N.Y. Social Services Law § 402: Children forbidden in public homes

§ 402. Children forbidden in public homes. No public welfare

official shall send a child to be cared for in a public home, and no

commissioner of public welfare and no superintendent of a public home

shall receive a child in a public home, except that a child under the

age of two years may be cared for with his mother in a public home.

Such child shall not remain in the public home after he becomes two

years of age. Provided, however, that when so authorized by the

department a child may be sent to a general hospital connected with a

public home or to a separate institution located in the grounds of a

public home used only for special or temporary care of children.

Provided, further, that the provisions of this section shall not be

deemed to prohibit the placement of a child or minor in a public

institution for children, as defined in section three hundred

seventy-one of this chapter.