N.Y. Family Court Act § 756-a: Extension of placement

§ 756-a. Extension of placement. (a) In any case in which the child

has been placed pursuant to paragraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of section

seven hundred fifty-six of this part, the child, the person with whom

the child has been placed or the commissioner of social services may

petition the court to extend such placement, as provided for in this

section. Such petition shall be filed at least fifteen days prior to the

expiration of the initial placement and at least thirty days prior to

the expiration of the period of any additional placement authorized

pursuant to this section, except for good cause shown, but in no event

shall such petition be filed after the original expiration date.

(b) The court shall conduct a permanency hearing concerning the need

for continuing the placement. The child, the person with whom the child

has been placed and the commissioner of social services shall be

notified of such hearing and shall have the right to be heard thereat.

(c) The provisions of section seven hundred forty-five shall apply at

such permanency hearing. If the petition is filed within thirty days

prior to the expiration of the period of placement, the court shall

first determine at such permanency hearing whether good cause has been

shown. If good cause is not shown, the court shall dismiss the petition.

(d) (i) At the conclusion of the first permanency hearing the court

may, in its discretion, order one extension of the placement for not

more than six months;

(ii) At the conclusion of the second permanency hearing, the court

may, in its discretion, order one extension of placement for not more

than four months unless:

(A) The attorney for the child, at the request of the child, seeks an

additional length of stay for the child in such program. If a request is

made pursuant to this subparagraph, the court shall determine whether to

grant such request based on the best interest of the child; or

(B) The court finds that extenuating circumstances exists that

necessitate the child be placed out of the home.

(d-1) If the court orders an extension of placement pursuant to

paragraph (d) of this section, the court must consider and determine in

its order:

(i) where appropriate, that reasonable efforts were made to make it

possible for the child to safely return to his or her home, or if the

permanency plan for the child is adoption, guardianship or some other

permanent living arrangement other than reunification with the parent or

parents of the child, reasonable efforts are being made to make and

finalize such alternate permanent placement including consideration of

appropriate in-state and out-of-state placements;

(ii) in the case of a child who has attained the age of fourteen, (A)

the services needed, if any, to assist the child to make the transition

from foster care to successful adulthood; and (B)(1) that the permanency

plan developed for the child, and any revision or addition to the plan

shall be developed in consultation with the child and, at the option of

the child, with up to two additional members of the child's permanency

planning team who are selected by the child and who are not a foster

parent of, or case worker, case planner or case manager for, the child,

except that the local commissioner of social services with custody of

the child may reject an individual so selected by the child if such

commissioner has good cause to believe that the individual would not act

in the best interests of the child, and (2) that one individual so

selected by the child may be designated to be the child's advisor and,

as necessary, advocate with respect to the application of the reasonable

and prudent parent standard;

(iii) in the case of a child placed outside New York state, whether

the out-of-state placement continues to be appropriate and in the best

interests of the child;

(iv) whether and when the child: (A) will be returned to the parent;

(B) should be placed for adoption with the social services official

filing a petition for termination of parental rights; (C) should be

referred for legal guardianship; (D) should be placed permanently with a

fit and willing relative; or (E) should be placed in another planned

permanent living arrangement with a significant connection to an adult

willing to be a permanency resource for the child if the child is age

sixteen or older and (1) the social services official has documented to

the court: (I) intensive, ongoing, and, as of the date of the hearing,

unsuccessful efforts made by the social services district to return the

child home or secure a placement for the child with a fit and willing

relative including adult siblings, a legal guardian, or an adoptive

parent, including through efforts that utilize search technology

including social media to find biological family members for children,

(II) the steps the social services district is taking to ensure that (A)

the child's foster family home or child care facility is following the

reasonable and prudent parent standard in accordance with guidance

provided by the United States department of health and human services,

and (B) the child has regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age or

developmentally appropriate activities including by consulting with the

child in an age-appropriate manner about the opportunities of the child

to participate in activities; and (2) the social services district has

documented to the court and the court has determined that there are

compelling reasons for determining that it continues to not be in the

best interest of the child to return home, be referred for termination

of parental rights and placed for adoption, placed with a fit and

willing relative, or placed with a legal guardian; and (3) the court has

made a determination explaining why, as of the date of the hearing,

another planned living arrangement with a significant connection to an

adult willing to be a permanency resource for the child is the best

permanency plan for the child; and

(v) where the child will not be returned home, consideration of

appropriate in-state and out-of-state placements.

(e) At the permanency hearing, the court shall consult with the

respondent in an age-appropriate manner regarding the permanency plan;

provided, however, that if the respondent is age sixteen or older and

the requested permanency plan for the respondent is placement in another

planned permanent living arrangement with a significant connection to an

adult willing to be a permanency resource for the respondent, the court

must ask the respondent about the desired permanency outcome for the

respondent.

(f) Pending final determination of a petition to extend such placement

filed in accordance with the provisions of this section, the court may,

on its own motion or at the request of the petitioner or respondent,

enter one or more temporary orders extending a period of placement. The

court may order additional temporary extensions only as authorized in

this section.

(g) Successive extensions of placement under this section may be

granted, only as authorized in this section, provided, however no

placement may be made or continued beyond the child's eighteenth

birthday without his or her consent and in no event past his or her

twenty-first birthday.

(h) Where the respondent remains placed in a qualified residential

treatment program, as defined in section four hundred nine-h of the

social services law, the commissioner of the local social services

district with legal custody of the respondent shall submit evidence at

the permanency hearing with respect to the respondent:

(i) demonstrating that ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs

of the respondent continues to support the determination that the needs

of the respondent cannot be met through placement in a foster family

home, that the placement in a qualified residential treatment program

provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the

respondent in the least restrictive environment, and that the placement

is consistent with the short-term and long-term goals of the respondent,

as specified in the respondent's permanency plan;

(ii) documenting the specific treatment or service needs that will be

met for the respondent in the placement and the length of time the

respondent is expected to need the treatment or services; and

(iii) documenting the efforts made by the local social services

district with legal custody of the respondent to prepare the respondent

to return home, or to be placed with a fit and willing relative, legal

guardian or adoptive parent, or in a foster family home.

(i) A youth who was formerly a respondent pursuant to this article

shall be eligible to file a motion pursuant to article ten-B of this act

and may be subsequently placed into foster care, in a supervised setting

as defined in subdivision twenty-two of section three hundred

seventy-one of the social services law or placement in a foster family

home, which shall include a kinship placement or a placement with

fictive kin.

(j) Where placement will end prior to a subsequent permanency hearing

due to the respondent's age and/or failure to consent to continuation of

placement, court orders made pursuant to this section shall be

enforceable against the social services district and/or social services

official, as defined in section two of the social services law, with

whom such respondent was placed after such respondent was discharged

from care.

(i) The court shall maintain jurisdiction over a case for purposes of

hearing a motion for contempt against the agency with whom the

respondent was placed pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-three of

the judiciary law. Such a motion may be brought by such respondent who

was formerly placed pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-six of this

part or this section. In addition to any other defense, it shall be an

affirmative defense to a motion filed in accordance with this paragraph

that compliance with the court order was not possible due solely to the

youth's refusal to consent to continuation of foster care placement

where such refusal is documented in a signed, notarized letter executed

by the youth after consultation with their attorney for the child.

(ii) The court shall maintain jurisdiction over a motion described in

paragraph (i) of this subdivision if such motion is filed before the

respondent attains the age of twenty-three. The court's jurisdiction

over any such motion shall continue until such motion and any related

appeals are finally resolved.

(iii) If the respondent is eligible to return to foster care pursuant

to the provisions of article ten-B of this act, upon the consent of the

respondent, the court may convert a motion brought under this

subdivision to a motion to return the respondent to foster care.