New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law directing two state agencies to establish a single set of licensing standards for integrated behavioral health services in outpatient centers.
The measure, signed July 16, authorizes the commissioners of the state Office of Mental Health and the Office of Addiction Services and Supports to jointly set the standards and requirements for constructing, operating, reporting on and monitoring those centers.
The goal is to let a single licensed provider deliver both mental health and substance use treatment, rather than requiring patients with co-occurring disorders to navigate two separately regulated systems. Sponsors said the current split forces each system to spend time determining where a patient belongs, delaying care with sometimes fatal consequences.
“For too long, state residents suffering from substance use disorder with co-occurring mental health disorders have not received the comprehensive, holistic treatment that would benefit them because they must navigate different systems for help,” said state Sen. Pete Harckham, who sponsored the bill and chaired the Senate Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders Committee from 2019 to 2023.
The bill had failed to advance in the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 sessions before passing this year, according to its legislative history.
For health system and behavioral health leaders, the law signals a broader push toward integrated, whole-person care models — and a regulatory alignment that providers treating co-occurring conditions have long said is overdue. Implementation details, including the timeline for OMH and OASAS to issue the joint standards, remain to be worked out.
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