N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law § 41.44: Community residential services for the mentally ill

§ 41.44 Community residential services for the mentally ill.

(a) The commissioner of mental health is authorized, within

appropriations made therefor, to establish a continuum of community

residential services for the mentally ill.

(b) The commissioner shall establish standards for the operation and

funding of community residential services, including but not limited to:

1. criteria for admission to and continued residence in each type of

community residence;

2. periodic evaluation of services provided by community residences;

3. staffing patterns for each type of community residence; and

4. guidelines for determining state aid to community residences, as

described in subdivision (c) of this section.

(c) Within amounts available therefor and subject to regulations

established by him and notwithstanding any other provisions of this

article, the commissioner may provide state aid to local governments and

to voluntary agencies in an amount not to exceed one hundred percent of

net operating costs of community residences for the mentally ill. The

commissioner shall establish guidelines for determining the amount of

state aid provided pursuant to this section. The guidelines shall be

designed to enable the effective and efficient operation of such

residences and shall include, but need not be limited to standards for

determining anticipated revenue, for retention and use of income

exceeding the anticipated amount and for determining reasonable levels

of uncollectible income. Such state aid to voluntary agencies shall not

be granted unless there has been prior approval of the proposed

community residence by the local governmental unit.

(d) The commissioner shall establish standards for the operation and

funding of residential care centers for adults, including but not

limited to:

1. criteria for admission to and continued residence in residential

care centers for adults, including curfews, restrictions against on-site

use of alcohol and controlled substances and criminal involvement. For

residential care centers for adults licensed or established after April

first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight criteria for admission shall also

include but not be limited to, in the case of centers on the grounds of

existing state operated psychiatric hospitals, the availability of at

least twenty-five percent of the placements for community clients. In

the case of community based residential care centers for adults, a

minimum of fifty percent of the placements within a region shall be

reserved for community clients. For the purposes of this section a

community client is any person who, immediately prior to admission to

the residential care center for adults, was not a resident of a state

operated psychiatric hospital for more than thirty consecutive days, or

if such person was residing in the community immediately prior to

admission to the residential care center for adults, was not a resident

of a state operated psychiatric hospital within the previous thirty

days;

2. provision of on-site services by residential care centers for

adults which shall include but not be limited to, case management,

medication management, and development of a recommended service plan for

each resident for necessary social, vocational and clinical services;

3. periodic review of services provided by residential care centers

for adults;

4. staffing patterns for residential care centers for adults which

shall be sufficient to provide on-site supervision twenty-four hours per

day at each facility; and

5. guidelines for determining state aid to residential care centers

for adults as described in subdivisions (e) and (f) of this section.

(e) Within amounts available therefor and notwithstanding any other

provisions of this article, the commissioner may provide state aid to

local governments and to voluntary agencies for the operation of

residential care centers for adults in accordance with paragraph one of

this subdivision, and may provide state aid to local governments,

voluntary agencies, and other individuals or organizations certified to

operate residential care centers for adults, in accordance with

paragraph two of this subdivision.

1. The commissioner may provide state aid in an amount not to exceed

one hundred percent of net operating costs of residential care centers

for adults. The commissioner shall establish guidelines for determining

the amount of state aid provided pursuant to this paragraph.

2. The commissioner may provide state aid through the payment of fees

for reimbursable services. For purposes of this paragraph, reimbursable

services include, but are not limited to, room and board. The

commissioner shall establish standards for programs funded under this

section and shall by rule or regulation annually establish fees for each

reimbursable service, subject to the approval of the director of the

budget. Fees may be varied for geographic reasons or for other good

cause shown.

(f) Within amounts available therefor, the commissioner may provide

state aid to local governments and voluntary agencies for capital costs

for residential care centers for adults at the rate of up to fifty

percent of such capital costs; provided, however, that no such state aid

shall be granted unless the recipient enters into an agreement in a form

acceptable to the commissioner guaranteeing that the residential care

center for adults will be operated by the recipient or made available at

no cost to another provider of services or the office of mental health

for no less than twenty years, and grants the state such security and

real property interests as the commissioner may require.

(g) No psychiatric center shall have more than one residential care

center for adults on its grounds unless the commissioner of mental

health submits a report to the legislature and the governor

demonstrating the appropriateness of such additional residential care

center for adults. After October first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven,

the commissioner shall not convert inpatient buildings on the grounds of

a psychiatric center to a residential care center for adults unless such

buildings are vacant, nor cause such buildings to be vacated solely for

the purposes of establishing a residential care center for adults.