Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1302 3
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By: Representative Wing 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 7
AN ACT TO MANDATE TR AUMATIC EVENT LICENS ED COUNSELING 8
FOR PUBLIC SAFETY EM PLOYEES; TO REQUIRE A STUDY OF 9
AVAILABILITY FOR PEE R SUPPORT ACCESS FOR VOLUNTEER 10
FIREFIGHTERS; AND FO R OTHER PURPOSES. 11
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Subtitle 14
TO MANDATE TRAUMATIC EVENT LICENSED 15
COUNSELING FOR PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES; 16
AND TO REQUIRE A STUDY OF AVAILABILITY 17
FOR PEER SUPPORT ACCESS FOR VOLUNTEER 18
FIREFIGHTERS. 19
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21
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 22
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 21, Chapter 5, Subchapter 6, is amended 24
to add an additional section to read as follows: 25
21-5-611. Traumatic event licensed counseling for public safety 26
employees — Exceptions — Definitions. 27
(a) As used in this section: 28
(1) "Firefighter" means: 29
(A) A member of a fire department or firefighting unit of 30
a city of the first class, city of the second class, or an incorporated town 31
or an unincorporated rural area of this state who actively engages in the 32
fighting of fires on a regular basis; or 33
(B) An instructor of the Arkansas Fire Training Academy or 34
a member of the firefighting organization of the Arkansas National Guard 35
Robinson Maneuver Training Center or of the Arkansas National Guard Fort 36 HB1302
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Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center; 1
(2) "Licensed counseling" means counseling provided by a 2
licensed mental health professional; 3
(3) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 4
individual who: 5
(A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 6
(B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; an d 7
(C) Is one (1) of the following: 8
(i) A psychiatrist; 9
(ii) A psychologist; 10
(iii) A mental health professional who holds either 11
a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 12
(iv) A mental health nurse practi tioner or mental 13
health clinical nurse who is: 14
(a) A registered nurse licensed and certified 15
by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 16
(b) Working within the scope of practice as 17
authorized by law; or 18
(v) A psychiatric physician assistant who is working 19
under the supervision of a licensed physician; 20
(4) "Police officer" means: 21
(A) A law enforcement officer engaged in official duty who 22
is a member of: 23
(i) A regular or auxiliary police force on a full-24
time or part-time basis; 25
(ii) The Division of Arkansas State Police; or 26
(iii) The law enforcement organization of the: 27
(a) Arkansas National Guard Robinson Maneuver 28
Training Center; or 29
(b) Arkansas National Guard Fort Chaffee Joint 30
Maneuver Training Center; 31
(B) A sheriff or deputy sheriff of a county of this state 32
who is engaged in official duty; or 33
(C) A constable or night marshal of a town of this state 34
who is engaged in official duty; 35
(5) "Public safety employee" means a public employee who is: 36 HB1302
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(A) A member of a state -supported retirement system; 1
(B) A probation officer, surveillance officer, or juvenile 2
detention officer employed by this state or a political subdivision of this 3
state; 4
(C) A firefighter; or 5
(D) A police officer; and 6
(6) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 7
the line of duty to an incident involving: 8
(A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 9
a person; 10
(B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 11
minor; 12
(C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 13
another person; or 14
(D) A mass casualties event. 15
(b)(1) Except as provided in subsection (i) of this section, a public 16
employer that employs a public safety employee shall provide coverage for 17
licensed counseling for a public safety employee who experiences a traumatic 18
event while in the course of duty. 19
(2)(A) The coverage under subdivision (b)(1) shall allow for up 20
to twelve (12) licensed counseling visits. 21
(B) The public employer shall pay for the licensed 22
counseling visits. 23
(C) The licensed counseling visits may be provided through 24
telehealth. 25
(c) Payment by a public employer for licensed counseling under this 26
section does not create a presumption that a claim is compensable under §§ 27
11-9-113 or 11-9-114. 28
(d)(1) A public employer that provides coverage under subdivision 29
(b)(1) of this section shall ensure that the following data is compiled as 30
part of the coverage: 31
(A) The number of public safety e mployees who have 32
participated in licensed counseling; 33
(B) The average number of visits of licensed counseling 34
per public safety employee; 35
(C) The average number of months that a public safety 36 HB1302
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employee participated in licensed counseling; 1
(D) The average number of days that a public safety 2
employee who participated in licensed counseling missed work; 3
(E)(i) The total number of public safety employees who 4
participated in licensed counseling and who subsequently filed a workers' 5
compensation claim. 6
(ii) The data compiled under subdivision 7
(d)(1)(E)(i) of this section shall include the number of claims that were 8
approved and the number of claims that were denied; 9
(F) For each public employer: 10
(i) The total amount of work missed by public safety 11
employees who participated in licensed counseling; and 12
(ii) How missed work was accounted for by the public 13
employer or through employee benefits; 14
(G) For the total number of public safety employees who 15
have participated in licensed counseling, the percentage of public safety 16
employees who received additional visits under subsection (e) of this 17
section; and 18
(H) For the total number of public safety employees who 19
have participated in licensed counseling, the percentage of public sa fety 20
employees who were deemed not fit for duty by a licensed mental health 21
professional under subsection (g) of this section. 22
(2) In implementing subdivision (d)(1) of this section, a public 23
employer shall not compile and report data that is protected under the Health 24
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104 -191. 25
(e) If a licensed mental health professional determines that the 26
public safety employee needs additional visits of licensed counseling beyond 27
those to which the p ublic safety employee is entitled under subdivision 28
(b)(1) of this section and that the additional visits are likely to improve 29
the public safety employee's condition, the public employer shall pay for up 30
to an additional twenty -four (24) visits if the vis its occur within one (1) 31
year after the first visit under this section. 32
(f) A public employer shall not require a public safety employee who 33
is receiving treatment under this section to use the public safety employee's 34
accrued paid vacation leave, person al leave, or sick leave if the public 35
safety employee leaves work to attend licensed counseling under this section. 36 HB1302
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(g) If a licensed mental health professional determines that the 1
public safety employee is not fit for duty while the public safety employ ee 2
is receiving treatment under this section, then the public employer shall 3
ensure that the public safety employee has no loss of pay and benefits for up 4
to thirty (30) calendar days per incident after the date the licensed mental 5
health professional dete rmines that the public safety employee is not fit for 6
duty if all of the following apply: 7
(1) The public safety employee is unable to work light duty or 8
the public employer does not offer a light duty option; 9
(2) The public safety employee has exhaus ted the public safety 10
employee's sick leave, vacation leave, or other leave that is provided as 11
part of the public safety employee's benefits package; 12
(3) If a public employer offers short -term disability benefits, 13
then the public employer offered and t he public safety employee elected 14
short-term disability benefits, but the public safety employee is not 15
eligible to receive short -term disability benefits; and 16
(4)(A) A public employer does not have a supplemental program 17
that provides pay and benefits after the occurrence of an injury. 18
(B) As used in subdivision (g)(4)(A) of this section, a 19
"supplemental program" means a program that provides pay and benefits after 20
the occurrence of an injury but does not include a supplemental benefits plan 21
established under § 24-6-401 et seq. 22
(h)(1)(A) A public employer shall allow a public safety employee to 23
select the public safety employee's own licensed mental health professional. 24
(B) However, if a licensed mental health professional 25
declines to provide l icensed counseling under this section, then the public 26
employer is not required to secure the services of that licensed mental 27
health professional under subdivision (h)(1)(A) of this section. 28
(2) The public employer shall pay the licensed mental health 29
professional under the fee schedule that is fixed under this subchapter. 30
(i) This section does not apply to a public employer that provides 31
licensed counseling to a public safety employee if the licensed counseling: 32
(1) Is paid for by the public emplo yer; 33
(2)(A) Provides licensed counseling for any issue. 34
(B) For licensed counseling related to a trauma event, 35
this subdivision (i)(2) applies if the licensed counseling is provided at the 36 HB1302
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request of the public safety employee and is in person; 1
(3) Before January 1, 2024, allows for at least six (6) visits 2
per year; and 3
(4) On or after January 1, 2024, allows for at least twelve (12) 4
visits per year. 5
6
SECTION 2. DO NOT CODIFY. Study of availability of peer support 7
access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters — Legislative 8
findings — Reporting requirements — Definitions. 9
(a) As used in this section: 10
(1) "Licensed counseling" means counseling provided by a 11
licensed mental health professional; 12
(2) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 13
individual who: 14
(A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 15
(B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 16
(C) Is one (1) of the following: 17
(i) A psychiatrist; 18
(ii) A psychologist; 19
(iii) A mental health professional who holds either 20
a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 21
(iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 22
health clinical nurse who is: 23
(a) A registered nurse licensed and certified 24
by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 25
(b) Working within the scope of practice as 26
authorized by law; or 27
(v) A psychiatric physician assistant who is working 28
under the supervision of a licensed physician; 29
(3) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 30
the line of duty to an incident involving: 31
(A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 32
a person; 33
(B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 34
minor; 35
(C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 36 HB1302
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another person; or 1
(D) A mass casualty event; and 2
(4) "Volunteer firefighter" means a member of a fire department 3
or firefighting unit who: 4
(A) Actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 5
operation, or other firefighting activity; and 6
(B) Receives less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) in 7
total compensation during the taxable year from the volunteer fire department 8
or firefighting unit that the volunteer firefighter services. 9
(b) The General Assembly finds that: 10
(1) Volunteer firefighters provide a valuable and important 11
service to the citizens and communities in this state by participating in a 12
firefighting unit that actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 13
operation, or other fir efighting activities; 14
(2) Volunteer firefighters may experience traumatic events that 15
experience and training has not adequately prepared the volunteer 16
firefighters to handle and address in a healthy way; 17
(3) A volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event 18
should have access to licensed counseling and other available resources; 19
(4) Coverage for licensed counseling should be made available to 20
a volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event; and 21
(5) In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of licensed 22
counseling for volunteer firefighters and benefits or difficulties in the 23
providing coverage for licensed counseling to volunteer firefighters, 24
additional data is needed. 25
(c) The State Fire Prevention Commission with the coopera tion of local 26
governments interested in participating shall study the availability of peer 27
support access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters to evaluate 28
the viability and sustainability of providing coverage for licensed 29
counseling and peer support access for volunteer firefighters. 30
(d) The study under subsection (c) of this section shall include: 31
(1) Evaluating possible ways to fund coverage for licensed 32
counseling for a traumatic event for volunteer firefighters; and 33
(2) Developing recommendations for potential legislation that is 34
necessary to implement coverage for licensed counseling for volunteer 35
firefighters. 36 HB1302
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(e) A report summarizing the results of the study under this section 1
shall be filed with the Legislative Council no later than July 1, 2024. 2
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