Relates to the requirements for licensure of funeral directors

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic13

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Michael Gianaris says this is needed

The NYS Funeral Directors Association's (NYSFDA) "Task Force on Reform- ing Funeral Service Education" was created to study and identify oppor- tunities for elevating the practice of funeral directing by strengthen- ing certain areas of the profession's educational requirements. The area receiving the most attention as ripe for improvement was the Registered Residency program. Each person seeking a career in funeral service must serve a one-year residency program in a funeral home prior to becoming fully licensed to practice as a funeral director in New York State. While the residency program should continue to serve as an invaluable and necessary step towards licensure, the Task Force's consensus is that it could be improved by defining and further requiring that a resident perform specific, broad-based tasks to ensure that they are better prepared to become a fully licensed funeral director. In addition, the bill would require a resident to complete a "discernment period" with a licensed funeral firm before the start of the third semester of mortuary school. The real-world exposure to funeral directing that this discern- ment period provides would allow the resident to decide whether to continue to pursue a career in funeral service. NYSFDA's members have found that many students are yet undecided about this career, even after enrollment in school, but do not know that until they start working in a funeral home - well after they have completed their education and taken the required national and state tests. Finally, the bill would strengthen the State's residency program by increasing levels of accountability on both the aspiring funeral direc- tor resident and the person supervising him or her ("preceptor"). This legislation is largely modeled after Iowa's highly successful funeral service "internship" program and would better prepare the next gener- ation of funeral directors to serve the State's population at their times of need in the near future. As such, its enactment will not only improve New York State's funeral service sector for the future, but also ensure that our citizens continue to receive only the best service at their greatest time of need. This proposal also incorporates recommenda- tions from NYSFDA's "Funeral Service 2020" Task Force.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.