§ 7605 — Exempt persons

§ 7605. Exempt persons. Nothing in this article shall be construed to\naffect or prevent:\n * 1. The activities, services, and use of the title of psychologist,\nor any derivation thereof, on the part of a person in the employ of a\nfederal, state, county or municipal agency, or other political\nsubdivision, or a chartered elementary or secondary school or\ndegree-granting educational institution insofar as such activities and\nservices are a part of the duties of such salaried position; or on the\npart of a person in the employ as a certified school psychologist on a\nfull-time or part-time salary basis, which may include on an hourly,\nweekly, or monthly basis, or on a fee for evaluation services basis\nprovided that such person employed as a certified school psychologist is\nemployed by and under the dominion and control of a preschool special\neducation program approved pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision nine\nor subdivision nine-a of section forty-four hundred ten of this chapter\nto provide activities, services and to use the title "certified school\npsychologist", so long as this shall not be construed to permit the use\nof the title "licensed psychologist", to students enrolled in such\napproved program or to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation of a\npreschool child having or suspected of having a disability, where each\nsuch preschool special education program is authorized by paragraph a of\nsubdivision six of section sixty-five hundred three-b of this title in\nthe course of their employment. Nothing in this subdivision shall be\nconstrued to authorize a certified school psychologist or group of such\nschool psychologists to engage in independent practice or practice\noutside of an employment relationship.\n * NB Effective until June 30, 2026\n * 1. The activities, services, and use of the title of psychologist,\nor any derivation thereof, on the part of a person in the employ of a\nfederal, state, county or municipal agency, or other political\nsubdivision, or a chartered elementary or secondary school or\ndegree-granting educational institution insofar as such activities and\nservices are a part of the duties of his salaried position.\n * NB Effective June 30, 2026\n 2. The activities and services required of a student, intern, or\nresident in psychology, pursuing a course of study leading to a doctoral\ndegree in psychology in an institution approved by the department,\nprovided that such activities and services constitute a part of his\nsupervised course of study in psychology. Such persons shall be\ndesignated by title as "psychological intern", "psychological trainee"\nor other such title which clearly indicates his training status.\n 3. The practice, conduct, activities or services by any person\nlicensed or otherwise authorized to practice medicine within the state\npursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of this title or by any\nperson registered to perform services as a physician assistant within\nthe state pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one-B of this title.\n 4. The practice, conduct, activities, or services by any person\nlicensed or otherwise authorized to practice nursing as a registered\nprofessional nurse or nurse practitioner within the state pursuant to\narticle one hundred thirty-nine of this title or by any person licensed\nor otherwise authorized to practice social work within the state\npursuant to article one hundred fifty-four of this title, or by any\nperson licensed or otherwise authorized to practice mental health\ncounseling, marriage and family therapy, creative arts therapy, or\npsychoanalysis within the state pursuant to article one hundred\nsixty-three of this title, or any person licensed or otherwise\nauthorized to practice applied behavior analysis within the state\npursuant to article one hundred sixty-seven of this title or any\nindividual who is credentialed under any law, including attorneys, rape\ncrisis counselors, certified alcoholism counselors, and certified\nsubstance abuse counselors from providing mental health services within\ntheir respective established authorities.\n 5. The conduct, activities, or services of any member of the clergy or\nChristian Science practitioner, in the provision of pastoral counseling\nservices within the context of his or her ministerial charge or\nobligation.\n 6. The conduct, activities, or services of individuals, churches,\nschools, teachers, organizations, or not-for-profit businesses in\nproviding instruction, advice, support, encouragement, or information to\nindividuals, families, and relational groups.\n 7. The practice, conduct, activities, or services of an occupational\ntherapist from performing work consistent with article one hundred\nfifty-six of this title.\n 8. The representation as a psychologist and the rendering of services\nas such in this state for a temporary period of a person who resides\noutside the state of New York and who engages in practice as a\npsychologist and conducts the major part of his practice as such outside\nthis state, provided such person has filed with the department evidence\nthat he has been licensed or certified in another state or has been\nadmitted to the examination in this state pursuant to section\nseventy-six hundred three of this article. Such temporary period shall\nnot exceed ten consecutive business days in any period of ninety\nconsecutive days or in the aggregate exceed more than fifteen business\ndays in any such ninety-day period.\n 9. The provision of psychotherapy as defined in subdivision two of\nsection eighty-four hundred one of this title to the extent permissible\nwithin the scope of practice of psychology, by any not-for-profit\ncorporation or education corporation providing services within the state\nof New York and operating under a waiver pursuant to section sixty-five\nhundred three-a of this title, provided that such entities offering\npsychology services shall only provide such services through an\nindividual appropriately licensed or otherwise authorized to provide\nsuch services or a professional entity authorized by law to provide such\nservices.\n 10. (a) A person without a license from: performing assessments\nincluding but not limited to basic information collection, gathering of\ndemographic data, and informal observations, screening and referral used\nfor general eligibility for a program or service and determining the\nfunctional status of an individual for the purpose of determining need\nfor services; advising individuals regarding the appropriateness of\nbenefits they are eligible for; providing general advice and guidance\nand assisting individuals or groups with difficult day to day problems\nsuch as finding employment, locating sources of assistance, and\norganizing community groups to work on a specific problem; providing\npeer services; selecting for suitability and providing substance abuse\ntreatment services or group re-entry services to incarcerated\nindividuals in state correctional facilities; or providing substance\nabuse treatment services or re-entry services to incarcerated\nindividuals in local correctional facilities.\n (b) A person without a license from creating, developing or\nimplementing a service plan or recovery plan that is not a behavioral\nhealth diagnosis or treatment plan. Such service or recovery plans shall\ninclude, but are not limited to, coordinating, evaluating or determining\nthe need for, or the provision of the following services: job training\nand employability; housing; homeless services and shelters for homeless\nindividuals and families; refugee services; residential, day or\ncommunity habilitation services; general public assistance; in home\nservices and supports or home-delivered meals; recovery supports; adult\nor child protective services including investigations; detention as\ndefined in section five hundred two of the executive law; prevention and\nresidential services for victims of domestic violence; services for\nrunaway and homeless youth; foster care, adoption, preventive services\nor services in accordance with an approved plan pursuant to section four\nhundred four of the social services law, including, adoption and foster\nhome studies and assessments, family service plans, transition plans,\npermanency planning activities, and case planning or case management as\nsuch terms are defined in the regulations of the office of children and\nfamily services; residential rehabilitation; home and community based\nservices; and de-escalation techniques, peer services or skill\ndevelopment.\n (c)(i) A person without a license from participating as a member of a\nmulti-disciplinary team to assist in the development of or\nimplementation of a behavioral health services or treatment plan;\nprovided that such team shall include one or more professionals licensed\nunder this article or articles one hundred thirty-one, one hundred\nthirty-nine, one hundred fifty-four or one hundred sixty-three of this\nchapter; and provided, further, that the activities performed by members\nof the team shall be consistent with the scope of practice for each team\nmember licensed or authorized under title VIII of this chapter, and\nthose who are not so authorized may not engage in the following\nrestricted practices: the diagnosis of mental, emotional, behavioral,\naddictive and developmental disorders and disabilities; patient\nassessment and evaluating; the provision of psychotherapeutic treatment;\nthe provision of treatment other than psychotherapeutic treatment; or\nindependently developing and implementing assessment-based treatment\nplans as defined in section seventy-seven hundred one of this title.\n (ii) For the purposes of this paragraph, "assist" shall include, but\nnot be limited to, the provision or performance of the following tasks,\nservices, or functions by an individual who has obtained the training\nand experience required by the applicable state oversight agency to\nperform such task, service or function in facilities or programs\noperating pursuant to article nineteen-G of the executive law; articles\nseven, sixteen, thirty-one or thirty-two of the mental hygiene law; or\ntitle three of article seven of the social services law:\n (1) helping an individual with the completion of forms or\nquestionnaires;\n (2) reviewing existing case records and collecting background\ninformation about an individual which may be used by the licensed\nprofessional or multi-disciplinary team;\n (3) gathering and reporting information about previous behavioral\nhealth interventions, hospitalizations, documented diagnosis, or prior\ntreatment for review by the licensed professional and multi-disciplinary\nteam;\n (4) discussing with the individual his or her situation, needs,\nconcerns, and thoughts in order to help identify services that support\nthe individual's goals, independence, and quality of life;\n (5) providing advice, information, and assistance to individuals and\nfamily members to identify needs and available resources in the\ncommunity to help meet the needs of the individual or family member;\n (6) engaging in immediate and long-term problem solving, engaging in\nthe development of social skills, or providing general help in areas\nincluding, but not limited to, housing, employment, child care,\nparenting, community based services, and finances;\n (7) distributing paper copies of self-administered tests for the\nindividual to complete when such tests do not require the observation\nand judgment of a licensed professional;\n (8) monitoring treatment by the collection of written and/or\nobservational data in accordance with the treatment plan and providing\nverbal or written reports to the multi-disciplinary team;\n (9) identifying gaps in services and coordinating access to or\narranging services for individuals such as home care, community based\nservices, housing, employment, transportation, child care, vocational\ntraining, or health care;\n (10) offering education programs that provide information about\ndisease identification and recommended treatments that may be provided,\nand how to access such treatment;\n (11) reporting on behavior, actions, and responses to treatment by\ncollecting written and/or observational data as part of a\nmulti-disciplinary team;\n (12) using de-escalation techniques consistent with appropriate\ntraining;\n (13) performing assessments using standardized, structured interview\ntools or instruments;\n (14) directly delivering services outlined in the service plan that\nare not clinical in nature but have been tailored to an individual based\non any diagnoses such individual may have received from a licensed\nprofessional; and\n (15) advocating with educational, judicial or other systems to protect\nan individual's rights and access to appropriate services.\n (d) Provided, further, that nothing in this subdivision shall be\nconstrued as requiring a license for any particular activity or function\nbased solely on the fact that the activity or function is not listed in\nthis subdivision.\n 11. The conduct, activities or services of a technician to administer\nand score standardized objective (non-projective) psychological or\nneuropsychological tests which have specific predetermined and\nmanualized administrative procedures which entail observing and\ndescribing test behavior and test responses, and which do not require\nevaluation, interpretation or other judgments; provided, however, that\nsuch technician shall: (i) hold no less than a Bachelor's degree in\npsychology or a related field; (ii) undergo a process of regular\ntraining by a licensed psychologist, which shall include, but not be\nlimited to a minimum of eighty total hours of (a) professional ethics,\n(b) studying and mastering information from test manuals, and (c) direct\nobservation of a licensed psychologist or trained technician\nadministering and scoring tests, in addition to a minimum of forty total\nhours of administering and scoring tests in the presence of a licensed\npsychologist or trained technician, provided such interaction with the\nlicensed psychologist equals or exceeds fifty percent of the total\ntraining time; (iii) be under the direct and ongoing supervision of a\nlicensed psychologist in no greater than a 3:1 ratio or the part time\nequivalent thereto; (iv) not be employed within a school setting and (v)\nnot select tests, analyze patient data or communicate results to\npatients. The supervising licensed psychologist must submit, pursuant to\na form to be prescribed and developed within ninety days of the\neffective date of this subdivision by the department, a sworn statement\ndetailing compliance with the above requirements. The licensed\npsychologist's use of such individual pursuant to the terms of this\nsubdivision shall be undertaken only with special care and professional\njudgment in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the patient\nconsidering the severity of the symptoms, the age of the patient and the\nlength of the examination process, and shall include appropriate ongoing\ncontact with the licensed psychologist at appropriate intervals. Such\nuse shall be subject to the full disciplinary and regulatory authority\nof the board of regents and the department pursuant to this title. The\nlicensed psychologist must notify the patient or designated health care\nsurrogate that the licensed psychologist may utilize the services of a\ntechnician to administer certain exams, and must provide the patient or\ndesignated health care surrogate the opportunity to object to the\nlicensed psychologist's plan to utilize a technician.\n 12. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,\nnothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit or limit the\nactivities or services provided under this article by any person who is\nemployed or who commences employment in a program or service operated,\nregulated, funded, or approved by the department of mental hygiene, the\noffice of children and family services, or a local governmental unit as\nthat term is defined in section 41.03 of the mental hygiene law or a\nsocial services district as defined in section sixty-one of the social\nservices law on or before two years from the date that the regulations\nissued in accordance with section six of part Y of chapter fifty-seven\nof the laws of two thousand eighteen appear in the state register or are\nadopted, whichever is later. Such prohibitions or limitations shall not\napply to such employees for as long as they remain employed by such\nprograms or services and whether they remain employed by the same or\nother employers providing such programs or services. Provided, however,\nthat any person who commences employment in such program or service\nafter such date and performs services that are restricted under this\narticle shall be appropriately licensed or authorized under this\narticle. Each state oversight agency shall create and maintain a process\nto verify employment history of individuals exempt under this\nsubdivision.\n 13. The activities or services provided by a person with a master's\nlevel degree in psychology or its equivalent, working under the\nsupervision of a licensed psychologist in a program or service operated,\nregulated, funded, or approved by the department of mental hygiene, the\noffice of children and family services, or a local government unit as\nthat term is defined in section 41.03 of the mental hygiene law or a\nsocial services district as defined in section sixty-one of the social\nservices law.\n