(a) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services is charged
with the responsibility for assuring the development of comprehensive
plans, programs, and services in the areas of research, prevention,
care, treatment, rehabilitation, including relapse prevention and
recovery maintenance, education, and training of persons who abuse or
are dependent on alcohol and/or substances and their families. Such
plans, programs, and services shall be developed with the cooperation of
the office, the other offices of the department where appropriate, local
governments, consumers and community organizations and entities. The
office shall provide appropriate facilities and shall encourage the
provision of facilities by local government and community organizations
and entities. The office is also responsible for developing plans,
programs and services related to compulsive gambling education,
prevention and treatment consistent with section 41.57 of this chapter.
(b) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services shall advise
and assist the governor in improving services and developing policies
designed to meet the needs of persons who suffer from an addictive
disorder and their families, and to encourage their rehabilitation,
maintenance of recovery, and functioning in society.
(c) The office of addiction services and supports shall have the
responsibility for seeing that persons who suffer from a substance use
disorder and their families are provided with addiction services, care
and treatment, and that such services, care, treatment and
rehabilitation is of high quality and effectiveness, and that the
personal and civil rights of persons seeking and receiving addiction
services, care, treatment and rehabilitation are adequately protected,
including that patients have the right to access services based on their
gender identity, gender expression and/or sexual orientation. For the
purposes of this subdivision, gender identity or gender expression means
a person's actual or perceived gender related identity, appearance,
behavior, expression, or other gender related characteristic regardless
of the sex assigned to that person at birth.
(d) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services shall foster
programs for the training and development of persons capable of
providing the foregoing services, including but not limited to a process
of issuing, either directly or through contract, credentials for
alcoholism and substance abuse counselors or gambling addiction
counselors in accordance with the following:
(1) The office shall establish minimum qualifications for counselors
in all phases of delivery of services to persons and their families who
are suffering from alcohol and/or substance abuse and/or chemical
dependence and/or compulsive gambling that shall include, but not be
limited to, completion of approved courses of study or equivalent
on-the-job experience in alcoholism and substance abuse counseling
and/or counseling of compulsive gambling. Such approved courses of study
or equivalent on-the-job experience shall include: providing
trauma-informed, patient-centered care; referring individuals to
appropriate treatments for co-occurring disorders; and sensitivity
training. Such courses shall be updated as needed to reflect evolving
best practices in harm reduction, treatment and long-term recovery. For
the purposes of this paragraph, sensitivity training shall mean a form
of training with the goal of making people more aware of their own
prejudices and more sensitive to others.
(i) The office shall establish procedures for issuing, directly or
through contract, credentials to counselors who meet minimum
qualifications, including the establishment of appropriate fees, and

shall further establish procedures to suspend, revoke, or annul such
credentials for good cause. Such procedures shall be promulgated by the
commissioner by rule or regulation.
(ii) The commissioner shall establish a credentialing board which
shall provide advice concerning the credentialing process.
(2) The establishment, with the advice of the advisory council on
alcoholism and substance abuse services, of minimum qualifications for
counselors in all phases of delivery of services to those suffering from
alcoholism, substance and/or chemical abuse and/or dependence and/or
compulsive gambling and their families that shall include, but not be
limited to, completion of approved courses of study or equivalent
on-the-job experience in counseling for alcoholism, substance and/or
chemical abuse and/or dependence and/or compulsive gambling, and issue
credentials to counselors who meet minimum qualifications and suspend,
revoke, or annul such credentials for good cause in accordance with
procedures promulgated by the commissioner by rule or regulation.
(3) For the purpose of this title, the term "credentialed alcoholism
and substance abuse counselor" or "C.A.S.A.C." means an official
designation identifying an individual as one who holds a currently
registered and valid credential issued by the office of alcoholism and
substance abuse services pursuant to this section which documents an
individual's qualifications to provide alcoholism and substance abuse
counseling. The term "gambling addiction counselor" means an official
designation identifying an individual as one who holds a currently
registered and valid credential issued by the office of alcoholism and
substance abuse services pursuant to this section which documents an
individual's qualifications to provide compulsive gambling counseling.
(i) No person shall use the title credentialed alcoholism and
substance abuse counselor or "C.A.S.A.C." or gambling addiction
counselor unless authorized pursuant to this title.
(ii) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall
constitute a violation as defined in the penal law.
(4) All persons holding previously issued and valid alcoholism or
substance abuse counselor credentials on the effective date of
amendments to this section shall be deemed C.A.S.A.C. designated.
(e) Consistent with the requirements of subdivision (b) of section
5.05 of this chapter, the office shall carry out the provisions of
article thirty-two of this chapter as such article pertains to
regulation and quality control of chemical dependence services,
including but not limited to the establishment of standards for
determining the necessity and appropriateness of care and services
provided by chemical dependence providers of services. In implementing
this subdivision, the commissioner, in consultation with the
commissioner of health, shall adopt standards including necessary rules
and regulations including but not limited to those for determining the
necessity or appropriate level of admission, controlling the length of
stay and the provision of services, and establishing the methods and
procedures for making such determination.
(f) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services shall
develop a list of all agencies throughout the state which are currently
certified by the office and are capable of and available to provide
evaluations in accordance with section sixty-five-b of the alcoholic
beverage control law so as to determine need for treatment pursuant to
such section and to assure the availability of such evaluation services
by a certified agency within a reasonable distance of every court of a
local jurisdiction in the state. Such list shall be updated on a regular
basis and shall be made available to every supreme court law library in

this state, or, if no supreme court law library is available in a
certain county, to the county court library of such county.
(g) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services shall
develop and maintain a list of the names and locations of all licensed
agencies and alcohol and substance abuse professionals, as defined in
paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision one of section eleven hundred
ninety-eight-a of the vehicle and traffic law, throughout the state
which are capable of and available to provide an assessment of, and
treatment for, alcohol and substance abuse and dependency. Such list
shall be provided to the chief administrator of the office of court
administration and the commissioner of motor vehicles. Persons who may
be aggrieved by an agency decision regarding inclusion on the list may
request an administrative appeal in accordance with rules and
regulations of the office.
(h) The office of addiction services and supports shall monitor
programs providing care and treatment to incarcerated individuals in
correctional facilities operated by the department of corrections and
community supervision who have a history of alcohol or substance use
disorder or dependence. The office shall also develop guidelines for the
operation of alcohol and substance use disorder treatment programs in
such correctional facilities, based on best practices, and tailored to
the nature of the individual's substance use, history of past treatment,
and history of mental illness or trauma, which may include harm
reduction strategies, in order to ensure that such programs sufficiently
meet the needs of incarcerated individuals with a history of alcohol or
substance use disorder or dependence and promote the successful
transition to treatment in the community upon release. No later than the
first day of December of each year, the office shall submit a report
regarding: (1) the adequacy and effectiveness of alcohol and substance
use disorder treatment programs operated by the department of
corrections and community supervision; (2) the total number of
incarcerated individuals in correctional facilities that have been
screened for, and determined to have, a substance use disorder; (3)
information regarding which substances incarcerated individuals are most
dependent upon and the available treatment for such individuals within
each correctional facility; (4) the total number of individuals who
participate in each of the treatment programs operated by the department
of corrections and community supervision; and (5) the total number of
individuals who participated in a substance use disorder treatment
program but failed to complete such program, as well as whether such
failure to complete the program was a result of disciplinary action
taken by the facility against the individual for instances unrelated to
their participation in the treatment program. The department of
corrections and community supervision shall provide the office with
information needed to complete this report. Such report shall be sent to
the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
assembly, the chairman of the senate committee on crime victims, crime
and correction, and the chairman of the assembly committee on
correction.
(i) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services shall
periodically, in consultation with the state director of veterans'
services: (1) review the programs operated by the office to ensure that
the needs of the state's veterans who served in the U.S. armed forces
and who are recovering from alcohol and/or substance abuse are being met
and to develop improvements to programs to meet such needs; and (2) in
collaboration with the state director of veterans' services and the
commissioner of the office of mental health, review and make
recommendations to improve programs that provide treatment,

rehabilitation, relapse prevention, and recovery services to veterans
who have served in a combat theatre or combat zone of operations and
have a co-occurring mental health and alcoholism or substance abuse
disorder.
(j) The office, in consultation with the state education department,
shall identify or develop materials on problem gambling among school-age
youth which may be used by school districts and boards of cooperative
educational services, at their option, to educate students on the
dangers and consequences of problem gambling as they deem appropriate.
Such materials shall be available on the internet website of the state
education department. The internet website of the office shall provide a
hyperlink to the internet page of the state education department that
displays such materials.
(k) Heroin and opioid addiction awareness and education program. The
commissioner, in cooperation with the commissioner of the department of
health, shall develop and conduct a public awareness and educational
campaign on heroin and opioid addiction. The campaign shall utilize
public forums, social media and mass media, including, but not limited
to, internet, radio, and print advertising such as billboards and
posters and shall also include posting of materials and information on
the office website. The campaign shall be tailored to educate youth,
parents, healthcare professionals and the general public regarding: (1)
the risks associated with the abuse and misuse of heroin and opioids;
(2) how to recognize the signs of addiction; and (3) the resources
available for those needing assistance with heroin or opioid addiction.
The campaign shall further be designed to enhance awareness of the
opioid overdose prevention program authorized pursuant to section
thirty-three hundred nine of the public health law and the "Good
Samaritan law" established pursuant to sections 220.03 and 220.78 of the
penal law and section 390.40 of the criminal procedure law, and to
reduce the stigma associated with addiction.
(l) The office of alcoholism and substance abuse services, in
consultation with the state education department, shall develop or
utilize existing educational materials to be provided to school
districts and boards of cooperative educational services for use in
addition to or in conjunction with any drug and alcohol related
curriculum regarding the misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco,
prescription medication and other drugs with an increased focus on
substances that are most prevalent among school aged youth as such term
is defined in section eight hundred four of the education law. Such
materials shall be age appropriate for school age children, and to the
extent practicable, shall include information or resources for parents
to identify the warning signs and address the risks of substance abuse.
(m) (1) The office shall report on the status and outcomes of
initiatives created in response to the heroin and opioid epidemic to the
temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
chairs of the assembly and senate committees on alcoholism and drug
abuse, the chair of the assembly ways and means committee and the chair
of the senate finance committee.
(2) Such reports shall include, to the extent practicable and
applicable, information on:
(i) The number of individuals enrolled in the initiative in the
preceding quarter;
(ii) The number of individuals who completed the treatment program in
the preceding quarter;
(iii) The number of individuals discharged from the treatment program
in the preceding quarter;
(iv) The age and sex of the individuals served;
(v) Relevant regional data about the individuals;
(vi) The populations served; and
(vii) The outcomes and effectiveness of each initiative surveyed.
(3) Such initiatives shall include opioid treatment programs, crisis
detoxification programs, 24/7 open access centers, adolescent club
houses, family navigator programs, peer engagement specialists, recovery
community and outreach centers, regional addiction resource centers and
the state implementation of the federal opioid state targeted response
initiatives.
(4) Such information shall be provided quarterly, beginning no later
than July first, two thousand nineteen.
* (n) The office in consultation with the office of mental health, the
department of health, the division of housing and community renewal and
any other agency that may oversee an appropriate program or service
shall monitor and ensure funds appropriated pursuant to section
ninety-nine-nn of the state finance law are expended for services and
programs in accordance with such section.
* NB There are 2 sb (n)'s
* (n) The office of addiction services and supports, in consultation
with the commissioner of health, shall provide and publish, in
electronic or other format, training materials for health care
providers, as defined by subdivision six of section two hundred
thirty-eight of the public health law, and qualified health
professionals, recognized by the office to enable the implementation of
the screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment program
(SBIRT). Such training materials shall include any and all materials
necessary to inform health care providers and qualified health
professionals of the method for administering the SBIRT program to a
patient in the care of health care providers or qualified health
professionals. Such training materials shall be made available to health
care providers and qualified health professionals through the official
websites of the office and the department of health and by any other
means deemed appropriate by the commissioner.
* NB There are 2 sb (n)'s