§ 3429 — Continuing education for funeral directors

§ 3429. Continuing education for funeral directors. 1. Definitions. As\nused in this section:\n (a) "Biennium" means any two-year period for registration of\nindividuals licensed to practice funeral directing or embalming in this\nstate pursuant to section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of\nthis title;\n (b) "Continuing education" means a course of instruction in a field of\nfuneral directing, within the subjects listed in subdivision five of\nthis section, taught by a provider registered with the department under\nsubdivision four of this section;\n (c) "Contact hour" means a period of between fifty and sixty minutes,\ncontinuously measured;\n (d) "Provider" means a national, state or local trade association of\nfuneral directors, a school for funeral directors approved under section\nthree thousand four hundred twenty-five of this title or, with prior or\nprovisional approval of course content by the department under\nsubdivision four of this section, any other person or organization\ndesiring to offer continuing education;\n (e) "Trade association" means an organization, whether incorporated or\nnot, whose primary class of members consists of ten or more firms under\nseparate ownerships or twenty individuals in different employment, all\nregistered under section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of\nthis title in an aspect of funeral service, which has been organized and\nmaintained for at least two years prior to offering continuing education\nunder this section for the collective benefit of its members.\n 2. Requirement. (a) Every person who renews a certificate of\nregistration under section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of\nthis title shall file with the department, along with his or her\nbiennial application for renewal, a certification attesting to the\ncourse or programs of instruction taken and successfully completed by\nsuch person and which clearly demonstrates that the person has completed\nthe minimum number of hours of continuing education within the current\nbiennium as set forth in subdivision three of this section.\n (b) The department shall provide a certification form which shall\nrequire the following information:\n (i) Applicant's full name and registration number;\n (ii) Applicant's statement that he or she attended a specified number\nof hours of continuing education within the current biennium, consisting\nof courses identified by sponsor, date, location, and length of time in\nhours; and\n (iii) Applicant's signature and date.\n (c) This subdivision shall not apply to a funeral director, undertaker\nor embalmer who is an inactive registrant pursuant to subdivision nine\nof section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of this title.\n 3. Minimum hours. The minimum hours of continuing education which an\nindividual renewing registration must complete are:\n (a) to renew for the first biennium commencing on June thirtieth, two\nthousand two, six hours within the current biennium concluding on such\ndate.\n (b) to renew for all subsequent biennia, twelve hours within each\nbiennium, including at least two hours relating to applicable New York\nstate laws and regulations affecting funeral directing, embalming and\npreneed services, which may be provided by the department or a provider\nregistered pursuant to the provisions of subdivision four of this\nsection.\n 4. Provider registration; course content approval. (a) Any person who\nis a provider and who desires to offer continuing education shall first\nregister with the department and pay a registration fee of one hundred\nfifty dollars for the first biennium. A provider once registered may\nrenew the registration for subsequent biennia for a fee of seventy-five\ndollars per biennium. The provider shall submit with its registration\nfee an affidavit which includes the following information and\nstatements:\n (i) Provider's name, address, telephone number, and, when known, names\nof individual instructors;\n (ii) Provider's agreement to accept periodic monitoring of its courses\nby the department;\n (iii) Provider's certification that the contents of each course are\nwithin the scope of subdivision five of this section;\n (iv) Provider's commitment to verify attendance at each course and to\nmaintain attendance records for department inspection for five years;\n (v) Provider's commitment to establish a mechanism whereby licensees\nmay evaluate the quality and content of each course taken as well as the\nprovider's overall program when requested to do so by the department,\nand to maintain records of such evaluations for department inspection\nfor five years;\n (vi) Provider's agreement to submit to the department such evidence as\nis necessary to establish compliance with this section;\n (vii) Provider's acknowledgment that disapproval by the department of\na particular course or revocation of the provider's registration may\nresult in nonrecognition of hours of continuing education from that\nprovider; and\n (viii) Provider's signature and date and verification by a notary\npublic.\n (b) A registered provider which is required to obtain prior approval\nof courses shall submit to the department a written description of each\ncourse for which approval is requested, at least sixty days prior to the\nfirst date the course is to be offered. If the department does not\ndisapprove the proposed course within ninety days of its receipt of the\nwritten description and request for approval, the course shall be\nconsidered approved provisionally for six months. Following the six\nmonths of provisional approval, the department may make a final\ndetermination disapproving the course. Notwithstanding such\ndetermination, however, any individuals licensed pursuant to section\nthree thousand four hundred twenty-eight of this title shall receive\nfull continuing education credit for any course taken during the period\nof provisional approval to fulfill the requirements of this section.\n (c) Any provider registered to offer continuing education under this\nsection shall require each person taking instruction to display or\nprovide, prior to admission or before the initiation of any such\ninstruction, personal photo identification in the form of an automobile\ndriver's license, passport or any other similar form of photo\nidentification issued by a governmental entity, or a trade association\nas defined in this section. The provider may allow the use of a\nphotocopy of such identification for computer-based or distance learning\ninstruction.\n (d) The department may impose a fine of no less than the biennial\nregistration fee upon a provider who violates the provisions of this\nsection. For a second violation, the department may impose an additional\nfine of up to five hundred dollars and suspend the registration for the\nbalance of the biennium. Nothing herein shall prevent the attorney\ngeneral from bringing a civil action against any provider offering\ncontinuing education courses without the prior or provisional approval\nof the department.\n (e) Registered provider status may be revoked by the department if the\nreporting requirements contained in this section are not met or, if upon\nreview of the provider's performance, the department determines that the\ncontent of the course materials, the quality of the continuing education\nactivities or the provider's performance does not meet the requirements\nset forth herein. In such event, the department shall send the provider\nby ordinary mail a notice of revocation. The revocation shall take\neffect no less than sixty days from the date such mailed revocation is\npostmarked. The provider may request a review of such revocation, and\nthe department shall determine the request within thirty days. The\ndecision of the department shall be final after such review.\n (f) Section twelve of this chapter shall not apply to this section;\nprovided, however, that any action by the department in suspending or\nrevoking a provider registration in accordance with this subdivision\nshall be reviewable by the supreme court of the state of New York\npursuant to the provisions of article seventy-eight of the civil\npractice law and rules.\n 5. Subjects of continuing education. The subjects of continuing\neducation may be one or more of the following: aftercare, business\nadministration, religion, natural sciences, management services, data\nprocessing, organ procurement, preneed services, jurisprudence (federal,\nstate, and local), restorative arts and embalming, funeral service\ncounseling, funeral customs, sanitation and infection control, and\nhospice and similar outreach programs.\n 6. Credit for preparation. A licensed funeral director may earn up to\ntwo hours of continuing education credit for preparing an hour of\ncontinuing education that he or she then teaches, and may earn the hour\nsolely for teaching that material the first time. No one may earn more\nthan six hours per biennium for preparation and teaching.\n 7. Classroom time; minimum percentage. A funeral director shall take\nat least fifty percent of his continuing education requirement each\nbiennium in the form of receiving live classroom instruction. The\nremainder may be in other forms such as videotape, audiotape,\nteleconference, satellite seminars, internet coursework, credits for\npreparation, or correspondence coursework.\n 8. Licensees in other states. A funeral director licensed as such by\nthe state of New York who is maintaining his or her registration in this\nstate while residing in another state is subject to the requirements of\nthis section. The department may grant a non-resident licensee credit\nfor continuing education as required by the state in which such licensee\nresides, provided the department deems them equivalent to New York\ncontinuing education requirements as set forth herein.\n 9. Late filing; fines; grace period. (a) The department shall impose a\nfine equal to the biennial registration fee upon a registrant who fails\nto file the certification of continuing education within the time\nprescribed under subdivision two of this section, for the first such\nlate filing. The department shall also allow such a registrant a grace\nperiod of one hundred twenty days into the biennium to comply with this\nsection and to file the certification. After one hundred twenty days,\nthe department shall suspend the registration for the balance of the\nbiennium.\n (b) A registrant who violates the filing requirements and deadlines of\nthis section a second time shall, upon that and any subsequent\nviolations, be subject to an additional fine of no more than five\nhundred dollars and suspension as the department may impose.\n (c) A person who holds an inactive certificate of registration who\nwishes to reinstate an active registration shall complete twelve hours\nof continuing education prior to obtaining such active registration.\n (d) A person whose registration has been suspended by the department\nfor violating the filing requirements contained in this subdivision and\nwho wishes to gain reinstatement of such registration shall complete\ntwelve hours of continuing education and pay a reinstatement fee of two\nhundred fifty dollars to the department prior to obtaining reinstatement\nof such registration.\n (e) With respect to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, the\ndepartment shall send the registrant by ordinary mail a notice of\nsuspension. The suspension shall take effect no less than sixty days\nfrom the date such mailed suspension is postmarked.\n 10. Funeral directors shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing\neducation requirements prescribed herein for the biennium during which\nthey are first licensed.\n 11. Enforcement. (a) The department may not renew the registration of\na licensed funeral director who has not complied with this section.\n (b) The department may audit at random the certifications of licensees\nand the affidavits of providers, and may suspend or revoke the\nregistration and/or license of a person who has knowingly made a false\nstatement under oath.\n