2023 New York Laws › SOS - Social Services › Article 10-C - State Council on Children and Families › 483-C - Coordinated Children's Services for Children With Emotional And/or Behavioral Disorders.

§  483-c.  Coordinated children's services for children with emotional
and/or behavioral disorders. 1. Purpose. The  purpose  of  this  section
shall  be  to  establish  a coordinated system of care for children with
emotional and behavioral disorders,  and  their  families,  who  require
assistance  from  multiple agency systems to appropriately maintain such
children with their families, in their communities and  in  their  local
school  systems.  Such  system  of  care shall provide for the effective
collaboration among state and local health, mental  hygiene,  education,
juvenile  justice,  probation  of care and other human services agencies
directed at  improving  outcomes  for  children  with  emotional  and/or
behavioral disorders and their families leading to full participation in
their   communities  and  schools.  This  shall  include  children  with
co-occurring disorders. The absence of coordinated care often results in
inappropriate  and   costly   institutional   placements   and   limited
community-based  services  that  support  maintaining  the  child in the
community. Establishing the coordinated children's  services  initiative
statewide  is  intended  to  improve  the  manner  in  which services of
multiple  systems  are  delivered  and  to  eliminate  barriers   to   a
coordinated system of care.
2. Definitions. As used in this section:
(a)  "Child with an emotional and/or behavioral disorder" shall mean a
person under eighteen years of age, or a person under  twenty-one  years
of age who has not completed secondary school, who has a mental illness,
as  defined  in subdivision twenty of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene
law, or is classified as a student with a disability pursuant to article
eighty-nine  of  the  education  law  or  section  504  of  the  federal
rehabilitation  act,  or  is  considered  to have a serious emotional or
behavioral problem, as considered by  a  tier  I  and/or  tier  II  team
representative  pursuant  to  this  section.  Such  term  shall  include
children with co-occurring disorders.
(b) "Individualized family support plan" shall mean a  plan  developed
in conjunction with the family through a strength-based child and family
assessment  containing  a summary of the strengths, needs and goals of a
child with an emotional and/or behavioral disorder, and the services and
supports  agreed  to  by  the  child,  family  and  the  tier   I   team
representatives.
(c)  "Family"  shall mean, when appropriate, a child with an emotional
and/or behavioral disorder, his or her  parents  or  those  in  parental
relationship   to  the  child,  blood  relatives  and  extended  family,
including non-relatives identified by the child and/or parents.  Nothing
in this section shall be construed to deny the child, his or her parents
or  those  persons  in  parental relationship to the child of any rights
they are otherwise entitled to by law.
(d) "County" shall mean a county, except in the case of a county  that
is wholly included within a city, such term shall mean such city.
(e) "Family support representative" shall mean a volunteer who is also
a  parent  or  primary  caregiver  of  a  child with an emotional and/or
behavioral disorder. The  family  support  representative  shall  assist
families  throughout  the  process  of  developing  and  implementing an
individualized family support plan as defined in this section.
3. Interagency structure. (a)  There  shall  be  established  a  three
tiered interagency structure, as follows:
(i)  State  tier  III  team.  There is hereby established a state team
designated as the "tier III team", which shall consist of the  chair  of
the  council,  the commissioners of children and family services, mental
health, health, education, alcoholism and substance abuse services,  and
the  office for people with developmental disabilities, and the director
of the office of  probation  and  correctional  alternatives,  or  their

designated  representatives, and representatives of families of children
with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Other representatives may be
added at the discretion of such team.
(ii)  County  tier  II  team.  A  county,  or  consortium of counties,
choosing  to  participate  in  the   coordinated   children's   services
initiative  shall  establish  an interagency team consisting of, but not
limited to, the local commissioners or leadership assigned by the  chief
elected  official  responsible  for  the  local  health, mental hygiene,
juvenile justice,  probation  and  other  human  services  systems.  The
education  system shall be represented by the district superintendent of
the board of cooperative educational services, or his or  her  designee,
and  in  the case of the city of New York, by the chancellor of the city
school district of the city of New York, or his  or  her  designee,  and
appropriate  local  school district representatives as determined by the
district superintendent of the board of cooperative educational services
or such chancellor. Such team shall be sensitive to issues  of  cultural
competence,  and  shall  include representatives of families of children
with an emotional and/or  behavioral  disorder.  Regional  state  agency
representatives may participate when requested by such team.
(iii)  Family-based  tier I team. Tier II teams, in cooperation with a
child with an emotional  and/or  behavioral  disorder  and  his  or  her
family,  shall  establish  interagency teams to work with such child and
family to develop an individualized, strength-based family support  plan
and  coordinate  interagency services agreed to in such plan. Such teams
shall include such child and family and, based on the needs of the child
and  family,  should  also  include  a  family  support  representative,
representatives  from  the  mental hygiene, education, juvenile justice,
probation, health, and other county child and family services systems.
(b) Roles and responsibilities of teams. (i) The state tier  III  team
shall  coordinate statewide implementation of the coordinated children's
services initiative. Such team shall:
(A) coordinate planning across the health, mental hygiene,  education,
juvenile justice, probation and human services systems;
(B)  address  barriers  to the effective delivery of local interagency
services;
(C) coordinate the provision of technical assistance and training  for
the  effective  implementation  of  the  coordinated children's services
initiative;
(D) develop an appropriate reporting mechanism to track  the  outcomes
being  achieved.  Such  mechanism  shall  be  developed  in concert with
participating counties; and
(E) report results and recommendations for  change  to  the  governor,
legislature and state board of regents, as appropriate.
(ii)  The  tier  II  teams shall coordinate the coordinated children's
services initiative at the local level. Such team shall:
(A) coordinate cross-systems training and provide  linkages  to  other
county and school district planning for children;
(B) address local/regional barriers to the coordination of services;
(C)  report  on  state  level  barriers  to  the effective delivery of
coordinated services and recommended changes to the state tier III team;
(D) report on outcomes using the mechanism developed by the state tier
III team;
(E) implement the goals and principles of the  coordinated  children's
services initiative; and
(F)  make  monies  available  consistent with subdivision five of this
section.
(iii) Each tier I team shall work collaboratively with the  family  to
develop an individualized family support plan that is:
(A) family-focused and family driven;
(B) built on child and family strengths; and
(C)  comprehensive,  including  appropriate services and supports from
appropriate systems and natural supports from the community.
4. Goals and principles  of  operation.  (a)  Goals.  The  coordinated
children's  services  initiative  shall  enable  children with emotional
and/or behavioral disorders, whenever  appropriate  for  the  child  and
family to:
(i) reside with their families;
(ii) live and participate successfully in their communities;
(iii) attend and be successful in their local school systems; and
(iv)  grow  towards  becoming independent, contributing members of the
community.
(b) Principles of operation. The tier III and II teams shall provide a
system for serving children with emotional and/or  behavioral  disorders
that is:
(i)   community-based,  allowing  children  and  families  to  receive
services close to their home;
(ii) culturally competent;
(iii) individualized and strengths-based in approach;
(iv) family friendly, involving the family as full and active partners
at  every  level  of  decision  making,  including  policy  development,
planning, treatment and service delivery;
(v)  comprehensive,  involving  all appropriate parties, including but
not limited to the family, child, natural  supports,  provider  agencies
and other necessary community services;
(vi)  funded through multiple systems with flexible funding mechanisms
that support creative approaches;
(vii) unconditionally committed to the success of each child; and
(viii) accountable with respect to  use  of  agreed  on  and  measured
outcomes.
5.  Funding.  Counties  and  school  districts,  including  boards  of
cooperative  educational  services  as  requested  by  component  school
districts,   choosing  to  participate  in  the  coordinated  children's
services initiative, unless expressly prohibited by law, shall have  the
authority to:
(a)  combine  state  and federal resources of the participating county
and educational agencies to provide services  to  groups  or  individual
children   and  their  families  necessary  to  maintain  children  with
emotional and/or behavioral disorders in their  homes,  communities  and
schools, and support families in achieving this goal, as long as the use
of  the  funds  is  consistent  with  the  purposes  for which they were
appropriated; and
(b) apply flexibility in use of funds, pursuant to  an  individualized
family-support  plan,  or for collaborative programs, an agreement among
the county, city and  school  districts  or  the  board  of  cooperative
educational  services, monies combined pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subdivision may be used to allow flexibility in determining and applying
interventions that will address the unique needs of the family. The tier
III team shall develop guidelines for  the  flexible  use  of  funds  in
implementing an individualized family support plan.
6.  Administration  and  reports. The council shall be responsible for
the administration of the provisions of this section.
(a) The tier III team shall submit a report to the  council  detailing
the  effectiveness  in  reaching the goals and objectives of the program
established by this section. Such report shall include  recommendations,
based  on  the  experience  gained  pursuant  to  the provisions of this
article, for modifying statewide policies, regulations or statutes.  The

council  shall  forward such report to the governor, the legislature and
the state board of regents on or before the first day of  July  of  each
year,  including  the  recommendations of the tier III members regarding
the feasibility and implications of implementing the recommendations.
(b)  The  tier III team shall have authority to receive funds and work
within agency structures, as agreed to by member agencies, to administer
funds for the purposes of carrying out its responsibilities.
(c) Parents and representatives of families, who are  not  compensated
for  attendance  as  part  of their employment, shall be compensated for
their tier III team participation and reimbursed  for  actual  expenses,
including, but not limited to, child care.
7.  Confidentiality.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of state
law to the contrary, tier  I,  II  and  III  team  participants  in  the
coordinated  children's services system shall have access to case record
and related treatment information as necessary to support  the  purposes
of this section, to the extent permitted by federal law.
(b)   Tier   I,  II  and  III  team  participants  shall  protect  the
confidentiality of all individual identifying case  record  and  related
treatment   information,   and   prevent  access  thereto,  by,  or  the
distribution thereof to,  other  persons  not  authorized  by  State  or
federal law.