Report of Regents Professional Practice Committee to The Board of Regents

The Professional Practice Committee held its scheduled meeting on July 11, 2022. All members were present. Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., Regent Luis O. Reyes, Regent Susan W. Mittler, Regent Aramina Vega Ferrer, Regent Shino Tanikawa, and Regent Roger P. Catania also attended the meeting, but did not vote on any action.  

ACTION ITEMS

Professional Discipline Cases [PPC EXS (A) 1-3]

The Committee recommends that the reports of the Regents Review Committees, including rulings, findings of fact, determinations as to guilt, and recommendations, by unanimous or majority vote, contained in those reports which have been distributed to you, be accepted in 2 cases.  In addition, your Committee recommends, upon the recommendation of the Committee on the Professions, that 26 consent order applications and 8 surrender applications be granted.

These recommendations are made following the review of 36 cases involving eleven registered professional nurses, five licensed practical nurses, four certified public accountants, two licensed master social workers who are also licensed clinical social workers, two professional engineers, one licensed mental health counselor, one pharmacy, one physical therapist, one registered professional nurse who is also a nurse practitioner (Family Health), one registered professional nurse who is also a nurse practitioner (Pediatrics), one respiratory therapist, one veterinarian, and one veterinary technician.

Proposed Repeal of Sections 79-9.6, 79-10.6, 79-12.6, Addition of New Sections of 79-9.6, 79-10.6, 79-12.6 and Amendment of Sections of 79-9.4, 79-10.4, 79-12.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Mental Health Practitioners’ Diagnosis Privilege [PPC (A) 1] - Department staff presented proposed amendments to the Commissioner’s regulations to conform them to the sections of Chapter 230 of the Laws of 2022, which became effective June 24, 2022. Chapter 230, among other things, amended the Education Law by defining “diagnosis” and “development of assessment-based treatment plans”; authorizing the Department to issue a limited permit to an applicant who is gaining experience for the diagnostic privilege; and authorizing licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed psychoanalysts in certain settings approved by the Department to diagnose and develop assessment-based treatment plans through June 24, 2025.

The Committee recommends that sections 79-9.6, 79-10.6 and 79-12.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education be repealed and new sections 79-9.6, 79-10.6, and 79-12.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education be added and sections 79-9.4, 79-10.4, 79-12.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education be amended, as submitted, effective July 12, 2022, as an emergency action, upon the finding by the Board of Regents that such action is necessary for the preservation of the public health and general welfare in order to timely implement the provisions of sections (1), (4) and (5) of Chapter 230 of the Laws of 2022, which became effective June 24, 2022.

The motion passed.

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD  

The Professional Practice Committee recommends, and we move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the written report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on July 11, 2022, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent. 

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Deputy Commissioner Sarah Benson reviewed the items on the Consent Agenda.