April 1, 2025

At the February 2025 Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council (BHASC) meeting, OMH presented the second draft of proposed changes to Part 551 (PAR Review Process) that was ultimately supported by the full Council.  The good news is that the version supported by the Council did not include the requirement (appeared in an earlier version of the proposed reg) that would have required a MHOTRS provider to file an EZ PAR whenever program staffing levels changed in either direction by 5.5 FTEs or more.

For a look at the proposed version that was approved by the BHASC, use this link:  https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/bh_services_council/part_551_02262025.pdf

Our understanding is that once the Executive Chamber approves, the revised regs will get posted for public comments.

This is potentially good news for NYS Council members and something worth celebrating considering we sent very ‘assertive’ comments to the state regarding the proposed EZ PAR requirement that would have been (at a minimum) deeply inefficient.