N.Y. MHY Law § 19.20-A — New York Code / Act MHY / Title D / Article 19 / Section 19.20-A
Review of criminal history information concerning prospective providers, operators and individuals seeking to be credentialed by the office
Status: in_force

§ 19.20-a Review of criminal history information concerning prospective\n             providers, operators and individuals seeking to be\n             credentialed by the office.\n  * The office shall be authorized to receive from the division of\ncriminal justice services criminal history information, as such phrase\nis defined in paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section eight hundred\nforty-five-b of the executive law, concerning each applicant to be a\nprovider of services or operator of such provider except: (1) a\ndepartment facility; (2) a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight\nof the public health law; or (3) a licensed professional under title\neight of the education law who does not have employees or volunteers who\nwill have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted physical\ncontact with the clients of such provider, and for every individual\nseeking to be credentialed by the office to provide substance use\ndisorder services pursuant to section 19.07 of this article. For\npurposes of this section, "operator" shall include any natural person\nwith an ownership interest in the provider of services.\n  * NB Effective until November 3, 2023\n  * The office shall be authorized to receive from the division of\ncriminal justice services criminal history information, as such phrase\nis defined in paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section eight hundred\nforty-five-b of the executive law, concerning each applicant to be a\nprovider of services or operator of such provider except: (1) a\ndepartment facility; (2) a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight\nof the public health law; or (3) a licensed professional under title\neight of the education law who does not have employees or volunteers who\nwill have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted physical\ncontact with the clients of such provider, and for every individual\nseeking to be credentialed by the office to provide substance use\ndisorder services pursuant to section 19.07 of this article. For\npurposes of this section, "operator" shall include any natural person\nwith an ownership interest in the provider of services. Provided,\nhowever, an applicant to be a provider of services or operator of such\nprovider under article thirty-six of this chapter shall comply with the\nrequirements of subdivision (a) of section 36.06 of such article to\nsatisfy the requirements of this section, and provided further that a\nprovider who complies with the requirements of subdivision (b) of\nsection 36.06 of such article, shall be deemed to have satisfied the\nrequirements of this section.\n  * NB Effective November 3, 2023\n  (a) Prior to requesting criminal history information concerning any\nprospective provider, operator or individual seeking to be credentialed,\nthe office shall:\n  (1) inform the prospective provider, operator or individual seeking to\nbe credentialed in writing that the office is required to request his or\nher criminal history information from the division of criminal justice\nservices and review such information pursuant to this section; and\n  (2) obtain the signed informed consent of the prospective provider,\noperator or individual seeking to be credentialed on a form supplied by\nthe division of criminal justice services which indicates that such\nperson has:\n  (i) been informed of the right and procedures necessary to obtain,\nreview and seek correction of his or her criminal history information;\n  (ii) been informed of the reason for the request for his or her\ncriminal history information;\n  (iii) consented to such request; and\n  (iv) supplied on the form a current mailing or home address.\nUpon receiving such written consent, the office may obtain two sets of\nfingerprints of such prospective provider, operator or individual\nseeking to be credentialed pursuant to regulations established by the\ndivision of criminal justice services.\n  (b) The office shall designate one or two persons in its employ who\nshall be authorized to request, receive and review criminal history\ninformation, and only such persons and the prospective provider,\noperator or individual seeking to be credentialed to which the criminal\nhistory information relates shall have access to such information;\nprovided, however, that criminal history information may be disclosed to\nother personnel authorized by the office who are empowered to make\ndecisions concerning prospective providers, operators or individuals\nseeking to be credentialed and provided further that such other\npersonnel shall also be subject to the confidentiality requirements and\nall other provisions of this section. The office shall notify the\ndivision of criminal justice services of each person authorized to have\naccess to criminal history information pursuant to this section.\n  (c) The office shall request criminal history information pursuant to\nthis section by completing a form developed for such purpose by the\ndivision of criminal justice services. Such form shall include a sworn\nstatement of the persons designated by the office to request, receive\nand review criminal history information pursuant to subdivision (b) of\nthis section certifying that:\n  (1) such criminal history information will be used by the office\nsolely for purposes authorized by this section;\n  (2) the office and its staff are aware of and will abide by the\nconfidentiality requirements and all other provisions of this section;\nand\n  (3) the person designated by the office to receive criminal history\ninformation pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section shall upon\nreceipt immediately mark such criminal history information\n"confidential," and shall at all times maintain such criminal history\ninformation in a secure place.\n  (d) Upon receipt of the fingerprints and sworn statement required by\nsubdivisions (a) and (c) of this section, the division of criminal\njustice services shall promptly forward a set of the individual's\nfingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation for the purpose of a\nnationwide criminal history record check to determine whether such\nindividual has been convicted of a criminal offense in any state other\nthan New York or in a federal jurisdiction.\n  (e) The division of criminal justice services shall promptly provide\nthe requested criminal history information to the office. Criminal\nhistory information provided by the division of criminal justice\nservices pursuant to this section shall be furnished only by mail or\nother method of secure and confidential delivery, addressed to the\noffice. Such information and the envelope in which it is enclosed, if\nany, shall be prominently marked "confidential," and shall at all times\nbe maintained by the office in a secure place.\n  (f) Upon receipt of criminal history information pursuant to this\nsection and before making a determination, the office shall provide the\nprospective provider, operator or individual seeking to be credentialed\nwith a copy of such criminal history information and a copy of article\ntwenty-three-A of the correction law and inform such prospective\nprovider, operator or individual seeking to be credentialed of his or\nher right to seek correction of any incorrect information contained in\nsuch criminal history information pursuant to the regulations and\nprocedures established by the division of criminal justice services.\n  (g) Criminal history information obtained pursuant to this section\nshall be considered by the office in accordance with the provisions of\narticle twenty-three-A of the correction law and subdivisions fifteen\nand sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the executive law.\n  (h) A prospective provider, operator or individual seeking to be\ncredentialed may withdraw from the application process, without\nprejudice, at any time regardless of whether or not he or she or the\noffice has reviewed his or her criminal history information. Where a\nprospective provider, operator or individual seeking to be credentialed\nwithdraws from the application process, any fingerprints and criminal\nhistory information concerning such prospective provider, operator or\nindividual seeking to be credentialed received by the office shall,\nwithin ninety days, be returned to such prospective provider, operator\nor individual seeking to be credentialed by the person designated for\nreceipt of criminal history information pursuant to subdivision (b) of\nthis section.\n  (i) The commissioner of the division of criminal justice services\nshall promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to implement the\nprovisions of this section, which shall include convenient procedures\nfor prospective providers, operators or individuals seeking to be\ncredentialed to promptly verify the accuracy of their criminal history\ninformation and, to the extent authorized by law, to have access to\nrelevant documents related thereto.\n  (j) Any person who willfully permits the release of any confidential\ncriminal history information contained in the report to persons not\npermitted by this section to receive such information shall be guilty of\na misdemeanor.\n