N.Y. Social Services Law § 462: Responsibility for standards

§ 462. Responsibility for standards. 1. (a) The office of children and

family services shall promulgate regulations concerning standards of

care and treatment and fiscal, administrative, nutritional,

architectural and safety standards, consistent with the provisions of

section three hundred ninety-eight-a of this chapter, which shall apply

to all facilities exercising care or custody of children or providing

care or shelter to unmarried mothers.

(b) With respect to facilities exercising care or custody of children,

no license or operating certificate shall be provided or renewed unless

it can be demonstrated that such facilities comply with regulations for

the prevention and remediation of reportable incidents involving

children in such facilities, including procedures for:

(i) consistent with appropriate collective bargaining agreements and

applicable provisions of the civil service law, assisting the justice

center for the protection of people with special needs with its review

and evaluation of criminal background checks of prospective employees,

as set forth in subdivision five of section five hundred fifty-three of

the executive law;

(ii) establishing, for employees, relevant minimal experiential and

educational qualifications consistent with appropriate collective

bargaining agreements and applicable provisions of the civil service

law;

(iii) assuring adequate and appropriate supervision of employees,

volunteers and consultants;

(iv) demonstrating by a residential facility or program that

appropriate action is taken to assure the safety of the child who is

reported pursuant to article eleven of this chapter to the vulnerable

persons' central register as well as other children in care, immediately

upon notification that a report of a reportable incident has been made

with respect to a child in such facility or program;

(v) consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements,

assuring that an individual who has committed a category one offense, as

defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision five of section four hundred

ninety-three of this chapter, that is included on the vulnerable

persons' central register is not hired or otherwise used in any position

in which such individual would have regular and substantial contact with

a service recipient in any program operated, licensed or certified by

the office;

(vi) removing a child, consistent as applicable with any court order

placing the child, when it is determined that there is risk to such

child if he or she continues to remain within a facility or program;

(vii) appropriate preventive and remedial action to be taken including

legal actions, consistent with appropriate collective bargaining

agreements and applicable provisions of the civil service law.

(c) With respect to facilities exercising care or custody of children

such standards shall establish as a priority that:

(i) subject to the amounts appropriated therefor, administrators,

employees, volunteers and consultants receive training in at least the

following: child abuse prevention and identification, safety and

security procedures, the principles of child development, the

characteristics of children in care and techniques of group and child

management including crisis intervention, the laws, regulations and

procedures governing the protection of children from abuse and neglect,

and other appropriate topics, provided however, that the office may

exempt administrators and consultants of such facilities or programs

from such requirements upon demonstration of substantially equivalent

knowledge or experience; and

(ii) subject to the amounts appropriated therefor, children receive

instruction, consistent with their age, needs and circumstances as well

as the needs and circumstances within the facility or program, in

techniques and procedures which will enable such children to advocate

for and protect themselves from reportable incidents; and

(iii) the office, in consultation with the executive director of the

justice center for persons with special needs, shall take all reasonable

and necessary actions to assure that employees, volunteers and

consultants in residential care facilities and programs are kept

apprised on a current basis of all office policies and procedures

relating to the protection of children from reportable incidents, and

shall monitor and supervise the provision of training to such

administrators, employees, volunteers, children and consultants.

(d) Such regulations shall be developed in consultation with other

state departments and agencies responsible for human services programs

including, but not limited to, the department of education, the

department of health, the office of mental health, the office for people

with developmental disabilities, the office of alcoholism and substance

abuse services and the justice center for the protection of people with

special needs and shall, to the extent possible, be consistent with

those promulgated by other state agencies for such purposes.

(e) This subdivision shall not apply to facilities operated by or

certified or licensed to operate by another state agency.

(f) No residential institution for children as defined in subdivision

forty-four of section sixteen hundred seventy-six of the public

authorities law shall enter into a lease, sub-lease or other agreement

with the dormitory authority pursuant to subdivision forty of section

sixteen hundred eighty of the public authorities law unless and until:

(i) the office of children and family services, the director of the

division of the budget and any other state agency which licenses such

residential institutions for children first determines that the project

is necessary to address health and safety needs of children at the

institution, approve the project cost upon determination that such costs

are reasonable, necessary and cost effective based upon the application

of cost per square foot guidelines and any other standards applicable to

the type of program or to the clinically-required needs of a specialized

group of children to be served by the project; and

(ii) the office of children and family services or such other state

agency which licenses such residential institution for children approves

the plans and specifications of the residential facilities to be

replaced, reconstructed, rehabilitated, improved, renovated, or

otherwise provided for, furnished or equipped.

2. (a) The office shall establish regulations governing secure and

non-secure detention facilities subject to article nineteen-G of the

executive law and residential facilities operated as approved runaway

programs or transitional independent living support programs pursuant to

article nineteen-H of the executive law.

(b) The appropriate offices of the state department of mental hygiene

shall establish regulations governing all child care facilities subject

to articles thirty-one and thirty-two of the mental hygiene law.

(c) The department of mental hygiene and the office shall propose any

additional standards as are deemed necessary to adequately ensure the

care of children in facilities subject to the inspection and supervision

of the department, which care for a significant number of mentally

disabled children, juvenile delinquents or persons in need of

supervision. The final form of any such additional standards shall be

subject to the approval of the department of mental hygiene for such

standards related to the care of mentally disabled children, or the

office for such standards related to the care of juvenile delinquents

and persons in need of supervision.