N.Y. Social Services Law § 423: Child protective service responsibilities and organization; purchase of service and reimbursement of cost; local plan

§ 423. Child protective service responsibilities and organization;

purchase of service and reimbursement of cost; local plan. 1. (a) Every

local department of social services shall establish a "child protective

service" within such department. The child protective service shall

perform those functions assigned by this title to it and only such

others that would further the purposes of this title. Local social

services departments shall distribute the laws, regulations and policies

of the department pursuant to section four hundred twenty-one of this

article to any society for the prevention of cruelty to children which

has entered into a currently valid contract with a local department of

social services.

(b) Every local department of social services shall provide to the

child protective service information available to the local department

which is relevant to the investigation of a report of child abuse or

maltreatment or to the provision of protective services, where the

confidentiality of such information is not expressly protected by law.

(c) The child protective service shall have a sufficient staff of

sufficient qualifications to fulfill the purposes of this title and be

organized in such a way as to maximize the continuity of responsibility,

care and service of individual workers toward individual children and

families. A social services district shall have flexibility in assigning

staff to the child protective service provided that each staff assigned

to such service has the staff qualifications and has received the

training required by the department regulations promulgated pursuant to

subdivisions four and five of section four hundred twenty-one of this

title.

(d) Consistent with appropriate collective bargaining agreements and

applicable provisions of the civil service law, every child protective

service shall establish a procedure to review and evaluate the

backgrounds of and information supplied by all applicants for

employment. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the

following requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her

employment history, provide personal and employment references and

relevant experiential and educational information, and sign a sworn

statement indicating whether the applicant, to the best of his or her

knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other

jurisdiction.

(e) For purposes of this title, a child protective service shall

include an Indian tribe that has entered into an agreement with the

department pursuant to section thirty-nine of this chapter to provide

child protective services to Indians residing upon the tribe's

reservation in the state. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

for the purposes of this title, a social services district or a local

department of social services shall include an Indian tribe that has

entered into an agreement with the department pursuant to section

thirty-nine of this chapter to provide child protective services. Such

Indian tribe shall only be considered a child protective service while

such an agreement is in effect.

2. Any other provision of law notwithstanding, but consistent with

subdivision (1) of this section, the child protective service, based

upon the local plan of services as provided in subdivision (3) of this

section, may purchase and utilize the services of any appropriate public

or voluntary agency including a society for the prevention of cruelty to

children. When services are purchased by the local department pursuant

to this section and title, they shall be reimbursed by the state to the

locality in the same manner and to the same extent as if the services

were provided directly by the local department.

3. (a) Each social services district shall prepare and submit to the

commissioner, after consultation with local law enforcement agencies,

the family court and appropriate public or voluntary agencies including

societies for the prevention of cruelty to children and after a public

hearing, a district-wide plan, as prescribed by the commissioner, for

the provision of child protective services which shall be a component of

the district's multi-year consolidated services plan. This plan shall

describe the district's implementation of this title including the

organization, staffing, mode of operations and financing of the child

protective service as well as the provisions made for purchase of

service and inter-agency relations. Commencing the year following

preparation of a multi-year consolidated services plan, each local

district shall prepare annual implementation reports including

information related to its child protective services plan. The social

services district shall submit the child protective services plan to the

department as a component of its multi-year consolidated services plan

and subsequent thereto as a component of its annual implementation

reports and the department shall review and approve or disapprove the

proposed plan and reports in accordance with the procedures set forth in

section thirty-four-a of this chapter.

4. As used in this section, "service" or "services" shall include the

coordinating and monitoring of the activities of appropriate public or

voluntary agencies utilized in the local plan.

5. In accordance with the provisions of subdivisions one and two of

this section, a local department of social services may submit to the

department a plan for a special program for the purpose of (a) ensuring

the delivery of services to children and their families by arranging for

the purchase and utilization of the service of any appropriate public or

voluntary agency to provide rehabilitative services to at least the

majority of children and families assisted by the child protective

service; and (b) strengthening the monitoring role of the child

protective service.

Such program shall also include provisions for the training of

employees of public and private agencies assigned functions of the child

protective service, in the duties and responsibilities of the child

protective service and in the provision of services to children and

families, pursuant to this title. The department shall approve such a

plan in not more than six social services districts upon satisfactory

demonstration that a local department of social services will

effectively discharge all responsibilities required by this title. Any

such plan must be submitted to the department as part of the multi-year

services plan required pursuant to section thirty-four-a of this chapter

and, if approved, shall be operative for a period not to exceed three

years. The department shall contract with an individual, partnership,

corporation, institution or other organization for the performance of a

comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of

such plans. A report of such evaluations shall be submitted by the

department to the governor and the legislature by January first,

nineteen hundred ninety. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to

relieve a child protective service from any responsibilities assigned to

it by this title.

6. A social services district may establish a multidisciplinary

investigative team or teams and may establish or work as part of a child

advocacy center established pursuant to section four hundred

twenty-three-a of this title, at a local or regional level, for the

purpose of investigating reports of suspected child abuse or

maltreatment. The social services district shall have discretion with

regard to the category or categories of suspected child abuse or

maltreatment such team or teams may investigate, provided, however, the

social services district shall place particular emphasis on cases

involving the abuse of a child as described in paragraph (i), (ii) or

(iii) of subdivision (e) of section one thousand twelve of the family

court act, sexual abuse of a child or the death of a child. Members of

multidisciplinary teams shall include but not be limited to

representatives from the following agencies: child protective services,

law enforcement, district attorney's office, physician or medical

provider trained in forensic pediatrics, mental health professionals,

victim advocacy personnel and, if one exists, a child advocacy center.

Members of the multidisciplinary team primarily responsible for the

investigation of child abuse reports, including child protective

services, law enforcement and district attorney's office, shall

participate in joint interviews and conduct investigative functions

consistent with the mission of the particular agency member involved. It

shall not be required that members of a multidisciplinary team not

responsible for the investigation of reports participate in every

investigation. Such other members shall provide victim advocacy,

emotional support, and access to medical and mental health care, where

applicable. All members, consistent with their respective agency

missions, shall facilitate efficient delivery of services to victims and

appropriate disposition of cases through the criminal justice system

and/or the family court system in a collaborative manner, however,

non-investigative team members shall note their specific role in the

team for reports covered under this title. Notwithstanding any other

provision of law to the contrary, members of a multidisciplinary

investigative team or a child advocacy center may share with other team

members client-identifiable information concerning the child or the

child's family to facilitate the investigation of suspected child abuse

or maltreatment. Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude the creation

of multidisciplinary teams or child advocacy centers which include more

than one social services district. Each team shall develop a written

protocol for investigation of child abuse and maltreatment cases and for

interviewing child abuse and maltreatment victims. The social services

district is encouraged to train each team member in risk assessment,

indicators of child abuse and maltreatment, and appropriate interview

techniques.