2023 New York Laws › SOS - Social Services › Article 7 - Residential Care Programs for Adults and Children › Title 3 - Residential Programs for Children › 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.