S 7279

                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
                                   7279
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
                             I N  S E N A T E
                               April 8, 2025
                                ___________
 Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 AN ACT to amend the surrogate's court  procedure  act,  in  relation  to
   authorizing  certified  school  psychologists  to  participate  in the
   certification of certain persons as intellectually disabled or  devel-
   opmentally disabled
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section  1750  of  the  surrogate's
 court  procedure act, as amended by chapter 198 of the laws of 2016, are
 amended to read as follows:
   1. For the purposes of this article, a person  who  is  intellectually
 disabled  is  a  person who has been certified by one licensed physician
 and one licensed psychologist, ONE LICENSED PHYSICIAN AND ONE  CERTIFIED
 SCHOOL  PSYCHOLOGIST, or by two licensed physicians at least one of whom
 is familiar with or has professional knowledge in the care and treatment
 of persons with an intellectual  disability,  having  qualifications  to
 make  such  certification,  as being incapable to manage [him or herself
 and/or his or her] THEMSELVES AND/OR THEIR affairs by reason  of  intel-
 lectual  disability  and  that  such condition is permanent in nature or
 likely to continue indefinitely.
   2. Every such  certification  pursuant  to  subdivision  one  of  this
 section,  made on or after the effective date of this subdivision, shall
 include a specific determination by  such  physician  and  psychologist,
 SUCH PHYSICIAN AND SUCH CERTIFIED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST, or by such physi-
 cians,  as  to whether the person who is intellectually disabled has the
 capacity to make health care decisions, as defined by subdivision  three
 of  section  twenty-nine  hundred  eighty  of the public health law, for
 [himself or herself] THEMSELF.  A determination that the person  who  is
 intellectually  disabled  has the capacity to make health care decisions
 shall not preclude the  appointment  of  a  guardian  pursuant  to  this
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11582-01-5
 S. 7279                             2
 section to make other decisions on behalf of the person who is intellec-
 tually disabled. The absence of this determination in the case of guard-
 ians appointed prior to the effective date of this subdivision shall not
 preclude such guardians from making health care decisions.
   §  2.  Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 1750-a of the surrogate's court
 procedure act, as amended by chapter  198  of  the  laws  of  2016,  are
 amended to read as follows:
   1. When it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court that a person
 is  a person who is developmentally disabled, the court is authorized to
 appoint a guardian of the person or of the property or of both  if  such
 appointment  of  a  guardian or guardians is in the best interest of the
 person who is developmentally disabled. Such appointments shall be  made
 pursuant  to  the  provisions of this article, provided however that the
 provisions of section seventeen hundred fifty of this article shall  not
 apply  to  the appointment of a guardian or guardians of a person who is
 developmentally disabled. For the purposes of this article, a person who
 is developmentally disabled is a person who has been  certified  by  one
 licensed physician and one licensed psychologist, ONE LICENSED PHYSICIAN
 AND  ONE CERTIFIED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST, or by two licensed physicians at
 least one of whom is familiar with or has professional knowledge in  the
 care  and  treatment  of persons with developmental disabilities, having
 qualifications to make such certification, as having an impaired ability
 to understand and appreciate the nature and  consequences  of  decisions
 which  result  in  such  person  being incapable of managing [himself or
 herself and/or his or her] THEMSELVES AND/OR THEIR affairs by reason  of
 developmental  disability and that such condition is permanent in nature
 or likely to continue indefinitely, and whose disability:
   (a) is attributable to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neurological  impair-
 ment, autism or traumatic head injury;
   (b)  is  attributable  to  any other condition of a person found to be
 closely  related  to  intellectual  disability  because  such  condition
 results  in  similar  impairment  of general intellectual functioning or
 adaptive behavior to that of persons with intellectual disabilities; or
   (c) is attributable to dyslexia resulting from a disability  described
 in [subdivision one] PARAGRAPH (A) or [two] (B) of this [section] SUBDI-
 VISION or from intellectual disability; and
   (d)  originates  before  such person attains age twenty-two, provided,
 however, that no such age of origination shall apply for the purposes of
 this article to a person with traumatic head injury.
   2. Notwithstanding any provision of  law  to  the  contrary,  for  the
 purposes  of  subdivision  two  of  section  seventeen hundred fifty and
 section seventeen hundred fifty-b of this article,  ["a]  ANY  REFERENCE
 MADE  TO A person who is intellectually disabled [and his or her guardi-
 an"] AND/OR SUCH PERSON'S GUARDIAN shall [also] mean OR INCLUDE a person
 [and his or her] AND/OR SUCH PERSON'S  guardian  appointed  pursuant  to
 this  section;  provided  that  such  person  has been certified, by the
 physicians [and/or psychologists] OR BY THE PHYSICIAN AND  THE  PSYCHOL-
 OGIST  OR THE CERTIFIED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST, AS specified in subdivision
 one of this section, as (i) having an intellectual disability,  or  (ii)
 having  a  developmental  disability,  as defined in section 1.03 of the
 mental hygiene law, which (A) includes intellectual disability,  or  (B)
 results  in  a similar impairment of general intellectual functioning or
 adaptive behavior so that such person is incapable of managing  [himself
 or  herself,  and/or his or her] THEMSELF AND/OR THEIR affairs by reason
 of such developmental disability.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.