N.Y. Social Services Law § 153-k: Funding for children and family services

* § 153-k. Funding for children and family services. 1. (a)

Expenditures made by social services districts for child protective

services, preventive services provided, as applicable, to eligible

children and families of children who are in and out of foster care

placement, independent living services, aftercare services, and adoption

administration and services other than adoption subsidies provided

pursuant to article six of this chapter and the regulations of the

department of family assistance shall, if approved by the office of

children and family services, be subject to sixty-five percent state

reimbursement exclusive of any federal funds made available for such

purposes, in accordance with the directives of the department of family

assistance and subject to the approval of the director of the budget.

(b) Claims for preventive services and independent living services

submitted by a social services district for reimbursement may be

comprised of in-kind, indirect services, and non-tax levy funds,

including but not limited to privately donated funds, up to the same

amount as the social services district's claims for such services during

federal fiscal year nineteen hundred ninety-eight--ninety-nine were

comprised of in-kind, indirect services and non-tax levy funds;

provided, however, that up to seventeen and one-half percent of a social

services district's claims for preventive services and independent

living services may be comprised of privately donated funds if the

percentage of its claims comprised of privately donated funds was less

than seventeen and one-half percent during federal fiscal year nineteen

hundred ninety-eight--nineteen hundred ninety-nine. Federal

reimbursement of such claims shall be available only to the extent

permitted by federal law or regulations.

2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any other

law to the contrary, eligible expenditures by a social services district

for foster care services shall be subject to reimbursement with state

funds only to the extent of annual appropriations to the state foster

care block grant. Such foster care services shall include expenditures

for the provision and administration of: care, maintenance, supervision,

tuition, and transportation costs related to the education of a foster

child or youth incurred in accordance with paragraph c of subdivision

four of section thirty-two hundred forty-four of the education law;

supervision of foster children placed in federally funded job corps

programs; and care, maintenance, supervision and tuition for adjudicated

juvenile delinquents and persons in need of supervision placed in

residential programs operated by authorized agencies and in out-of-state

residential programs; except that, notwithstanding any other provision

of law to the contrary, reimbursement with state funds pursuant to the

state foster care block grant shall not be available for tuition

expenditures for foster children, including persons in need of

supervision and adjudicated juvenile delinquents, made by a social

services district located within a city having a population of one

million or more. Social services districts must develop and implement

children and family services delivery systems that are designed to

reduce the need for and the length of foster care placements and must

document their efforts in the multi-year consolidated services plan and

the annual implementation reports submitted pursuant to section

thirty-four-a of this chapter.

(b) State reimbursement to each social services district shall be

limited to the district's allocation of the foster care block grant. The

state funds appropriated for the foster care block grant shall be

apportioned among the social services districts by the office of

children and family services based on the district's claiming history

and other factors. Such apportionments shall be subject to the approval

of the director of the budget.

(c) Any portion of a social services district's apportionment from the

foster care block grant for a particular state fiscal year that is not

claimed by such district during that state fiscal year may be used by

such district for preventive services, independent living services or

aftercare services claimed by such district during the next state fiscal

year up to the amount remaining from the district's foster care block

grant apportionment; provided, however, that any claims for preventive

services, independent living services or aftercare services during the

next state fiscal year in excess of such amount shall be subject to

state reimbursement pursuant to subdivision one of this section. Any

claims submitted by a social services district for reimbursement for a

particular state fiscal year for which the social services district does

not receive state or federal reimbursement during that state fiscal year

may not be claimed against that district's block grant apportionment for

the next state fiscal year.

3. To the extent that monies are made available to the commissioner of

the office of children and family services from the children and family

services quality enhancement fund established pursuant to section

ninety-seven-yyy of the state finance law, the office of children and

family services is authorized to conduct activities to increase the

availability and/or quality of children and family services programs

which may include, but not be limited to, staff recruitment, retention

and training activities, research projects, and targeted services

expansion and/or demonstration projects to test innovative models for

service delivery which may include such areas as health, mental health

and substance abuse services. Notwithstanding sections one hundred

twelve and one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law, such

activities shall be conducted without competitive bid or request for

proposal.

4. (a) A social services district, either individually or in

combination with other social services districts, may establish managed

care systems or other systems to provide children and family services

other than child protective services investigations, in accordance with

applicable laws and regulations. Such a system may include, but not be

limited to, the establishment of capitated rates for service provided to

children to prevent the placement of such children into foster care and

to discharge such children from foster care to suitable, permanent, safe

homes in a more timely manner through preventive services, intensified

discharge planning, pre-adoptive services, after-care services and/or

post-adoption services.

(b) Social services district payments to case managers or public or

private service providers under such a system may be based on

reimbursement rates established by the office of children and family

services pursuant to section three hundred ninety-eight-a of this

chapter, capitated rates or other payment mechanisms for all or a

portion of the services, either separately or combined. To facilitate

payments to case managers or providers, the office of children and

family services may establish procedures for standardizing payments to

managers or providers that enter into agreements with more than one

social services district.

(c) Under such a system, a social services district may delegate

responsibility for case management services to case managers or

providers in a manner designed to afford case manager or provider

accountability through the incorporation of quality control standards

that provide appropriate monitoring of these services such as recognized

accreditation mechanisms, performance audits by the social services

district or other means.

(d) Under such a system, a social services district, in a purchase of

service agreement for preventive services with an authorized agency, may

delegate to such authorized agency the responsibility for approving and

paying rent subsidies or assistance under paragraph (c) of subdivision

five and/or subdivision seven of section four hundred nine-a of this

chapter.

(e)(i) A social services district must obtain the office's prior

approval of its plan for establishing and implementing such a system, in

accordance with guidelines established by the office of children and

family services.

(ii) Such a plan may include requests for a waiver of any statutory or

regulatory requirements established pursuant to sections thirty-four-a,

four hundred nine-d and four hundred nine-e of this chapter regarding

the form, content, development, or amendment of the child welfare

services plan component of the multi-year services plan and the annual

implementation reports, family services plans and uniform case records.

(iii) Any request by a social services district for a waiver shall

identify the specific statute or regulation to be waived, and include a

justification for the waiver and alternative actions to be taken by the

social services district to satisfy the purposes of the statute or

regulation. The office of children and family services may grant any

such waiver request, subject to the approval of the director of the

budget, where the social services district applying for the waiver

demonstrates a reasonable administrative or programmatic justification

for the waiver. The potential fiscal impact of the waiver upon federal,

state and local governments shall be evaluated by the office of children

and family services as part of its review of the request for a waiver.

The office of children and family services may impose durational and

other reasonable conditions if an approval of the waiver is granted.

Where a waiver is granted, the office of children and family services

shall have the authority to establish alternative standards to be

followed by social services officials. The office of children and family

services may not grant a waiver that would fail to comply with

applicable federal statutory or regulatory standards. The social

services district may not revise local practice or policy unless and

until the office of children and family services approves the waiver.

(iv) The office of children and family services shall provide notice

to the governor and the legislature of each plan that is approved

including a brief description of the plan and any waivers granted and

any alternative standards established. The office shall provide an

annual report to the governor and the legislature regarding the

implementation of all approved plans during a calendar year by January

thirty-first of the following year.

5. (a) Social services districts shall conduct eligibility

determinations and submit claims for reimbursement in such form and

manner and at such times and for such periods as the department of

family assistance shall determine.

(b) When certified by the department of family assistance, state

reimbursement shall be paid from the state treasury upon the audit and

warrant of the comptroller out of funds made available therefor.

(c) The department of family assistance is authorized in its

discretion to make advances to social services districts in anticipation

of the state reimbursement provided for in this section.

6. (a) Payment of state reimbursement and advances shall be made to

the fiscal officer of the social services district entitled thereto

pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(b) Any inconsistent provision of the law or regulation of the

department of family assistance notwithstanding, state reimbursement

shall not be made for any expenditure made for the duplication of any

grant or allowance for any period.

7. The office of children and family services shall not reimburse any

claims for expenditures for those children and family services set forth

in subdivisions one and two of this section that are submitted more than

twenty-two months after the calendar quarter in which the expenditures

were made.

8. Claims submitted by a social services district for reimbursement

shall be paid after deducting any expenditures defrayed by fees, third

party reimbursement, and any non-tax levy funds including donated funds

that exceed the amount that may be claimed for state and federal

reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this

section.

9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state shall not be

responsible for reimbursing a social services district and a district

shall not seek state reimbursement for any portion of any state

disallowance or sanction taken against the social services district, or

any federal disallowance attributable to final federal agency decisions

or to settlements made, on or after July first, nineteen hundred

ninety-five, when such disallowance or sanction results from the failure

of the social services district to comply with federal or state

requirements, including, but not limited to, failure to document

eligibility for the federal or state funds in the case record; provided,

however, if the office of children and family services determines that

any federal disallowance for services provided between January first,

nineteen hundred ninety-nine and May thirty-first, nineteen hundred

ninety-nine results solely from the late enactment of the state

legislation implementing the federal adoption and safe families act, the

state shall be solely responsible for the full amount of the

disallowance or sanction. This provision shall be deemed to apply both

prospectively and retroactively regardless of whether the disallowance

or sanction is for services provided or claims made prior to or after

April first, two thousand two.

10. (i) In accordance with regulations developed by the office of

children and family services, the office shall measure each district's

compliance with the federal child welfare outcome standards beginning no

later than twenty months after the effective date of this section. The

office is authorized to impose fiscal penalties against a social

services district that fails to substantially comply with the outcome

standards or to make sufficient progress towards complying with the

outcome standards after developing and implementing a corrective action

plan in the time and manner approved by the office. The imposition of a

fiscal penalty shall be subject to an appeal process set forth in

regulation. Any fiscal penalties received by the office of children and

family services pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited to the

credit of the children and family services quality enhancement fund

established pursuant to section ninety-seven-yyy of the state finance

law. For social services districts in counties with less than fifteen

thousand children under the age of eighteen, the office may waive the

fiscal penalties and the need for a corrective action plan if the

failure to substantially comply with the outcome standards was based on

extraordinary circumstances. The office may provide fiscal incentives to

social services districts with high performances on the federal child

welfare outcome standards. A social services district may pass on to its

contract agencies some portion of the fiscal penalties or fiscal

incentives that may be attributable to such agencies.

(ii) The office shall provide an annual report to the governor and the

legislature detailing: each county's performance on the outcome

standards, the amount of fiscal penalties imposed against each county,

and the amount of fiscal penalties collected from each county. Said

report shall be delivered to the director of the budget, the chair of

the senate finance committee and the chair of the assembly ways and

means committee annually on a calendar year basis, by March fifteenth of

the following year.

11. The office of children and family services shall submit a

preliminary report to the governor and the legislature on or before the

thirty-first day of December, two thousand four providing preliminary

data and information on the implementation of this section, and shall

submit a final report by the fifteenth day of August, two thousand five

assessing the implementation of and the outcomes resulting from the

children and family services financing provisions established by this

section through the thirtieth day of June, two thousand five. The final

report shall include information regarding services delivery trends

under the financing structure set forth in this section and innovative

models of service provision to be considered for replication.

12. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, on or after January

first, two thousand twenty, the state shall not reimburse for the cost

of any placement of persons in need of supervision under article seven

of the family court act.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027