BILL NUMBER: S6334
SPONSOR: FAHY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to expanding the
description of certain services which are not prohibited by statutes
governing the practice of nursing
 
PURPOSE.up off;:
This bill would authorize direct support staff in non-facility OPWDD
programs to provide nursing services under the instruction of a service
recipient, family, or household member as determined by a registered
professional nurse.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 renumbers and adds a new subparagraph v to paragraph a of
subdivision one of Section 6908 of the Education law.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Department of Health has a program called CDPAP by some and CDPAS by
others that allow employees to administer medication with appropriate
training. Allowing it for elderly and not for people with disabilities
makes little sense. Some people who receive OPWDD services also receive
the DOH services, so they will clock out of their OPWDD-funded position,
clock into their DOH job, administer the medication, and then go back on
the OPWDD program payroll. Direct Support Professionals can also be
trained to administer medication in a provider-controlled building but
not a building that the family owns. This bill would allow greater flex-
ibility for the performance of certain nursing tasks by unlicensed
employees of providers certified by OPWDD in non-certified community-
based settings. This would allow more individuals to remain in or tran-
sition to more independent settings, decreasing the reliance on certi-
fied residential settings.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: A07704 referred to Higher Education
2024: A07704A reported from Higher Education and referred to Codes
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect eighteen months after it shall have become a
law, and shall expire and be deemed repealed July 1, 2030. Effective
immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regu-
lation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective
date.