Int. No. 1241-A
By Council Members Narcisse, Gutiérrez, Louis, Stevens, Hanif, Sanchez, Velázquez, Avilés, Cabán, Won, Gennaro and Dinowitz
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the commissioner of veterans’ services to submit an annual report on the provision of mental health services by city agencies to veterans
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Title 31 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 31-115 to read as follows:
§ 31-115 Report on mental health services for veterans.
a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Mental health services. The term “mental health services” means in-person or telehealth services including, but not limited to: (i) psychotherapy services; (ii) emotional and psychological counseling; (iii) psychiatric assessments to diagnose mental illness, conduct diagnosis follow-up, or coordinate clinical treatment plans; (iv) liaising with or providing referrals to emergency medical or psychiatric care providers; or (v) medication monitoring or management.
Veteran. The term “veteran” has the same meaning as set forth in section 3101 of the charter.
b. No later than December 15, 2024, and annually thereafter, the department shall submit to the speaker of the council and the mayor and post on the website of the department a report on mental health services provided by agencies to veterans. Such report shall identify each agency that provides, directly or by contract, such services to veterans and shall include, for the preceding fiscal year, the following information for each agency:
1. The number of veterans who requested mental health services from such agency, disaggregated, to the extent practicable, by the type of mental health service sought;
2. The number of such veterans who received mental health services from such agency;
3. A summary of any methods of communication used by such agency to provide information about mental health services to veterans, including, but not limited to, advertisements, pamphlets, brochures, posters, flyers, hotlines, webpages, in-person communications, electronic mail, social media, or other web application; and
4. A description of the mental health services provided by such agency to veterans.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 180 days after it becomes law.
SOS/NC/DR
LS 14689
12/12/23 7:00pm
JEF
LS 10205 (Int. 1582-2019)