§ 2004-a. Coordinating council for services related to Alzheimer's
disease and other dementia. 1. There is hereby created in the department
of health a coordinating council for services related to Alzheimer's
disease and other dementia, to facilitate interagency planning and
policy, review specific agency initiatives for their impact on services
related to the care of persons with dementia and their families, and
provide a continuing forum for concerns and discussion related to the
formulation of a comprehensive state policy relating to Alzheimer's
disease and services for persons with incurable dementia.

2. The council shall be comprised of twenty-one members as follows:
the commissioner of health, the director of the state office for the
aging, the commissioner of children and family services, the
commissioner of education, the commissioner of mental health and the
commissioner of the office for people with developmental disabilities
who shall serve ex officio and who may designate representatives to act
on their behalf. The governor shall appoint seven other members with
expertise in Alzheimer's disease, other dementia or elder care issues,
at least two of whom shall represent not-for-profit corporations whose
primary purpose is to provide access to experts in the care of persons
with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, that are part of a
statewide network of not-for-profit corporations established
specifically to respond at the local and regional level to the needs of
this population and that provide family intervention services related to
Alzheimer's disease in order to postpone or prevent nursing home
placements of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia.
Eight members shall be appointed by the governor on the recommendation
of the legislative leaders as follows: the temporary president of the
senate and the speaker of the assembly shall each recommend three
members to the council. One of the three members recommended by the
temporary president and one of the three members recommended by the
speaker shall be a clinical or research expert in the field of dementia
and one of the three members appointed by each shall be a family member
or caregiver of a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other
dementia. One member shall be appointed on the recommendation of the
minority leader of the senate and one member shall be appointed on the
recommendation of the minority leader of the assembly. The commissioner
of health and the director of the office for the aging shall serve, ex
officio, as co-chairs of the council. Administrative duties shall be the
responsibility of the department. The members of the council shall
receive no compensation for their services.

3. Within one year after the effective date of this section, the
council shall establish community forums to gain input from consumers,
providers, key researchers in the field and other interested parties to
provide input and direction on developing a New York state plan for the
identification and treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the community. A
community forum shall be established in each of the following regions of
the state: Long Island, New York city, Northern Metropolitan New York,
Northeastern New York, Utica area, Central New York, Rochester area and
Western New York. Such state plan shall include but not be limited to
identifying best practices in working with persons with Alzheimer's
disease, best interventions for caregivers to help reduce caregiver
burnout, best approaches to training doctors, nurses and other medical
and non-medical professionals and paraprofessionals to identify
Alzheimer's disease, a community assessment of strengths and gaps in
community support services, ways in which to coordinate services among
various systems, different financing approaches to pay for community
support services and any other recommendations.

4. (a) The council shall meet quarterly or more frequently if its
business shall require. The community forums in the first year of
implementation count as a formal meeting of the council. The members of
the council shall receive no compensation but shall be reimbursed for
travel and other expenses actually and necessarily incurred in the
performance of their duties. The council shall provide reports to the
governor and the legislature on or before June thirtieth, two thousand
nine and by June thirtieth of every other year thereafter. Such reports
shall include recommendations for state policy relating to dementia and
a review of services initiated and coordinated among public and private
agencies to meet the needs of persons with Alzheimer's disease and other
dementia and their families.

(b) The council shall additionally review and report upon the use of
clinically recognized, scientifically based, cognitive impairment
screening tools used to identify signs of and individuals at-risk for
cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer's disease or other dementias,
in all settings of the health continuum. Such tools shall include but
not be limited to tools approved and/or recognized by the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS), and others as determined by the council which
are used by health care providers, across all settings of the health
continuum. The council shall also review and report on best practices of
providers concerning early identification of at-risk individuals and
referral practices, the range of interventions and services available
for the cognitively impaired, and shall report its assessment of the
need and presence of such tools and practices in each sector of the
health continuum. The council shall further include in its reports any
findings concerning potential gaps of identification and intervention
for the cognitively impaired, the need for public education about
cognitive impairment, and recommendations to address that education
need.

5. The department shall serve as the focal point to develop
comprehensive coordinated responses of the various state agencies with
regard to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia and thus help to
assure timely and appropriate responses to issues and problems. The
department shall collaborate with the state office for the aging on
issues related to nonmedical support services for individuals with
Alzheimer's disease and other dementia and their caregivers. The
department shall collaborate with other appropriate state agencies to
establish a simplified coordinated assessment procedure for obtaining
needed services for persons with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia.

6. The department, in consultation with the council, shall utilize
data and information compiled and maintained pursuant to this article to
coordinate state funded research efforts to ensure the most efficient
use of funds available for this purpose.