2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 34 - Funeral Directing › Title 2 - Licensing and Registration › 3429 - Continuing Education for Funeral Directors.

§ 3429. Continuing education for funeral directors. 1. Definitions. As
used in this section:
(a)   "Biennium"   means  any  two-year  period  for  registration  of
individuals licensed to practice funeral directing or embalming in  this
state  pursuant  to  section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of
this title;
(b) "Continuing education" means a course of instruction in a field of
funeral directing, within the subjects listed  in  subdivision  five  of
this  section, taught by a provider registered with the department under
subdivision four of this section;
(c) "Contact hour" means a period of between fifty and sixty  minutes,
continuously measured;
(d)  "Provider"  means a national, state or local trade association of
funeral directors, a school for funeral directors approved under section
three thousand four hundred twenty-five of this title or, with prior  or
provisional   approval   of  course  content  by  the  department  under
subdivision four of this  section,  any  other  person  or  organization
desiring to offer continuing education;
(e) "Trade association" means an organization, whether incorporated or
not,  whose primary class of members consists of ten or more firms under
separate ownerships or twenty individuals in different  employment,  all
registered  under  section  three  thousand four hundred twenty-eight of
this title in an aspect of funeral service, which has been organized and
maintained for at least two years prior to offering continuing education
under this section for the collective benefit of its members.
2.  Requirement.  (a)  Every  person  who  renews  a  certificate   of
registration  under  section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of
this title shall file  with  the  department,  along  with  his  or  her
biennial  application  for  renewal,  a  certification  attesting to the
course or programs of instruction taken and  successfully  completed  by
such person and which clearly demonstrates that the person has completed
the  minimum  number of hours of continuing education within the current
biennium as set forth in subdivision three of this section.
(b) The department shall provide  a  certification  form  which  shall
require the following information:
(i) Applicant's full name and registration number;
(ii)  Applicant's statement that he or she attended a specified number
of hours of continuing education within the current biennium, consisting
of courses identified by sponsor, date, location, and length of time  in
hours; and
(iii) Applicant's signature and date.
(c) This subdivision shall not apply to a funeral director, undertaker
or  embalmer  who is an inactive registrant pursuant to subdivision nine
of section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of this title.
3. Minimum hours. The minimum hours of continuing education  which  an
individual renewing registration must complete are:
(a)  to renew for the first biennium commencing on June thirtieth, two
thousand two, six hours within the current biennium concluding  on  such
date.
(b)  to  renew  for  all  subsequent biennia, twelve hours within each
biennium, including at least two hours relating to applicable  New  York
state  laws  and  regulations affecting funeral directing, embalming and
preneed services, which may be provided by the department or a  provider
registered  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  subdivision  four of this
section.
4. Provider registration; course content approval. (a) Any person  who
is  a provider and who desires to offer continuing education shall first
register with the department and pay a registration fee of  one  hundred

fifty  dollars  for  the  first biennium. A provider once registered may
renew the registration for subsequent biennia for a fee of  seventy-five
dollars  per  biennium.  The provider shall submit with its registration
fee   an   affidavit   which  includes  the  following  information  and
statements:
(i) Provider's name, address, telephone number, and, when known, names
of individual instructors;
(ii) Provider's agreement to accept periodic monitoring of its courses
by the department;
(iii) Provider's certification that the contents of  each  course  are
within the scope of subdivision five of this section;
(iv)  Provider's commitment to verify attendance at each course and to
maintain attendance records for department inspection for five years;
(v) Provider's commitment to establish a mechanism  whereby  licensees
may evaluate the quality and content of each course taken as well as the
provider's  overall  program  when requested to do so by the department,
and to maintain records of such evaluations  for  department  inspection
for five years;
(vi) Provider's agreement to submit to the department such evidence as
is necessary to establish compliance with this section;
(vii)  Provider's acknowledgment that disapproval by the department of
a particular course or revocation of  the  provider's  registration  may
result  in  nonrecognition  of  hours  of continuing education from that
provider; and
(viii) Provider's signature and date  and  verification  by  a  notary
public.
(b)  A  registered provider which is required to obtain prior approval
of courses shall submit to the department a written description of  each
course for which approval is requested, at least sixty days prior to the
first  date  the  course  is  to  be offered. If the department does not
disapprove the proposed course within ninety days of its receipt of  the
written  description  and  request  for  approval,  the  course shall be
considered approved provisionally for  six  months.  Following  the  six
months  of  provisional  approval,  the  department  may  make  a  final
determination   disapproving   the    course.    Notwithstanding    such
determination,  however,  any  individuals  licensed pursuant to section
three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of  this  title  shall  receive
full  continuing education credit for any course taken during the period
of provisional approval to fulfill the requirements of this section.
(c) Any provider registered to offer continuing education  under  this
section  shall  require  each  person  taking  instruction to display or
provide, prior to  admission  or  before  the  initiation  of  any  such
instruction,  personal photo identification in the form of an automobile
driver's  license,  passport  or  any  other  similar  form   of   photo
identification  issued  by a governmental entity, or a trade association
as defined in this  section.  The  provider  may  allow  the  use  of  a
photocopy of such identification for computer-based or distance learning
instruction.
(d)  The  department  may  impose  a fine of no less than the biennial
registration fee upon a provider who violates  the  provisions  of  this
section. For a second violation, the department may impose an additional
fine  of up to five hundred dollars and suspend the registration for the
balance of the biennium.  Nothing  herein  shall  prevent  the  attorney
general  from  bringing  a  civil  action  against any provider offering
continuing education courses without the prior or  provisional  approval
of the department.
(e) Registered provider status may be revoked by the department if the
reporting requirements contained in this section are not met or, if upon

review of the provider's performance, the department determines that the
content of the course materials, the quality of the continuing education
activities  or the provider's performance does not meet the requirements
set  forth herein. In such event, the department shall send the provider
by ordinary mail a notice  of  revocation.  The  revocation  shall  take
effect  no  less than sixty days from the date such mailed revocation is
postmarked. The provider may request a review of  such  revocation,  and
the  department  shall  determine  the  request  within thirty days. The
decision of the department shall be final after such review.
(f) Section twelve of this chapter shall not apply  to  this  section;
provided,  however,  that  any action by the department in suspending or
revoking a provider registration in  accordance  with  this  subdivision
shall  be  reviewable  by  the  supreme  court  of the state of New York
pursuant to  the  provisions  of  article  seventy-eight  of  the  civil
practice law and rules.
5.  Subjects  of  continuing  education.  The  subjects  of continuing
education may be one or  more  of  the  following:  aftercare,  business
administration,  religion,  natural  sciences, management services, data
processing, organ procurement, preneed services, jurisprudence (federal,
state, and local),  restorative  arts  and  embalming,  funeral  service
counseling,  funeral  customs,  sanitation  and  infection  control, and
hospice and similar outreach programs.
6. Credit for preparation. A licensed funeral director may earn up  to
two  hours  of  continuing  education  credit  for  preparing an hour of
continuing education that he or she then teaches, and may earn the  hour
solely  for  teaching that material the first time. No one may earn more
than six hours per biennium for preparation and teaching.
7. Classroom time; minimum percentage. A funeral director  shall  take
at  least  fifty  percent  of  his continuing education requirement each
biennium in the  form  of  receiving  live  classroom  instruction.  The
remainder   may   be  in  other  forms  such  as  videotape,  audiotape,
teleconference, satellite seminars,  internet  coursework,  credits  for
preparation, or correspondence coursework.
8.  Licensees  in other states. A funeral director licensed as such by
the state of New York who is maintaining his or her registration in this
state while residing in another state is subject to the requirements  of
this  section.  The  department may grant a non-resident licensee credit
for continuing education as required by the state in which such licensee
resides, provided the department  deems  them  equivalent  to  New  York
continuing education requirements as set forth herein.
9. Late filing; fines; grace period. (a) The department shall impose a
fine  equal to the biennial registration fee upon a registrant who fails
to file the  certification  of  continuing  education  within  the  time
prescribed  under  subdivision  two  of this section, for the first such
late filing. The department shall also allow such a registrant  a  grace
period  of one hundred twenty days into the biennium to comply with this
section and to file the certification. After one  hundred  twenty  days,
the  department  shall  suspend  the registration for the balance of the
biennium.
(b) A registrant who violates the filing requirements and deadlines of
this  section  a  second  time  shall,  upon  that  and  any  subsequent
violations,  be  subject  to  an  additional  fine  of no more than five
hundred dollars and suspension as the department may impose.
(c) A person who holds an inactive  certificate  of  registration  who
wishes  to  reinstate an active registration shall complete twelve hours
of continuing education prior to obtaining such active registration.
(d) A person whose registration has been suspended by  the  department
for  violating the filing requirements contained in this subdivision and

who wishes to gain reinstatement of  such  registration  shall  complete
twelve  hours of continuing education and pay a reinstatement fee of two
hundred fifty dollars to the department prior to obtaining reinstatement
of such registration.
(e)  With  respect  to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, the
department shall send the  registrant  by  ordinary  mail  a  notice  of
suspension.  The  suspension  shall  take effect no less than sixty days
from the date such mailed suspension is postmarked.
10. Funeral directors shall be exempt from  the  mandatory  continuing
education  requirements  prescribed herein for the biennium during which
they are first licensed.
11. Enforcement. (a) The department may not renew the registration  of
a licensed funeral director who has not complied with this section.
(b) The department may audit at random the certifications of licensees
and  the  affidavits  of  providers,  and  may  suspend  or  revoke  the
registration and/or license of a person who has knowingly made  a  false
statement under oath.