2023 New York Laws › MHY - Mental Hygiene › Title E - General Provisions › Article 41 - Local Services › 41.44 - Community Residential Services for the Mentally Ill.

§ 41.44 Community residential services for the mentally ill.
(a)   The   commissioner   of  mental  health  is  authorized,  within
appropriations made therefor, to  establish  a  continuum  of  community
residential services for the mentally ill.
(b)  The  commissioner shall establish standards for the operation and
funding of community residential services, including but not limited to:
1. criteria for admission to and continued residence in each  type  of
community residence;
2. periodic evaluation of services provided by community residences;
3. staffing patterns for each type of community residence; and
4.  guidelines  for  determining state aid to community residences, as
described in subdivision (c) of this section.
(c) Within amounts  available  therefor  and  subject  to  regulations
established  by  him  and  notwithstanding  any other provisions of this
article, the commissioner may provide state aid to local governments and
to voluntary agencies in an amount not to exceed one hundred percent  of
net  operating  costs  of community residences for the mentally ill. The
commissioner shall establish guidelines for determining  the  amount  of
state  aid  provided  pursuant  to this section. The guidelines shall be
designed to  enable  the  effective  and  efficient  operation  of  such
residences  and  shall include, but need not be limited to standards for
determining  anticipated  revenue,  for  retention  and  use  of  income
exceeding  the  anticipated amount and for determining reasonable levels
of uncollectible income. Such state aid to voluntary agencies shall  not
be  granted  unless  there  has  been  prior  approval  of  the proposed
community residence by the local governmental unit.
(d) The commissioner shall establish standards for the  operation  and
funding  of  residential  care  centers  for  adults,  including but not
limited to:
1. criteria for admission to and continued  residence  in  residential
care centers for adults, including curfews, restrictions against on-site
use  of  alcohol and controlled substances and criminal involvement. For
residential care centers for adults licensed or established after  April
first,  nineteen  hundred eighty-eight criteria for admission shall also
include but not be limited to, in the case of centers on the grounds  of
existing  state  operated  psychiatric hospitals, the availability of at
least twenty-five percent of the placements for  community  clients.  In
the  case  of  community  based  residential  care centers for adults, a
minimum of fifty percent of the placements  within  a  region  shall  be
reserved  for  community  clients.  For  the  purposes of this section a
community client is any person who, immediately prior  to  admission  to
the  residential  care  center for adults, was not a resident of a state
operated psychiatric hospital for more than thirty consecutive days,  or
if  such  person  was  residing  in  the  community immediately prior to
admission to the residential care center for adults, was not a  resident
of  a  state  operated  psychiatric  hospital within the previous thirty
days;
2. provision of on-site  services  by  residential  care  centers  for
adults  which  shall  include  but  not  be limited to, case management,
medication management, and development of a recommended service plan for
each resident for necessary social, vocational and clinical services;
3. periodic review of services provided by  residential  care  centers
for adults;
4.  staffing  patterns  for  residential care centers for adults which
shall be sufficient to provide on-site supervision twenty-four hours per
day at each facility; and
5. guidelines for determining state aid to  residential  care  centers
for adults as described in subdivisions (e) and (f) of this section.
(e)  Within  amounts  available therefor and notwithstanding any other
provisions of this article, the commissioner may provide  state  aid  to
local  governments  and  to  voluntary  agencies  for  the  operation of
residential care centers for adults in accordance with paragraph one  of
this  subdivision,  and  may  provide  state  aid  to local governments,
voluntary agencies, and other individuals or organizations certified  to
operate   residential  care  centers  for  adults,  in  accordance  with
paragraph two of this subdivision.
1. The commissioner may provide state aid in an amount not  to  exceed
one  hundred  percent of net operating costs of residential care centers
for adults. The commissioner shall establish guidelines for  determining
the amount of state aid provided pursuant to this paragraph.
2.  The commissioner may provide state aid through the payment of fees
for reimbursable services. For purposes of this paragraph,  reimbursable
services   include,  but  are  not  limited  to,  room  and  board.  The
commissioner shall establish standards for programs  funded  under  this
section and shall by rule or regulation annually establish fees for each
reimbursable  service,  subject  to  the approval of the director of the
budget. Fees may be varied for geographic  reasons  or  for  other  good
cause shown.
(f)  Within  amounts  available therefor, the commissioner may provide
state aid to local governments and voluntary agencies for capital  costs
for  residential  care  centers  for  adults  at the rate of up to fifty
percent of such capital costs; provided, however, that no such state aid
shall be granted unless the recipient enters into an agreement in a form
acceptable to the commissioner guaranteeing that  the  residential  care
center for adults will be operated by the recipient or made available at
no  cost  to another provider of services or the office of mental health
for no less than twenty years, and grants the state  such  security  and
real property interests as the commissioner may require.
(g)  No  psychiatric  center shall have more than one residential care
center for adults on its  grounds  unless  the  commissioner  of  mental
health   submits   a   report   to  the  legislature  and  the  governor
demonstrating the appropriateness of such  additional  residential  care
center  for adults.  After October first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven,
the commissioner shall not convert inpatient buildings on the grounds of
a psychiatric center to a residential care center for adults unless such
buildings are vacant, nor cause such buildings to be vacated solely  for
the purposes of establishing a residential care center for adults.