Bill Text: NY A05570 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Authorizes the commissioner of mental health to establish up to three, three-year pilot programs in community behavioral health organizations for the purposes of creating social worker pilot programs to support the ongoing retention and recruitment of licensed clinical social workers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-14 - referred to mental health [A05570 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A05570-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5570

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 14, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. SIMON, SHIMSKY, SANTABARBARA -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Mental Health

        AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation  to  establishing  a
          social  worker  pilot  program;  and  providing for the repeal of such
          provisions upon expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section
     2  7.49 to read as follows:
     3  § 7.49 Social worker pilot program.
     4    (a) Subject to appropriation, the commissioner shall establish  up  to
     5  three,  three-year  pilot programs in community behavioral health organ-
     6  izations, as defined in article thirty-one  of  this  chapter,  for  the
     7  purposes  of  providing  supervised  post-graduate  clinical social work
     8  experience as required for licensure as a licensed clinical social work-
     9  er under section seventy-seven hundred four of the education law  at  no
    10  cost to participants.
    11    (b)  The commissioner shall establish and develop standards applicable
    12  to the program.
    13    (c) The commissioner shall develop evaluation criteria for  the  pilot
    14  programs, which shall include, but not be limited to:
    15    (1) any improved ability for the community behavioral health organiza-
    16  tion  to  recruit  newly licensed clinical social workers as part of the
    17  pilot program;
    18    (2) the utilization of evidence based models  with  track  records  of
    19  clinical success;
    20    (3)  the provision of continuing education opportunities, at least one
    21  day per week, for  participating  licensed  master  social  workers  and
    22  licensed clinical social workers;
    23    (4)  the  percentage  of  the  pilot  program  participants who become
    24  licensed as a licensed clinical social worker; and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03589-01-5
        A. 5570                             2

     1    (5) the average length of  employment  for  licensed  clinical  social
     2  workers employed with the community behavioral health organization.
     3    §  2.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
     4  deemed repealed six years after such date.