New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services › Subchapter C - Social Services › Article 2 - Family and Children's Services › Part 423 - Preventive Services Regulations › Section 423.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
Preventive services agency
means an authorized agency as
			 defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 10 of section 371  of the
			 Social Services Law, or a not-for-profit corporation as defined in paragraph 5
			 of subdivision (a) of section 102  of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, or a
			 public agency that receives prior approval from the department, that provides a
			 program of preventive services as defined herein.
(b)
Preventive services
shall mean those supportive and rehabilitative services provided to children
			 and their families in accordance with the provisions of this Part for the
			 purpose of: averting a disruption of a family which will or could result in
			 placement of a child in foster care; enabling a child who has been placed in
			 foster care to return to his family at an earlier time than would otherwise be
			 possible; or reducing the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from
			 foster care would return to such care. The following services, when provided
			 for the above-stated purpose and in conformity with this Part, are considered
			 preventive services:
(1)
Case
			 management
as defined as the responsibility of the local department of
			 social services to authorize the provision of preventive services, to approve
			 the client eligibility determination according to the criteria of section
			 423.3  of this Part and, to approve
			 in writing, the service plans as defined in Part 428 of this Title.
(2)
Case planning
is defined
			 as assessing the need for, providing or arranging for, coordinating and
			 evaluating the provision of those preventive services needed by a child and his
			 or her family to prevent disruption of the family or to help a child in foster
			 care return home sooner. Case planning shall include, but not be limited to,
			 referring such child and his or her family to other services as needed,
			 including but not be limited to, educational counseling and training,
			 vocational diagnosis and training, employment counseling, therapeutic and
			 preventive medical care and treatment, health counseling and health maintenance
			 services, vocational rehabilitation, housing services, speech therapy and legal
			 services. Case planning responsibility shall also include documenting client
			 progress and adherence to the plan by recording in the uniform case record as
			 defined in Part 428 of this Title and sections
			 430.8 through
			 430.12  of this Title that such
			 services are provided and providing casework contacts as defined in paragraph
			 (3) of this subdivision.
Case planner
means the caseworker
			 assigned case planning responsibility as defined in section
			 428.2(c)  of this
			 Title.
(3)
Casework
			 contacts
as defined as:
(i)
			 Individual or group face-to-face counseling sessions between the case planner,
			 assigned caseworker, as directed by the case planner, or person providing
			 specialized rehabilitative services, supportive services or probation services
			 as defined in subdivisions (f), (g) and (h) of this section and the child
			 and/or family in receipt of preventive services for the purpose of guiding the
			 child and/or family towards a course of action agreed to by the child and/or
			 family as the best method of attaining personal objectives or resolving
			 problems or needs of a social, emotional, developmental or economic
			 nature.
(ii) Individual or group
			 activities with the child and/or the child's parents that are planned for the
			 purpose of achieving such course of action as specified in the child and
			 family's service plan.
(4) Day care services as defined in the
			 Consolidated Services Plan of the department prepared pursuant to section 34-a 
			 of the Social Services Law.
(5)
			 Homemaker services as defined in the Consolidated Services Plan of the
			 department prepared pursuant to section 34-a  of the Social Services
			 Law.
(6) Housekeeper/chore services
			 as defined in the Consolidated Services Plan of the department prepared
			 pursuant to section 34-a  of the Social Services Law.
(7) Family planning services as defined in
			 the Consolidated Services Plan of the department prepared pursuant to section 34-a  of the Social Services Law.
(8) Home management services as defined in
			 the Consolidated Services Plan of the department prepared pursuant to section 34-a  of the Social Services Law.
(9)
Clinical services
as
			 defined as assessment, diagnosis, testing, psychotherapy, and specialized
			 therapies provided by a person who has received a master's degree in social
			 work, a licensed psychologist, a licensed psychiatrist or other recognized
			 therapist in human services.
(10)
Parent aide services
as defined as those services provided in
			 the home and community that focus on the need of the parent for instruction and
			 guidance and are designed to maintain and enhance parental functioning and
			 family/parent role performance. Techniques may include but are not limited to
			 role modeling, listening skills, home management assistance and education in
			 parenting skills and personal coping behavior.
(11)
Day services to
			 children
as defined in section
			 425.1  of this Title shall mean a
			 program offering a combination of services including at least: social services,
			 psychiatric, psychological, education and/or vocational services and health
			 supervision and also including, as appropriate, recreational and transportation
			 services, for at least three but less than 24 hours a day and at least four
			 days per week, excluding holidays. If it can be demonstrated that one or more
			 of these services are not needed by the population served, that service may be
			 waived.
(12)
Parent
			 training
as defined as group instruction in parent skills development
			 and the developmental needs of the child and adolescent for the purpose of
			 strengthening parental functioning and parent/child relationships in order to
			 avert a disruption in a family or help a child in foster care return home
			 sooner than otherwise possible. Parent training may include child-parent
			 interaction groups formed to enhance relationship and communication
			 skills.
(13)
Transportation
			 services
as defined as providing or arranging for transportation of
			 the child and/or his family to and/or from services arranged as part of the
			 child's service plan except that transportation may not be provided as a
			 preventive service for visitation of children in foster care with their parents
			 and may only be provided if such transportation can not be arranged or provided
			 by the child's family.
(14)
Emergency cash or goods
as defined as money or the equivalent
			 thereto, food, clothing or other essential items that are provided to a child
			 and his family in an emergency or acute problem situation in order to avert
			 foster care placement.
(15)
Emergency shelter
as defined as providing or arranging for
			 shelter where a child and his family who are in an emergency or acute problem
			 situation reside in a site other than their own home in order to avert foster
			 care placement.
(16) Housing
			 services defined as rent subsidies, including payment of rent arrears, or any
			 other assistance necessary to obtain adequate housing will be considered
			 preventive services but will only be available to families of children already
			 in foster care if such families satisfy the definition set forth in paragraph
			 (c)(2) of this section and the eligibility standards set forth in sections
			 430.9(e)(2) and
			 430.9(f)  of this
			 Title. Rent subsidies and/or other assistance necessary to obtain adequate
			 housing may not exceed the sum of $300 per month per family, except as provided
			 in section
			 423.4(b)(2)  of
			 this Part, may not be provided for a period of more than three years, and must
			 be made in addition to any other payments or benefits received by the family.
(i) Such other assistance necessary to obtain
			 adequate housing will include security deposits; finder's or broker's fees;
			 household moving expenses; exterminator fees; mortgage arrears on client owned
			 property which place the family at imminent risk of losing their home; and/or
			 essential repairs of conditions in rental or client owned property which create
			 a substantial health or safety risk.
(ii) Housing services may be provided
			 directly by the local social services district or by a local public agency or
			 private not-for-profit agency or organization through a purchase of services
			 agreement, as prescribed by Part 405 of this Title. The social services
			 district responsible for determining the permanency planning goal of a child or
			 children in foster care must determine whether the family is eligible for
			 housing services and must be the district responsible for the coat of such
			 services. If the family moves out of the housing unit before the three year
			 maximum eligibility period has elapsed, housing services must be terminated,
			 unless the local social services district in which the family is residing
			 determines that housing services must be continued to prevent the child or
			 children from reentering foster care. In such cases, the local social services
			 district in which the family is residing must be responsible for providing
			 housing services to the family for the remainder of the three year period. If
			 the family moves to another state, housing services must be
			 terminated.
(iii) For purposes of
			 this Part, lack of adequate housing will be determined pursuant to the
			 standards set forth in section
			 430.9(e)(2)  of
			 this Title. In no case will a temporary residence in a shelter, including those
			 defined in Part 900 of this Title, a hotel/ motel or any other such emergency
			 or transitional residential facility be considered adequate housing for
			 purposes of providing housing services.
(iv) If a rent subsidy is being provided, the
			 sum of the public assistance shelter allowance, or the amount of rent the
			 family is deemed able to pay, and the rent subsidy must not exceed the family's
			 actual rent expenditures for the particular residence.
(a) When the family is not eligible for or in
			 receipt of a public assistance shelter allowance, the amount the family is
			 deemed able to pay will be the highest of the following:
(1) 10 percent of the family's gross monthly
			 income; or
(2) 30 percent of the
			 family's gross monthly income after first deducting $40 for each dependent and
			 any amount paid by the family for the care of children under 13 years of age
			 for that month, but only where such care is necessary to enable the parent or
			 caretaker to be gainfully employed or to participate in an approved program of
			 vocational training or rehabilitation as defined in section
			 415.2(a)(2)  of
			 this Title, and only to the extent such amounts are not reimbursed.
(b) As used in this subparagraph
			 the term:
(1) family includes any person
			 residing in the household to which the child will be discharged, unless such
			 person pays a prorated amount toward rent and utilities. In such a case, the
			 share of rent and utilities payable by such person will be deducted from the
			 actual cost of rent.
(2) dependent
			 includes any member of the family household (excluding foster children), other
			 than the head of the household or such person's spouse, who is under 18 years
			 of age or is a disabled person or is a full-time student.
(c) In no event may the actual cost of rent
			 toward which subsidy may be applied exceed 150 percent of the following fair
			 market rental values:
Metropolitan
					 Counties:
0 Bedrooms
1 Bedroom
2 Bedrooms
3 Bedrooms
4 Bedrooms
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
COUNTY(IES): Albany, Greene,
					 Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady
309
371
438
551
613
Binghamton, NY
COUNTY(IES): Broome, Tioga
279
335
396
489
549
Buffalo, NY
COUNTY(IES): Erie
282
342
403
504
563
Elmira, NY
COUNTY(IES): Chemung
282
342
403
504
565
Glens Falls, NY
COUNTY(IES): Warren, Washington
291
354
416
520
583
Nassau-Suffolk, NY
COUNTY(IES): Nassau, Suffolk
499
605
712
891
996
New York, NY
COUNTY(IES): Bronx, Kings, New York,
					 Putnam, Queens, Richmond and Rockland
375
455
535
671
751
Niagara Falls, NY
COUNTY(IES): Niagara
271
328
386
483
541
Orange County, NY
COUNTY(IES): Orange
372
452
531
664
744
Poughkeepsie, NY
COUNTY(IES): Dutchess
422
513
604
755
846
Rochester, NY
COUNTY(IES): Livingston, Monroe,
					 Ontario, Orleans, Wayne
331
405
477
596
663
Syracuse, NY
COUNTY(IES): Madison, Onondaga,
					 Oswego
292
349
409
511
573
Utica-Rome, NY
COUNTY(IES): Herkimer, Oneida
254
309
363
455
509
Westchester
472
572
674
842
942
Non-Metropolitan
					 Counties:
0 Bedrooms
1 Bedroom
2 Bedrooms
3 Bedrooms
4 Bedrooms
Allegany
249
298
349
437
490
Cayuga
291
354
416
520
583
Chenango
288
349
411
514
575
Columbia
274
332
392
490
549
Delaware
267
326
383
478
536
Franklin
264
321
377
472
529
Genesee
271
328
387
483
541
Jefferson
284
345
406
507
569
Otsego
267
326
383
478
536
Schoharie
267
326
383
478
536
Seneca
291
354
416
520
583
Sullivan
288
362
414
506
578
Ulster
341
414
488
609
683
Yates
272
330
389
487
543
0 Bedrooms
1 Bedroom
2 Bedrooms
3 Bedrooms
4 Bedrooms
Cattaraugus
245
297
349
437
490
Chautauqua
261
318
374
468
523
Clinton
278
331
389
483
531
Cortland
298
362
427
534
598
Essex
265
321
377
472
529
Fulton
237
289
339
425
475
Hamilton
264
321
377
472
529
Lewis
284
345
406
507
569
St. Lawrence
271
328
387
483
541
Schuyler
274
332
392
490
549
Steuben
274
332
392
490
549
Tompkins
298
362
427
534
598
Wyoming
272
328
387
483
541
These fair market values may be increased by the
			   department upon issuance of written notice to local social services districts
			   of such changes.
(v) The family's need for housing services,
			 including the need for the specific form of assistance and the amount of any
			 financial assistance being provided, must be reassessed at each assessment and
			 service plan review required pursuant to Part 428 of this Title. When a rent
			 subsidy is being provided, the family's need for such subsidy must be
			 calculated as prescribed in subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph at each
			 reassessment. When, as a result of such reassessment, the case manager
			 determines that the family's needs have changed and the housing services should
			 be modified, reduced, increased or terminated before the three year maximum
			 eligibility period has elapsed, the family must be so notified in writing no
			 later than 30 days prior to the initiation of such action. Such notice must
			 advise the family of its right to request a hearing pursuant to section
			 423.4(m)(4)  of
			 this Part. Housing services must be terminated before the three year maximum
			 eligibility period has elapsed if:
(a) the
			 child or children have returned to foster care, except when such return is due
			 to emergency circumstances based upon a parent service need and foster care is
			 necessary for a specified period not to exceed 30 days;
(b) the local social services district or the
			 family has located adequate permanent housing for the family and continued
			 housing services are not necessary;
(c) the family no longer meets the financial
			 eligibility standard set forth in subparagraph (iv) of this
			 paragraph;
(d) the child is no
			 longer residing in the household;
(e) the family moves out-of-state;
(f) the youngest child discharged from care
			 as a result of the family's eligibility for housing services reaches his/her
			 18th birthday; or
(g) the family
			 moves out of the original housing unit for which housing services were obtained
			 and the local social services district in which the family currently resides
			 determines that adequate permanent housing is available and continued housing
			 services are not necessary to prevent the child's return to foster
			 care.
(vi) Payments for
			 housing services must be made directly by the local social services district or
			 purchase of service agency to the landlord, mortgage holder, exterminator, or
			 contractor responsible for repairs.
(17)
(i)
			 Intensive, home-based, family preservation services are defined as casework
			 services and direct therapeutic services provided to families in order to
			 reduce or avoid the need for foster care placements of children who are in
			 imminent danger of such placements. Intensive, home-based, family preservation
			 services may include arranging on behalf of the families housing assistance,
			 child care, job training, education services, emergency cash grants and basic
			 support needs.
(ii) Caseworkers
			 providing intensive, home based family preservation services must provide at
			 least one-half of their direct services in the family's residence or temporary
			 home, work with not more than four families at any given time and be temporary
			 home, work with not more than four families at any given time and be available
			 to the families 24 hours a day. The caseworkers must be trained in family
			 preservation techniques and must aid in the solution of practical problems that
			 contribute to family stress so as to effect improved parental performance and
			 better resolution of intra-familial conflicts.
(iii) Intensive, home-based, family
			 preservation services may be provided for up to 30 days per family and may be
			 extended for an additional 30 days per family when necessary to maintain the
			 progress already achieved or when the provision of such services for the
			 additional days is necessary to avoid the foster care placement of
			 children.
(18)
Outreach activities
are defined as those activities designed
			 to publicize the existence and availability of preventive services for parents,
			 caretakers, and children who meet the criteria for the provision of preventive
			 services and to advise such parents, caretakers and children of the
			 availability of such services to meet their needs, alleviate the cause or
			 condition that creates the risk of foster care placement and to assist the
			 family to stay together. Outreach activities may be undertaken to publicize the
			 existence and availability of preventive services for parents, caretakers, and
			 children who have been diagnosed as having acquired immune deficiency syndrome
			 (AIDS), or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related illness or HIV infection,
			 as those terms are defined by the AIDS Institute of the State Department of
			 Health and are contained in directives issued by the department from time to
			 time. These outreach activities are for the purpose of identifying parent
			 service needs and child services needs, as described in sections
			 430.9(c)(4) and
			 430.9(c)(5)  of
			 this Title.
(19) Respite care and
			 services for families as described in Part 435 of this Title.