N.Y. Social Services Law § 34-a: Services planning requirements

§ 34-a. Services planning requirements. 1. (a) Each social services

district shall prepare a multi-year consolidated services plan

encompassing adult services and family and children's services, which

shall include diversion services provided pursuant to section seven

hundred thirty-five of the family court act.

(b) Commencing with the years following preparation of the multi-year

consolidated services plan, each local district shall also be required

to prepare an annual implementation report.

2. (a) The commissioner shall have authority to promulgate regulations

specifying the contents of both the multi-year services plan and the

annual implementation reports, provided however that such regulations

shall not be inconsistent with the standards of review by the

commissioner of such plan and reports specified in subdivision four of

this section.

(b) The regulations promulgated pursuant to paragraph (a) of this

subdivision shall require the multi-year services plan and where

appropriate the annual implementation reports, to include a summary of

the understanding between the local social services district and the

district attorney's office, which outlines the cooperative procedures to

be followed by both parties in investigating incidents of child abuse

and maltreatment, consistent with their respective obligations for the

investigation or prosecution of such incidents, as otherwise required by

law.

3. (a) There shall be a public hearing on the multi-year services plan

or each annual implementation report. Commencing in nineteen hundred

eighty-two, such public hearing shall be held only after fifteen days

notice is provided in a newspaper of general circulation within the

county. Such notice shall specifically identify the times of the public

hearing in which the child protective services and other services

components of the multi-year services plan or annual implementation

reports are to be considered.

(b) Commencing in nineteen hundred eighty-two, after such hearing, the

multi-year services plan or the annual implementation reports shall be

submitted for approval to the chief executive officer of the county or

to the legislative body in those counties without a chief executive

officer. Full approval of the multi-year services plan or of the annual

implementation report by the chief executive officer or legislative body

shall be required before submission of such plan or report to the

commissioner.

(c) Commencing in nineteen hundred eighty-two, the multi-year services

plan or the annual implementation reports shall not be forwarded to the

commissioner until at least fifteen days have passed from the date of

the public hearing thereon.

4. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, the

commissioner shall review both the multi-year services plan and the

annual implementation reports submitted by the social services district,

using standards consistent with the provisions of sections one hundred

thirty-one-1, four hundred nine-d and four hundred twenty-three of this

chapter, and shall notify such district, in writing, of approval of such

plan or reports in whole or in part; provided, however, that for any

portions not approved, the commissioner shall in writing to the district

specify the portions not approved, the reasons for such determination,

the actions required for resubmittal of such portions, and the time

period of resubmittal; and provided further, that disapproval of a

portion of such plan or report shall not render the entire plan or

report invalid. No portion of the multi-year services plan or of the

annual implementation reports shall be finally disapproved until the

district has had at least one opportunity for resubmittal. Upon

resubmittal, or if no resubmittal is made within the time specified, the

commissioner may grant further extensions to the district to allow it to

resubmit any unapproved portions, or may finally disapprove such

portions. Any social services district aggrieved by a final disapproval

of the commissioner under this section shall have the right to a fair

hearing in accordance with the appropriate provisions of this chapter.

An adverse fair hearing decision shall be reviewable pursuant to article

seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. State reimbursement

may be withheld for all or a portion of a local district's activities,

if the multi-year services plan, annual implementation report, or

portions of either are disapproved.

(b) The commissioner of the office of children and family services

shall review and approve or disapprove the diversion services portion of

the plan jointly with the director of the office of probation and

correctional alternatives or any other successor agency or entity. The

requirements for the portion of the plan and report regarding the

provision of diversion services shall be jointly established by the

commissioner of the office of children and family services and the

director of the office of probation and correctional alternatives or any

other successor agency or entity. The multi-year services plan and where

appropriate the annual implementation reports shall be based upon a

written understanding between the local social services district and the

probation department which outlines the cooperative procedures to be

followed by both parties regarding diversion services pursuant to

section seven hundred thirty-five of the family court act, consistent

with their respective obligations as otherwise required by law.

5. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations concerning the time

by which:

(a) each local social services district shall submit its multi-year

services plan and annual implementation report;

(b) the commissioner shall, in writing, notify a local district of

approval or disapproval of all or parts of such district's multi-year

services plan or annual implementation reports; and

(c) each local social services district shall submit a revised version

of its multi-year services plan or annual implementation report, or

parts thereof.

6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office of

children and family services shall plan for the statewide

implementation, by the thirty-first day of December, two thousand eight,

of the use by counties of a child and family services plan that combines

the multi-year consolidated services plan required by this section and

the comprehensive plan required by section four hundred twenty of the

executive law into a single plan.

(b) All counties shall implement a county child and family services

plan prior to or by the two thousand eight plan year in accordance with

a schedule developed by the office of children and family services and

shall continue to implement such a plan thereafter. With the approval of

such office, a county may implement such a plan before the date required

by such schedule.

(c) The office of children and family services may waive any

regulatory requirements relating to the content and timing of multi-year

consolidated services plans and annual implementation reports that may

impede the ability of a county to implement a county child and family

services plan.

(d) Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to affect county

planning requirements under the mental hygiene law.

7. (a) From monies appropriated to the office of children and family

services for the family and children's services foster care and adoption

program, the office shall give assistance to local social services

districts to enable them to collect statistics and to describe the steps

being taken regarding: the number of families needing preventive

services as provided for in title four of article six of this chapter

for which services are provided; the effectiveness of specific

preventive services in preventing unnecessary foster care placements and

reducing the length of stay in foster care; the efforts made to prevent

unnecessary placements; the use of the least restrictive settings and

the proximity of foster care placements to the child's home; the use of

kinship placements; the placement of siblings with one another at

initial placement or as soon thereafter as possible; the number of

transfers of children in foster care placements and the reasons for

those transfers; the number of families reunited in fulfillment of the

child's service goal plan and the length of placement prior to

reunification; the number of children prepared for independent living;

the number of children with adoption as a service plan goal; the number

of children freed for adoption and the length of time taken to secure

terminations of parental rights; the number of children placed in

pre-adoptive homes and the number of adoptions completed and the length

of time taken to complete them.

(b) Such data submitted to the office of children and family services

shall be aggregated and submitted with a narrative report on these

children's services, to the governor and the majority leader of the

senate and the speaker of the assembly on or before July first, two

thousand five and semiannually thereafter.

8. The commissioner of the office of children and family services

shall, in conjunction with the commissioner of education, develop model

practices and procedures for local social services districts and school

districts regarding the reporting and investigation of educational

neglect. Such model practices and procedures shall be available to

social services districts and school districts and shall be posted on

the office of children and family services website and the state

department of education website by September first, two thousand seven.

Each social services district shall, in conjunction with local school

districts within its district, submit written policies and procedures

regarding the reporting of educational neglect by each school district

within such social services district and the investigation of

educational neglect allegations by child protective services. Such

policies and procedures shall be submitted to the office of children and

family services for review by January first, two thousand eight and the

office shall approve or disapprove such local policies and procedures,

based upon the model practices and procedures established in conjunction

with the state department of education, within sixty days of submission.

9. (a) If a social services district proposes an amendment to the

child care portion of its child and family services plan that reduces

eligibility or increases the family share percentage for child care

services such district must: (i) no later than the first day the public

notice appears in a newspaper pursuant to subdivision three of this

section or the regulations of the office of children and family

services, as applicable, prominently post on the district's website a

notice of the proposed amendment describing the categories of families

whose cases will be impacted; and (ii) at the time the public notice is

submitted to the newspaper for publication in accordance with

subdivision three of this section or the regulations of the office of

children and family services, as applicable, provide a copy of such

notice to the office of children and family services.

(b) If a social services district implements its process for closing

child care cases, as set forth in its approved child and family services

plan, due to the district determining that it cannot maintain its

current caseload because all of the available funds are projected to be

needed for open cases, the district must: (i) no later than the day the

social services district begins to send individual notices to impacted

families in accordance with subdivision eight of section four hundred

ten-w of this chapter, prominently post a notice on their website that

states that such district is implementing the child care case closing

process set forth in its approved child and family services plan and

that describes the categories of families whose cases will be closed;

and (ii) immediately provide a copy of such notice to the office of

children and family services.

(c) The office of children and family services shall prominently post

notices received pursuant to paragraphs (a) or (b) of this subdivision

on its website.