Int. No. 1084-A
By Council Members Narcisse, Cabán, Riley, Ossé, Louis, Hanif, Restler, Gutiérrez, Farías, Nurse, Velázquez, Rivera, Lee, Dinowitz and Avilés
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to creating training on trauma-informed care for persons serving refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, and migrants
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 17 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 17-180.2 to read as follows:
§ 17-180.2 Trauma-informed care. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Client. The term “client” means anyone served by the providers.
Provider. The term “provider” means a city agency, or a community-based organization or not-for-profit organization that works directly with refugees, asylees, asylum seekers, and migrants, and is under contract or similar agreement with the department.
Trauma-informed care. The term “trauma-informed care” means trauma-informed care as described by the substance abuse and mental health services administration of the United States department of health and human services, or any successor agency, department, or governmental entity.
b. Training on trauma-informed care. The department shall review existing training on trauma-informed care that the department offers to providers and include in such training appropriate information on refugee, asylee, asylum seeker, and migrant experiences. Such training shall:
1. Include, but not be limited to, methods for recognizing signs of trauma exposure, strategies for understanding common behaviors of individuals exposed to trauma, trauma-informed principles for interacting with such individuals, and resources on addressing secondary trauma, traumatic stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder;
2. Recognize the variation in signs of trauma across a client’s lifespan and include a range of age-appropriate tools according to the different developmental needs of those served; and
3. Include culturally competent tools and resources for providing trauma-informed care.
c. Outreach. The department shall offer the training on trauma-informed care reviewed and revised pursuant to subdivision b of this section to eligible providers deemed appropriate by the department.
d. Reporting. Not later than 6 months after the effective date of the local law that added this section and annually thereafter, the department shall publish on its website a report on the following:
1. The components of the training on trauma-informed care developed pursuant to subdivision b of this section; and
2. The number of individuals who accepted and completed the training on trauma-informed care.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.
JGP/NCC
LS #11813/11814
9/20/23 2:30 PM