N.Y. Social Services Law § 20: Powers and duties of the department

§ 20. Powers and duties of the department.

2. The department shall, as provided in this chapter:

(a) administer all the forms of public welfare work for which the

state is responsible;

(b) supervise all social services work, as the same may be

administered by any local unit of government and the social services

officials thereof within the state, advise them in the performance of

their official duties and regulate the financial assistance granted by

the state in connection with said work;

(c) distribute, reimburse and grant as herein provided the funds

appropriated by the legislature for such participation and also such

funds as may be received from the federal government for such purpose or

purposes.

3. The department is authorized:

(a) to supervise local social services departments and in exercising

such supervision the department shall approve or disapprove rules,

regulations and procedures made by local social services officials

within thirty days after filing of same with the commissioner; such

rules, regulations and procedures shall become operative immediately

upon approval or on the thirtieth day after such submission to the

commissioner unless the commissioner shall specifically disapprove said

rule, regulation or procedure as being inconsistent with law or

regulations of the department;

(b) in accordance with the provisions of this chapter to make

reimbursements of local welfare costs on a participating basis

established by law, to advance grants of money for local welfare

purposes and to administer a discretionary fund for such purposes within

the limit of available appropriations;

(c) to pay such per centum as the legislature shall determine, of the

salaries of local administrative personnel as it shall determine to be

qualified to perform the duties assigned;

(d) to establish rules, regulations and policies to carry out its

powers and duties under this chapter;

(e) to withhold or deny state reimbursement, in whole or in part, from

or to any social services district or any city or town thereof, in the

event of the failure of either of them to comply with law, rules or

regulations of the department relating to public assistance and care or

the administration thereof;

(f) to promulgate any regulations the commissioner determines are

necessary, in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred

eleven-b of this chapter, and to withhold or deny state reimbursement,

in whole or in part, from or to any social services district, in the

event of the failure of any such district to comply with such

regulations relating to such district's organization, administration,

management or program. Upon withholding or denying state reimbursement,

the commissioner shall notify the temporary president of the senate, the

speaker of the assembly and the chairmen of the senate finance committee

and assembly ways and means committee;

(g) to formulate plans for the recruitment, utilization and training

of volunteers to assist in performing services and other duties in

social services districts for the purpose of improving participation in

public welfare programs;

(h) for the purpose of the proper administration of programs of public

assistance and care, to enter into agreements not inconsistent with

federal law, with public agencies responsible for the administration of

public assistance and care in any geographically contiguous state, to

receive information from such public agencies which is substantially

similar to information obtained by the department from the wage

reporting system operated by the state department of taxation and

finance pursuant to section one hundred seventy-one-a of the tax law

and, subject to the approval of the state department of taxation and

finance, to provide such public agencies with information obtained from

such wage reporting system; provided, however, that no such agreement

shall be entered into with a public agency of any geographically

contiguous state unless such state has by law established standards of

confidentiality which are substantially similar to those contained in

this chapter prohibiting the disclosure of such information. Upon

receipt of wage information from such public agencies, the department

shall furnish such information to the local social services districts;

(i) to assure conformance with federal law, by entering into

agreements with the federal social security administration and public

agencies in other states responsible for administering the food stamp

program or programs under title I, II, IV-A, IV-D, X, XIV, XVI, or XIX

of the social security act under which the department will provide such

agencies, when required by federal law and only to the extent so

required, with data which may be of use in establishing or verifying

eligibility for or benefit amounts in such programs or ability to pay

support for a person receiving support collection services including

data obtained from the wage reporting system operated by the state

department of taxation and finance pursuant to section one hundred

seventy-one-a of the tax law.

(j) to ensure the provision, on any form required to be completed at

application or recertification for the purpose of obtaining financial

assistance pursuant to this chapter, the form shall contain a check-off

question asking whether the applicant or recipient or a member of his or

her family served in the United States military, and an option to answer

in the affirmative. Where the applicant or recipient answers in the

affirmative to such question, the office of temporary and disability

assistance shall ensure that contact information for the state

department of veterans' services is provided to such applicant or

recipient addition to any other materials provided.

4. The Department shall not withhold state reimbursement from or deny

state reimbursement to a social services district, until written notice

is given to the commissioner of the social services district affected,

except when the reason for the proposed withholding or denying is that

such commissioner does not meet the minimum qualifications required for

such position, to the body or officer that appointed or purported to

appoint such commissioner:

(a) entirely for any period; or

(b) in whole or in part, on ten per centum or more of all the cases in

receipt of public assistance in such district in any period; or

(c) in whole or in part, on ten per centum or more of the cases in

receipt of a specific category of assistance in such district in any

period; or

(d) for any period, in an amount equal to or greater than ten per

centum of the state reimbursement otherwise due the district for such

period.

5. (a) In the case of the death of a child whose care and custody or

custody and guardianship has been transferred to an authorized agency,

other than a vulnerable person as defined in article eleven of this

chapter, or the death of a child for whom any local department of social

services has an open child protective services or preventive services

case, or in the case of a report made to the statewide central register

of child abuse and maltreatment involving the death of a child, the

office of children and family services shall (i) investigate or provide

for an investigation of the cause of and circumstances surrounding such

death, (ii) review such investigation, and (iii) prepare and issue a

report on such death, except where a report is issued by an approved

local or regional fatality review team in accordance with section four

hundred twenty-two-b of this chapter.

(b) Such report shall include (i) the cause of death, whether from

natural or other causes, (ii) identification of child protective or

other services provided or actions taken regarding such child and his or

her family, (iii) any extraordinary or pertinent information concerning

the circumstances of the child's death, (iv) whether the child or the

child's family had received assistance, care or services from the social

services district prior to such child's death, (v) any action or further

investigation undertaken by the department or by the local social

services district since the death of the child, (vi) as appropriate,

recommendations for local or state administrative or policy changes, and

(vii) written comments as may be provided by any local social services

district referenced in such report, to the extent that such comments:

(A) protect the confidentiality and privacy of the deceased child, his

or her siblings, the parent or other person legally responsible for such

child, any other members of such child's household and the source of any

report of suspected child abuse or maltreatment, and (B) are relevant to

the fatality reported and pertain to any of the provisions of

subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) or (vi) of this paragraph,

provided that any comments that pertain to subparagraphs (i), (ii),

(iii), (iv) or (v) of this paragraph must be factually accurate.

Such report shall contain no information that would identify the name

of the deceased child, his or her siblings, the parent or other person

legally responsible for the child or any other members of the child's

household, but shall refer instead to the case, which may be denoted in

any fashion determined appropriate by the department or a local social

services district. In making a fatality report available to the public

pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision, the department may

respond to a child specific request for such report if the commissioner

determines that such disclosure is not contrary to the best interests of

the deceased child's siblings or other children in the household,

pursuant to subdivision five of section four hundred twenty-two-a of

this chapter. Except as it may apply directly to the cause of the death

of the child, nothing herein shall be deemed to authorize the release or

disclosure to the public of the substance or content of any

psychological, psychiatric, therapeutic, clinical or medical reports,

evaluations or like materials or information pertaining to such child or

the child's family.

(c) Twenty days prior to the release of the report the department

shall forward the proposed report to each local social services district

referenced in the report. Within ten days thereafter, each local social

services district may provide written comments in accordance with

subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (b) of this subdivision to the

department in the form and manner required by the department to be

included by the department within the report. No later than six months

from the date of the death of such child, the department shall forward

its report to the social services district, chief county executive

officer, chairperson of the local legislative body of the county where

the child's death occurred and the social services district which had

care and custody or custody and guardianship of the child, if different.

The department shall notify the temporary president of the senate and

the speaker of the assembly as to the issuance of such reports and, in

addition to the requirements of section seventeen of this chapter, shall

submit an annual cumulative report to the governor and the legislature

incorporating the data in the above reports and including appropriate

findings and recommendations. Such reports concerning the death of a

child and such cumulative reports shall immediately thereafter be made

available to the public after such forwarding or submittal.

(d) To enable the office of children and family services or a local or

regional fatality review team to prepare such report, the office of

children and family services or a local or regional fatality review team

may request and shall timely receive from departments, boards, bureaus

or other agencies of the state, or any of its political subdivisions, or

any duly authorized agency, or any other agency which provided

assistance, care or services to the deceased child such information as

they are authorized to provide.

6. The department is directed to seek appropriate approvals from

federal officials to permit commissioners of jurors and clerks of the

court or jury administrators of any United States district court in New

York state appointed pursuant to title twenty-eight of the United States

Code, section 1836(b)(2) in each social services district to obtain the

names and addresses of persons applying for or receiving aid to

dependent children, medicaid, or home relief authorized by this chapter

for purposes of identifying prospective jurors. Upon receiving such

approval or upon determining that no approval is necessary,

notwithstanding sections one hundred thirty-six and three hundred

sixty-nine of this chapter, the department shall provide lists of such

persons to the chief administrator of the courts, appointed pursuant to

section two hundred ten of the judiciary law, or the chief judge of any

United States district court in New York State appointed pursuant to

title twenty-eight of the United States Code. The lists shall be

provided for the sole purpose of integration into lists of prospective

jurors as provided by section five hundred six of the judiciary law or

title twenty-eight of the United States Code. The chief administrator of

the courts shall upon request provide information from the lists to the

commissioner of jurors in each county or, in a county within a city

having a population of one million or more, the county clerk of said

county, solely for the purpose of compiling lists of prospective jurors

for the appropriate county. The chief judge of such United States

district court shall make lists available to such clerk of the court or

jury administrator of a United States district court solely for the

purpose of compiling lists of prospective jurors for the United States

district court. The lists shall be provided only pursuant to a

cooperative agreement between the chief administrator of the courts or,

in the case of a United States district court, the chief judge of such

United States district court and the commissioner that guarantees that

all necessary steps shall be taken by the chief administrator of the

courts, the chief judge of such United States district court, the

commissioners of jurors and the county clerks or the clerk of the court

or jury administrator or court clerk of the United States district court

to ensure that the lists are kept confidential and that there is no

unauthorized use or disclosure of such lists. Furthermore, the lists

will be provided only if the chief administrator of the courts or the

chief judge of the United States district court determines that the

lists are needed for integration into lists of prospective jurors in one

or more counties or the district of such United States district court.

Commissioners of jurors and county clerks, and clerks of the court or

jury administrators or clerk of any United States district court

receiving such lists shall not use any information derived from such

lists for any purpose other than for the selection of jurors and shall

take appropriate steps to see that the confidentiality of such

information is maintained.

7. To the extent appropriations are available, the office of children

and family services shall conduct a public education campaign that

emphasizes zero tolerance for child abuse and maltreatment. Such

campaign shall include information about the signs and symptoms of child

abuse and maltreatment, the hotline available to report child abuse and

maltreatment, and services that are available to assist families with

underlying issues that may lead to child abuse and maltreatment

including, but not limited to, substance abuse services, domestic

violence services, mental health services for adults and services to

assist families with children in need of mental health treatment. Such

campaign may include, but not be limited to, educational and

informational materials in print, audio, video, electronic and other

media and public service announcements and advertisements.

8. (a) The office of temporary and disability assistance shall

promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of this

subdivision. The rules and regulations shall provide for the conditions

under which local social services officials determine the placement of

applicants for and recipients of public assistance for whom a notice

pursuant to section two hundred three of the correction law, has been

received and who are:

(i) determined to be in immediate need of shelter; and

(ii) designated a level two or level three sex offender pursuant to

article six-C of the correction law.

(b) When making determinations in regard to the placement of such

individuals in shelter, local social services officials shall consider

the following factors:

(i) the location of other sex offenders required to register pursuant

to the sex offender registration act, specifically whether there is a

concentration of registered sex offenders in a certain residential area

or municipality;

(ii) the number of registered sex offenders residing at a particular

property;

(iii) proximity of the entities with vulnerable populations;

(iv) accessibility to family members, friends or other supportive

services, including but not limited to locally available sex offender

treatment programs with preference for placement of such individuals

into programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing sex

offender recidivism and increasing public safety; and

(v) investigation and approval of such placement by the department of

corrections and community supervision.