N.Y. Correct. Law § 401-a

§ 401-a. Oversight responsibilities of the justice center for the\nprotection of people with special needs. 1. The justice center for the\nprotection of people with special needs shall be responsible for\nmonitoring the quality of mental health care provided to inmates\npursuant to article twenty of the executive law. The justice center\nshall have direct and immediate access to all areas where state\nprisoners are housed, and to clinical and department records relating to\ninmates' clinical conditions. The justice center shall maintain the\nconfidentiality of all patient-specific information.\n 2. The justice center shall monitor the quality of care in residential\nmental health treatment programs and shall ensure compliance with\nparagraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision six of section one hundred\nthirty-seven of this chapter and section four hundred one of this\narticle. The justice center may recommend to the department and the\noffice of mental health that inmates in segregated confinement pursuant\nto subdivision six of section one hundred thirty-seven of this chapter\nbe evaluated for placement in a residential mental health treatment\nunit. It may also recommend ways to further the goal of diverting and\nremoving inmates with serious mental illness from segregated confinement\nto residential mental health treatment units. The justice center shall\ninclude in its annual report to the governor and the legislature\npursuant to section five hundred sixty of the executive law, a\ndescription of the state's progress in complying with this article,\nwhich shall be publicly available.\n 3. The justice center shall appoint an advisory committee on\npsychiatric correctional care ("committee"), which shall be composed of\nindependent mental health experts and mental health advocates, and may\ninclude family members of former inmates with serious mental illness.\nSuch committee shall advise the justice center on its oversight\nresponsibilities pursuant to this section. The committee may also make\nrecommendations to the justice center regarding improvements to\nprison-based mental health care. Nothing in this subdivision shall be\ndeemed to authorize members of the committee to have access to a\ncorrectional or mental hygiene facility or any part of such a facility.\nProvided, however, newly appointed members of the advisory committee\nshall be provided with a tour of a segregated confinement unit and a\nresidential mental health treatment unit, as selected by the\ncommissioner. Any such tour shall be arranged on a date and at a time\nselected by the commissioner and upon such terms and conditions as are\nwithin the sole discretion of the commissioner.\n