Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H2/20/23 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 LICENSE D 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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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 paid, full-time member of a fire department or 30
firefighting unit of a city of the first class, city of the second class, 31
fire protection district, or an incorporated town or an unincorporated rural 32
area of this state who actively engages in the fighting of fires on a regular 33
basis; or 34
(B) A paid, full-time instructor of the Arkansas Fire 35
Training Academy or a member of the firefighting organization of the Arkansas 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 HB1302
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National Guard Robinson Maneuver Training Center or of the Arkansas National 1
Guard Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center; 2
(2) "Licensed counseling" means counseling provided by a 3
licensed mental health professional; 4
(3) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 5
individual who: 6
(A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 7
(B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 8
(C) Is one (1) of the following: 9
(i) A psychiatrist; 10
(ii) A psychologist; 11
(iii) A mental health professional who holds either 12
a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health professio n; 13
(iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 14
health clinical nurse who is: 15
(a) A registered nurse licensed and certified 16
by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 17
(b) Working within the scope of practice as 18
authorized by law; or 19
(v) A psychiatric physician assistant who is working 20
under the supervision of a licensed physician; 21
(4) "Police officer" means: 22
(A) A paid, full-time law enforcement officer engaged in 23
official duty who is a member of: 24
(i) A regular police force; 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 paid, full-time sheriff or deputy sheriff of a 32
county of this state who is engaged in official duty; or 33
(C) A paid, full-time constable or night marshal of a town 34
of this state who is engaged in official duty; 35
(5) "Public safety employee" means a public employee who is: 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 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) A public employer that employs a public safety employee shall 16
provide coverage for licensed counseling for a public safety employee who 17
experiences a traumatic event while in the course of duty. 18
(2)(A) The coverage under subdivision (b)(1) shall allow for up 19
to twelve (12) licensed counseling visits. 20
(B) The public employer shall pay for the licensed 21
counseling visits. 22
(C) The licensed counseling visits may be provided through 23
telehealth. 24
(c) Payment by a public employer for licensed counseling under this 25
section does not create a presumption that a claim is compensable under §§ 26
11-9-113 or 11-9-114. 27
(d)(1) A public employer that provides coverage under subdivision 28
(b)(1) of this section shall ensure that the following data is compiled as 29
part of the coverage: 30
(A) The number of public safety em ployees who have 31
participated in licensed counseling; 32
(B) The average number of visits of licensed counseling 33
per public safety employee; 34
(C) The average number of months that a public safety 35
employee participated in licensed counseling; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 HB1302
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(D) The average number of days that a public safety 1
employee who participated in licensed counseling missed work; 2
(E)(i) The total number of public safety employees who 3
participated in licensed counseling and who subsequently filed a workers' 4
compensation claim. 5
(ii) The data compiled under subdivision 6
(d)(1)(E)(i) of this section shall include the number of claims that were 7
approved and the number of claims that were denied; and 8
(F) For each public employer: 9
(i) The total amount of work missed by public safety 10
employees who participated in licensed counseling; and 11
(ii) How missed work was accounted for by the public 12
employer or through employee benefits . 13
(2) In implementing subdivision (d)(1) of this section, a public 14
employer shall not compile and report data that is protected under the Health 15
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104 -191. 16
(e)(1)(A) A public employer shall allow a public safety employee 17
to select the public safety employee's own licensed me ntal health 18
professional. 19
(B) However, if a licensed mental health professional 20
declines to provide licensed counseling under this section, then the public 21
employer is not required to secure the services of that licensed mental 22
health professional unde r subdivision (e)(1)(A) of this section. 23
(2) The public employer shall pay the licensed mental health 24
professional subject to the deductibles and conditions under the public 25
safety employee's current health benefit plan. 26
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SECTION 2. DO NOT CODIFY. Study of availability of peer support 28
access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters — Legislative 29
findings — Reporting requirements — Definitions. 30
(a) As used in this section: 31
(1) "Licensed counseling" means counseling provided by a 32
licensed mental health professional; 33
(2) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 34
individual who: 35
(A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 HB1302
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(B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 1
(C) Is one (1) of the following: 2
(i) A psychiatrist; 3
(ii) A psychologist; 4
(iii) A mental health professional who holds either 5
a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 6
(iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 7
health clinical nurse who is: 8
(a) A registered nurse licensed and certified 9
by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 10
(b) Working within the scope of practice as 11
authorized by law; or 12
(v) A psychiatric physician assistant who is working 13
under the supervision of a licensed physician; 14
(3) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 15
the line of duty to an incident involving: 16
(A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 17
a person; 18
(B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 19
minor; 20
(C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 21
another person; or 22
(D) A mass casualty event; and 23
(4) "Volunteer firefighter" means a member of a fire department 24
or firefighting unit who: 25
(A) Actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 26
operation, or other firefighting activity; and 27
(B) Receives less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) in 28
total compensation during the taxable year from the volunteer fire department 29
or firefighting unit that the volunteer firefighter services. 30
(b) The General Assembly finds that: 31
(1) Volunteer firefighters provide a valuable and important 32
service to the citizens and communities in this state by participating in a 33
firefighting unit that actively eng ages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 34
operation, or other firefighting activities; 35
(2) Volunteer firefighters may experience traumatic events that 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 HB1302
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experience and training has not adequately prepared the volunteer 1
firefighters to handle and address in a healthy way; 2
(3) A volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event 3
should have access to licensed counseling and other available resources; 4
(4) Coverage for licensed counseling should be made available to 5
a volunteer firefighter who experien ces a traumatic event; and 6
(5) In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of licensed 7
counseling for volunteer firefighters and benefits or difficulties in the 8
providing coverage for licensed counseling to volunteer firefighters, 9
additional data is neede d. 10
(c) The State Fire Prevention Commission with the cooperation of local 11
governments interested in participating shall study the availability of peer 12
support access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters to evaluate 13
the viability and sustain ability of providing coverage for licensed 14
counseling and peer support access for volunteer firefighters. 15
(d) The study under subsection (c) of this section shall include: 16
(1) Evaluating possible ways to fund coverage for licensed 17
counseling for a tra umatic event for volunteer firefighters; and 18
(2) Developing recommendations for potential legislation that is 19
necessary to implement coverage for licensed counseling for volunteer 20
firefighters. 21
(e) A report summarizing the results of the study under t his section 22
shall be filed with the Legislative Council no later than July 1, 2024. 23
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SECTION 3. DO NOT CODIFY. EFFECTIVE DATE. Section 1 of this act is 25
effective on or after January 1, 2024. 26
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/s/Wing 28
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