Requires the office of mental health, office of addiction services and supports and the department of education to create a behavioral health website which shall provide information on various behavioral health issues such as depression, eating disorders, anxiety, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder.
A05991 would require the New York Office of Mental Health, the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, and the Department of Education to jointly create and maintain a behavioral health website. The site would serve as a public information hub covering behavioral health conditions including depression, eating disorders, anxiety, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder.
The website would be required to provide basic educational content on each issue, including signs and symptoms and coping mechanisms for people experiencing these conditions. It would also include a county-organized resource guide with contact information for local behavioral health providers and services, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites where available. The bill would take effect 30 days after becoming law.
The bill would add a new state-level public information and referral function to the responsibilities of OMH, OASAS, and the Department of Education, but it does not create a new benefit program or mandate clinical treatment. Its main legal effect would be to require these agencies to develop and maintain an online behavioral health resource, with county-based listings of local services, thereby improving public access to mental health and addiction-related information and referrals.
No committee transcript or vote record is available, so there is no documented debate or recorded sentiment in the provided materials. Based on the bill text alone, the proposal appears informational and service-oriented, with an emphasis on public awareness, early identification of symptoms, and easier access to local behavioral health resources.
No specific points of contention are shown in the available record. Potential areas of discussion, if the bill were debated, could include the administrative burden on the three agencies, the accuracy and maintenance of county-by-county resource listings, and whether the website would duplicate existing state or local mental health and addiction information portals. However, none of these concerns are documented in the provided transcripts or votes.