(b) A person without a license from creating, developing or
implementing a service plan or recovery plan that is not a behavioral
health diagnosis or treatment plan. Such service or recovery plans shall
include, but are not limited to, coordinating, evaluating or determining
the need for, or the provision of the following services: job training
and employability; housing; homeless services and shelters for homeless
individuals and families; refugee services; residential, day or
community habilitation services; general public assistance; in home
services and supports or home-delivered meals; recovery supports; adult
or child protective services including investigations; detention as
defined in section five hundred two of the executive law; prevention and
residential services for victims of domestic violence; services for
runaway and homeless youth; foster care, adoption, preventive services
or services in accordance with an approved plan pursuant to section four
hundred four of the social services law, including, adoption and foster
home studies and assessments, family service plans, transition plans,
permanency planning activities, and case planning or case management as
such terms are defined in the regulations of the office of children and
family services; residential rehabilitation; home and community based
services; and de-escalation techniques, peer services or skill
development.
(c)(i) A person without a license from participating as a member of a
multi-disciplinary team to assist in the development of or
implementation of a behavioral health services or treatment plan;
provided that such team shall include one or more professionals licensed
under this article or articles one hundred thirty-one, one hundred
thirty-nine, one hundred fifty-four or one hundred sixty-three of this
chapter; and provided, further, that the activities performed by members
of the team shall be consistent with the scope of practice for each team
member licensed or authorized under title VIII of this chapter, and
those who are not so authorized may not engage in the following
restricted practices: the diagnosis of mental, emotional, behavioral,
addictive and developmental disorders and disabilities; patient
assessment and evaluating; the provision of psychotherapeutic treatment;
the provision of treatment other than psychotherapeutic treatment; or
independently developing and implementing assessment-based treatment
plans as defined in section seventy-seven hundred one of this title.
(ii) For the purposes of this paragraph, "assist" shall include, but
not be limited to, the provision or performance of the following tasks,
services, or functions by an individual who has obtained the training
and experience required by the applicable state oversight agency to
perform such task, service or function in facilities or programs
operating pursuant to article nineteen-G of the executive law; articles
seven, sixteen, thirty-one or thirty-two of the mental hygiene law; or
title three of article seven of the social services law:
(1) helping an individual with the completion of forms or
questionnaires;
(2) reviewing existing case records and collecting background
information about an individual which may be used by the licensed
professional or multi-disciplinary team;
(3) gathering and reporting information about previous behavioral
health interventions, hospitalizations, documented diagnosis, or prior
treatment for review by the licensed professional and multi-disciplinary
team;
(4) discussing with the individual his or her situation, needs,
concerns, and thoughts in order to help identify services that support
the individual's goals, independence, and quality of life;
(5) providing advice, information, and assistance to individuals and
family members to identify needs and available resources in the
community to help meet the needs of the individual or family member;
(6) engaging in immediate and long-term problem solving, engaging in
the development of social skills, or providing general help in areas
including, but not limited to, housing, employment, child care,
parenting, community based services, and finances;
(7) distributing paper copies of self-administered tests for the
individual to complete when such tests do not require the observation
and judgment of a licensed professional;
(8) monitoring treatment by the collection of written and/or
observational data in accordance with the treatment plan and providing
verbal or written reports to the multi-disciplinary team;
(9) identifying gaps in services and coordinating access to or
arranging services for individuals such as home care, community based
services, housing, employment, transportation, child care, vocational
training, or health care;
(10) offering education programs that provide information about
disease identification and recommended treatments that may be provided,
and how to access such treatment;
(11) reporting on behavior, actions, and responses to treatment by
collecting written and/or observational data as part of a
multi-disciplinary team;
(12) using de-escalation techniques consistent with appropriate
training;
(13) performing assessments using standardized, structured interview
tools or instruments;
(14) directly delivering services outlined in the service plan that
are not clinical in nature but have been tailored to an individual based
on any diagnoses such individual may have received from a licensed
professional; and
(15) advocating with educational, judicial or other systems to protect
an individual's rights and access to appropriate services.
(d) Provided, further, that nothing in this subdivision shall be
construed as requiring a license for any particular activity or function
based solely on the fact that the activity or function is not listed in
this subdivision.
11. The conduct, activities or services of a technician to administer
and score standardized objective (non-projective) psychological or
neuropsychological tests which have specific predetermined and
manualized administrative procedures which entail observing and
describing test behavior and test responses, and which do not require
evaluation, interpretation or other judgments; provided, however, that
such technician shall: (i) hold no less than a Bachelor's degree in
psychology or a related field; (ii) undergo a process of regular
training by a licensed psychologist, which shall include, but not be
limited to a minimum of eighty total hours of (a) professional ethics,
(b) studying and mastering information from test manuals, and (c) direct
observation of a licensed psychologist or trained technician
administering and scoring tests, in addition to a minimum of forty total
hours of administering and scoring tests in the presence of a licensed
psychologist or trained technician, provided such interaction with the
licensed psychologist equals or exceeds fifty percent of the total
training time; (iii) be under the direct and ongoing supervision of a
licensed psychologist in no greater than a 3:1 ratio or the part time
equivalent thereto; (iv) not be employed within a school setting and (v)
not select tests, analyze patient data or communicate results to
patients. The supervising licensed psychologist must submit, pursuant to
a form to be prescribed and developed within ninety days of the
effective date of this subdivision by the department, a sworn statement
detailing compliance with the above requirements. The licensed
psychologist's use of such individual pursuant to the terms of this
subdivision shall be undertaken only with special care and professional
judgment in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the patient
considering the severity of the symptoms, the age of the patient and the
length of the examination process, and shall include appropriate ongoing
contact with the licensed psychologist at appropriate intervals. Such
use shall be subject to the full disciplinary and regulatory authority
of the board of regents and the department pursuant to this title. The
licensed psychologist must notify the patient or designated health care
surrogate that the licensed psychologist may utilize the services of a
technician to administer certain exams, and must provide the patient or
designated health care surrogate the opportunity to object to the
licensed psychologist's plan to utilize a technician.
12. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit or limit the
activities or services provided under this article by any person who is
employed or who commences employment in a program or service operated,
regulated, funded, or approved by the department of mental hygiene, the
office of children and family services, or a local governmental unit as
that term is defined in section 41.03 of the mental hygiene law or a
social services district as defined in section sixty-one of the social
services law on or before two years from the date that the regulations
issued in accordance with section six of part Y of chapter fifty-seven
of the laws of two thousand eighteen appear in the state register or are
adopted, whichever is later. Such prohibitions or limitations shall not
apply to such employees for as long as they remain employed by such
programs or services and whether they remain employed by the same or
other employers providing such programs or services. Provided, however,
that any person who commences employment in such program or service
after such date and performs services that are restricted under this
article shall be appropriately licensed or authorized under this
article. Each state oversight agency shall create and maintain a process
to verify employment history of individuals exempt under this
subdivision.
13. The activities or services provided by a person with a master's
level degree in psychology or its equivalent, working under the
supervision of a licensed psychologist in a program or service operated,
regulated, funded, or approved by the department of mental hygiene, the
office of children and family services, or a local government unit as
that term is defined in section 41.03 of the mental hygiene law or a
social services district as defined in section sixty-one of the social
services law.