N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law § 5.07: Establishment of statewide comprehensive plans of services for persons with mental disabilities

§ 5.07 Establishment of statewide comprehensive plans of services for

persons with mental disabilities.

(a) (1) The behavioral health services advisory council and the

advisory council on developmental disabilities shall provide

recommendations for statewide priorities and goals to guide

comprehensive planning, resource allocation and evaluation processes for

state and local services for persons with mental illness, developmental

disabilities, and/or those with substance use or compulsive gambling

disorders. Such goals and objectives shall:

a. be measurable in terms of attainment and focused on outcomes for

those being served;

b. be developed in collaboration with, and communicated to, providers

of services, department facilities, consumers and consumer

representatives, and other appropriate state and local governmental

agencies;

c. reflect the partnership between state and local governmental units;

and

d. emphasize the need to integrate behavioral health and health

services.

(2) Such advisory councils shall accomplish their duties by means of a

process which is:

a. open, visible and accessible to the public; and

b. consistent with the statewide and federally mandated planning,

appropriation and evaluation processes and activities for services to

persons with mental disabilities.

(3) The advisory councils are hereby empowered to hold public hearings

and meetings to enable them to accomplish their duties.

(b) Statewide comprehensive plan for services to persons with mental

disabilities.

(1) The office of mental health, the office for people with

developmental disabilities and the office of alcoholism and substance

abuse services shall formulate a statewide comprehensive five-year plan

for the provision of all state and local services for persons with

mental illness, developmental disabilities, and/or those with substance

use or compulsive gambling disorders. The statewide comprehensive plan

shall be based upon an analysis of local services plans developed by

each local governmental unit, in consultation with consumers, consumer

groups, providers of services and departmental facilities that furnish

behavioral health services in conformance with statewide priorities and

goals established with recommendations of the behavioral health services

advisory council and the advisory council on developmental disabilities.

The plan shall:

a. identify statewide priorities;

b. specify statewide goals that reflect the statewide priorities and

are focused on obtaining positive measurable outcomes;

c. propose strategies and initiatives to address the priorities and

facilitate achievement of statewide goals;

d. identify services and supports, which may include programs run or

led by peers, that are designed to promote the health and wellness of

persons with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and/or

substance use or compulsive gambling disorders;

e. provide analysis of current and anticipated utilization of state

and local, and public and private facilities, programs, services, and/or

supports;

f. encourage and promote person-centered, culturally and

linguistically competent community-based programs, services, and

supports that reflect the partnership between state and local

governmental units;

g. include progress reports on the implementation of both short-term

and long-term recommendations of the children's plan required pursuant

to section four hundred eighty-three-f of the social services law; and

h. include final reports for time-limited demonstration programs

pursuant to subdivision (d) of section 41.35 of this chapter.

(2) The commissioner of mental health shall also include the following

in the portion of the statewide comprehensive plan required by this

subdivision for services to persons with mental illness:

a. an analysis of the long-term need for the delivery of inpatient

care and services for adults and children and youth at state-operated

hospitals as listed in section 7.17 of this chapter, including a review

of statewide policies and trends relating to admissions, discharges,

deaths, transfers, and appropriate community placements for inpatients,

and a review of the correlation between these policies and trends and

the future use of state inpatient facilities, resulting in a projected

range of the anticipated census over the next five years for each

state-operated hospital listed in section 7.17 of this chapter;

b. a review of the long-term needs of persons currently residing in

state-operated hospitals, including an estimate of the number of such

individuals needing state inpatient care, and an estimate of the number

of such individuals who may be discharged to nursing homes, adult homes,

residences operated, licensed or funded by the office of mental health,

and independent housing;

c. an analysis of the anticipated future of the forensic psychiatric

program operated by the office of mental health pursuant to subdivision

(c) of section 7.09 of this chapter, including a programmatic and fiscal

review of clinical care needs for persons committed to such programs,

identification of service gaps for this population, projected range of

anticipated census over the next five years, and any recommendations for

new service configurations;

d. an analysis of the anticipated future of the mission of the

state-operated office of mental health research institutes that are

listed in section 7.17 of this chapter;

e. a description of the available community-based acute inpatient,

out-patient, community support and emergency services, which shall

include comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs licensed pursuant

to section 31.27 of this chapter. Such description should include the

extent to which these services are currently utilized by persons with

mental illness and, as available, compare estimates of utilization with

estimates of the prevalence of mental illness among persons residing in

the service area to determine unmet need;

f. recommendations for new or expanded programs or services that may

be required to meet the unmet need for community-based services

identified in accordance with subparagraph e of this paragraph;

g. a review and evaluation of efforts undertaken by the office of

mental health to encourage community hospitals to provide both emergency

and acute inpatient care;

h. a description of the involvement of local government mental health

authorities in the planning and development of a needs-based,

comprehensive service system and in the determination of the allocation

of resources;

i. to the extent practicable, all such information required pursuant

to this paragraph shall be provided on a statewide, regional and

individual state-operated hospital and state-operated research institute

basis; and

j. recommendations on the provision of state and local mental health

services based on the development of best practices by programs

promoting culturally and linguistically competent mental health

services.

(3) The commissioner of the office for people with developmental

disabilities shall also include, to the extent practicable, the

following data in the portion of the statewide comprehensive plan

required by this section for services to persons with developmental

disabilities:

(a) the number of individuals and average Medicaid eligible

expenditure level per service recipient, categorized by the following:

(i) from birth to twenty years of age;

(ii) from twenty-one years of age to sixty-four years of age

inclusive; and

(iii) sixty-five years of age and older;

(b) race or ethnicity of the service recipient, by age range;

(c) primary language spoken by the service recipient and other related

details, as feasible; and

(d) residence type, subcategorized by age, race or ethnicity, and

primary language.

(4) The commissioners of each of the offices shall be responsible for

the development of such statewide five-year plan for services within the

jurisdiction of their respective offices and after giving due notice

shall conduct one or more public hearings on such plan. The behavioral

health services advisory council and the advisory council on

developmental disabilities shall review the statewide five year

comprehensive plan developed by such office or offices and report its

recommendations thereon to such commissioner or commissioners. Each

commissioner shall submit the plan, with appropriate modifications, to

the governor no later than the first day of November of each year in

order that such plan may be considered with the estimates of the offices

for the preparation of the executive budget of the state of New York for

the next succeeding state fiscal year. Such comprehensive plan shall be

submitted to the legislature and also be posted to the website of each

office. Statewide plans shall ensure responsiveness to changing needs

and goals and shall reflect the development of new information and the

completion of program evaluations. An interim report detailing the

commissioner's actions in fulfilling the requirements of this section in

preparation of the plan and modifications in the plan of services being

considered by the commissioner shall be submitted to the governor and

the legislature on or before the fifteenth day of March of each year.

Such interim report shall include, but need not be limited to:

(a) actions to include participation of consumers, consumer groups,

providers of services and departmental facilities, as required by this

subdivision; and

(b) any modifications in the plan of services being considered by the

commissioner, to include: (i) compelling budgetary, programmatic or

clinical justifications or other major appropriate reason for any

significant new statewide programs or policy changes from a prior

(approved) five year comprehensive plan; and (ii) procedures to involve

or inform local governmental units of such actions or plans.

(5) The commissioner of mental health in consultation with the

department of civil service, the office of employee relations and any

other appropriate state agency, shall prepare for the governor and the

legislature a written evaluation report concerning the retraining and

continuation of employment of persons whose employment in a

state-operated hospital listed in section 7.17 of this chapter may be

terminated because of planned closure or consolidation of such

state-operated hospital. Such report shall include, but not be limited

to:

(i) specific proposals to help implement transitional employment

arrangements with state, local governmental units and voluntary

agencies;

(ii) specific proposals to help provide for the development of

appropriate retraining programs;

(iii) specific proposals to help provide for continuity of employment

and utilization of alternatives to layoffs;

(iv) specific proposals to help provide for the active participation

of the legal bargaining representatives of the employees of the office,

where appropriate, in the planning for and implementation of mechanisms

to help ensure continuity of employment;

(v) specific proposals to help ensure that the planning for the

closure or consolidation of state-operated hospitals is consistent with

the planning for the continuity of employment of state employees,

including procedures to ensure timely notification of represented

employees and their designated legal representatives and managerial and

confidential employees regarding planned program closure or

consolidation of state-operated hospitals; and

(vi) specific proposals regarding the establishment of demonstration

projects incorporating staff training, transfers and assignment of staff

of state-operated hospitals to the offices in local governmental units

and in voluntary agencies. Such proposals shall take into consideration

those areas of the state that are determined to be most in need of the

development of appropriate systems of service delivery to best meet the

appropriate needs of persons with serious mental illness, including

children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances.

On or before December first, nineteen hundred ninety-four a copy of

such report, and such recommendations as may be deemed appropriate shall

be submitted to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the

speaker of the assembly, and the respective minority leaders of each

such house.

(c) Three year capital plan. (1) On or before July first of each year,

the commissioners of the offices of the department of mental hygiene

shall each submit to the advisory council of their respective offices a

statewide three year capital plan for facilities within the jurisdiction

of their respective offices. The capital plan shall set forth the

projects proposed to be designed, constructed, acquired, reconstructed,

rehabilitated or otherwise substantially altered pursuant to

appropriation to meet the capital development needs of the respective

agencies for the next ensuing three years; the years of such plan shall

correspond to the years of the statewide five year plan as required by

subdivision (b) of this section.

(2) Such plan for each office shall include but not be limited to a

detailed project schedule indicating the location by county or borough

and estimated cost of each project, the anticipated dates on which the

design and construction of the project is to commence, the proposed

method of financing for the project, the estimated economic life of the

project and whether the proposed project constitutes design, new

construction or rehabilitation.

(3) Such plan shall further specify for each project whether the

project is to be a residential or nonresidential facility, a state or

voluntary operated facility, and, the number of clients, by source of

clients, proposed to utilize the facility. The information on the source

of the client shall include but not be limited to identification of

clients currently living independently, or at home with families, or

with caretakers, clients defined by their respective agencies as special

populations, or clients currently residing in an institutional setting

under the jurisdiction of the offices of the department.

(4) The advisory council of the appropriate office shall review such

plan and report its recommendation to the commissioner for inclusion,

provided, however, that the behavioral health services advisory council

shall forward its comments on the capital plan of the office of mental

health to the mental health planning council which shall forward such

recommendations after review to the commissioner of mental health. The

commissioner shall submit his or her plan with the formal

recommendations of the advisory council of his or her office and any

subsequent appropriate modifications to the governor no later than the

first day of November of each year or concurrent with the annual

submission of estimates and information required by section one of

article seven of the constitution in order that such plans shall be

considered with the estimates of the offices for the preparation of the

executive budget of the state of New York for the next succeeding state

fiscal year. The commissioners shall also submit such plans to the

chairmen of the senate finance committee and the assembly ways and means

committee.

(5) Each statewide three year capital plan for facilities shall be

evaluated and revised annually to encompass the fiscal year then in

progress and the next ensuing two fiscal years to ensure responsiveness

to the changing needs and goals of the department, and to reflect the

development of new information and project completion.