6507 - Administration by the education department.
§ 6507. Administration by the education department. 1. The commissioner and the department shall administer the admission to and the practice of the professions. 2. In administering, the commissioner may: a. Promulgate regulations, except that no regulations shall be promulgated concerning article 131-A of this chapter; b. Conduct investigations; c. Issue subpoenas; d. Grant immunity from prosecution in accordance with section 50.20 of the criminal procedure law to anyone subpoenaed in any investigation or hearing conducted pursuant to this title; and e. Excuse, for cause acceptable to the commissioner, the failure to register with the department. Such excuse shall validate and authorize such practitioner's right to practice pending registration. 3. The department assisted by the board for each profession, shall: a. Establish standards for preprofessional and professional education, experience and licensing examinations as required to implement the article for each profession. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner shall establish standards requiring that all persons applying, on or after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, initially, or for the renewal of, a license, registration or limited permit to be a physician, chiropractor, dentist, registered nurse, podiatrist, optometrist, psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed master social worker, licensed clinical social worker, licensed creative arts therapist, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed mental health counselor, licensed psychoanalyst, or dental hygienist shall, in addition to all the other licensure, certification or permit requirements, have completed two hours of coursework or training regarding the identification and reporting of child abuse and maltreatment. The coursework or training shall be obtained from an institution or provider which has been approved by the department to provide such coursework or training. The coursework or training shall include information regarding the physical and behavioral indicators of child abuse and maltreatment and the statutory reporting requirements set out in sections four hundred thirteen through four hundred twenty of the social services law, including but not limited to, when and how a report must be made, what other actions the reporter is mandated or authorized to take, the legal protections afforded reporters, and the consequences for failing to report. Such coursework or training may also include information regarding the physical and behavioral indicators of the abuse of individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities and voluntary reporting of abused or neglected adults to the office of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or the local adult protective services unit. Each applicant shall provide the department with documentation showing that he or she has completed the required training. The department shall provide an exemption from the child abuse and maltreatment training requirements to any applicant who requests such an exemption and who shows, to the department's satisfaction, that there would be no need because of the nature of his or her practice for him or her to complete such training; b. Review qualifications in connection with licensing requirements; and c. Provide for licensing examinations and reexaminations. 4. The department shall: a. Register or approve educational programs designed for the purpose of providing professional preparation which meet standards established by the department.b. Issue licenses, registrations, and limited permits to qualified applicants; c. (i) Issue a certificate of authority to a qualified professional service corporation being organized under section fifteen hundred three of the business corporation law or to a university faculty practice corporation being organized under section fourteen hundred twelve of the not-for-profit corporation law on payment of a fee of ninety dollars, (ii) require such corporations to file a certified copy of each certificate of incorporation and amendment thereto within thirty days after the filing of such certificate or amendment on payment of a fee of twenty dollars, (iii) require such corporations to file a triennial statement required by section fifteen hundred fourteen of the business corporation law on payment of a fee of one hundred five dollars. d. Revoke limited permits on the recommendation of the committee on professional conduct for the profession concerned, except for limited permits issued to physicians, physician's assistants and specialist's assistants which shall be subject to sections two hundred thirty, two hundred thirty-a, two hundred thirty-b and two hundred thirty-c of the public health law; e. Maintain public records of licenses issued and retain in its files identifying data concerning each person to whom a license has been issued; e-1. Compile and make available to the New York city department of buildings in electronic form: (i) a list of all architects and professional engineers currently licensed by and registered with the department; (ii) a list of all architects and professional engineers who currently hold limited permits issued by the department, together with the conditions and limitations applicable to each such limited permit; and (iii) a list of all architects and professional engineers whose licenses have been revoked or suspended by the board of regents of the state of New York or who are currently on probation, together with the date of revocation or the date and duration of suspension or probation, as applicable. The New York city department of buildings shall not accept plans or other documents submitted in connection with applications for work permits under articles ten through seventeen of subchapter one of chapter one of title twenty-seven of the administrative code of the city of New York by any person representing that he or she is an architect or professional engineer without verifying, by means of such lists, that such person meets the qualifications established by law to practice as an architect or professional engineer in New York state. f. Collect the fees prescribed by this title or otherwise provided by law; g. Prepare an annual report for the legislature, the governor and other executive offices, the state boards for the professions, professional societies, consumer agencies and other interested persons. Such report shall include but not be limited to a description and analysis of the administrative procedures and operations of the department based upon a statistical summary relating to (i) new licensure, (ii) discipline, (iii) complaint, investigation, and hearing backlog, (iv) budget, and (v) the state boards for the professions. Information provided shall be enumerated by profession; and h. Establish an administrative unit which shall be responsible for the investigation, prosecution and determination of alleged violations of professional conduct. 5. Where an application is submitted for licensure or a limited permit in any profession regulated by this title and the commissioner determines that while engaged in practice in another jurisdiction: (i)the applicant has been subject to disciplinary action by a duly authorized professional disciplinary agency of such other jurisdiction, where the conduct upon which the disciplinary action was based would, if committed in New York state, constitute practicing the profession beyond its authorized scope, with gross incompetence, with gross negligence on a particular occasion, or with negligence or incompetence on more than one occasion under the laws of New York state, or (ii) the applicant has voluntarily or otherwise surrendered his or her professional license in another jurisdiction after a disciplinary action was instituted by a duly authorized professional disciplinary agency of such other jurisdiction based on conduct that would, if committed in New York state, constitute practicing the profession beyond its authorized scope, with gross incompetence, with gross negligence on a particular occasion, or with negligence or incompetence on more than one occasion under the laws of New York state, the department shall evaluate the conduct and the commissioner may deny licensure or issuance of a limited permit to the applicant based on such conduct. 6. The commissioner and the department shall perform any other functions necessary to implement this title.