Amd §353.2, Fam Ct Act; add Art 6 Title 12 §§458-m & 458-n, amd §§404 & 409-a, Soc Serv L
 
Relates to establishing family support centers for youth at risk of being, or alleged or adjudicated to be juvenile delinquents or persons in need of supervision; authorizes reimbursement to counties.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5475
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 30, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sens. MONTGOMERY, PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered print-
ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and
Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to authorizing
probation in juvenile delinquent cases to be conditional upon referral
for certain family services; and to amend the social services law, in
relation to family support centers and state reimbursement for expend-
itures made by social services districts for various services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 2 of section 353.2 of the
2 family court act, as amended by chapter 124 of the laws of 1993, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (e) co-operate with a mental health, social services or other appro-
5 priate community facility or agency to which the respondent is referred,
6 including a family support center pursuant to title twelve of article
7 six of the social services law;
8 § 2. Article 6 of the social services law is amended by adding a new
9 title 12 to read as follows:
10 TITLE 12
11 FAMILY SUPPORT CENTERS
12 Section 458-m. Family support centers.
13 458-n. Funding for family support centers.
14 § 458-m. Family support centers. 1. As used in this title, the term
15 "family support center" shall mean a program established pursuant to
16 this title to provide community-based supportive services to youth at
17 risk of being, or alleged or adjudicated to be persons in need of super-
18 vision pursuant to article seven of the family court act, and their
19 families. Family support centers may also provide community-based
20 supportive services to youth who are alleged or adjudicated to be juve-
21 nile delinquents pursuant to article three of the family court act and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07159-01-7
S. 5475 2
1 youth aged sixteen, seventeen and eighteen who are accused or convicted
2 of crimes.
3 2. Family support centers shall provide comprehensive services to such
4 children and their families, either directly or through referrals with
5 partner agencies, including, but not limited to:
6 (a) rapid family assessments and screenings;
7 (b) crisis intervention;
8 (c) family mediation and skills building;
9 (d) mental and behavioral health services as defined in subdivision
10 fifty-eight of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law including cogni-
11 tive interventions;
12 (e) case management;
13 (f) respite services; and
14 (g) other family support services.
15 3. To the extent practicable, the services that are provided shall be
16 trauma sensitive, family focused, gender-responsive, where appropriate,
17 and evidence and/or strength based and shall be tailored to the individ-
18 ualized needs of the child and family based on the assessments and
19 screenings conducted by such family support center.
20 4. Family support centers shall have the capacity to serve families
21 outside of regular business hours including evenings or weekends.
22 § 458-n. Funding for family support centers. 1. Notwithstanding any
23 other provision of law to the contrary, state reimbursement shall be
24 made available for one hundred percent of expenditures made by social
25 services districts, exclusive of any federal funds made available for
26 such purpose, for family support centers statewide.
27 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, family
28 support centers shall be established in each social services district
29 throughout the state with the approval of the office of children and
30 family services, provided however that two or more social services
31 districts may join together to establish, operate and maintain a family
32 support center and may make and perform agreements in connection there-
33 with.
34 3. Social services districts may contract with not-for-profit corpo-
35 rations or utilize existing programs to operate family support centers
36 in accordance with the provisions of this title and the specific program
37 requirements issued by the office. Family support centers shall have
38 sufficient capacity to provide services to youth within the social
39 services district or districts who are at risk of becoming, alleged or
40 adjudicated to be persons in need of supervision pursuant to article
41 seven of the family court act, and their families. In addition, to the
42 extent practicable, family support centers may provide services to youth
43 who are alleged or adjudicated under article three of the family court
44 act.
45 4. Social services districts receiving funding under this title shall
46 report to the office of children and family services, in the form and
47 manner and at such times as determined by the office, on the performance
48 outcomes of any family support center located within such district that
49 receives funding under this title.
50 § 3. Subdivision 8 of section 404 of the social services law, as added
51 by section 1 of subpart A of part G of chapter 57 of the laws of 2012,
52 is amended to read as follows:
53 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary[,]
54 except as provided for in paragraph (a-1) of this subdivision, eligible
55 expenditures during the applicable time periods made by a social
56 services district for an approved juvenile justice services close to
S. 5475 3
1 home initiative shall, if approved by the department of family assist-
2 ance, be subject to reimbursement with state funds only up to the extent
3 of an annual appropriation made specifically therefor, after first
4 deducting therefrom any federal funds properly received or to be
5 received on account thereof; provided, however, that when such funds
6 have been exhausted, a social services district may receive state
7 reimbursement from other available state appropriations for that state
8 fiscal year for eligible expenditures for services that otherwise would
9 be reimbursable under such funding streams. Any claims submitted by a
10 social services district for reimbursement for a particular state fiscal
11 year for which the social services district does not receive state
12 reimbursement from the annual appropriation for the approved close to
13 home initiative may not be claimed against that district's appropriation
14 for the initiative for the next or any subsequent state fiscal year.
15 (i) State funding for reimbursement shall be, subject to appropri-
16 ation, in the following amounts: for state fiscal year 2013-14,
17 $35,200,000 adjusted by any changes in such amount required by subpara-
18 graphs (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph; for state fiscal year 2014-15,
19 $41,400,000 adjusted to include the amount of any changes made to the
20 state fiscal year 2013-14 appropriation under subparagraphs (ii) and
21 (iii) of this paragraph plus any additional changes required by such
22 subparagraphs; and, such reimbursement shall be, subject to appropri-
23 ation, for all subsequent state fiscal years in the amount of the prior
24 year's actual appropriation adjusted by any changes required by subpara-
25 graphs (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph.
26 (ii) The reimbursement amounts set forth in subparagraph (i) of this
27 paragraph shall be increased or decreased by the percentage that the
28 average of the most recently approved maximum state aid rates for group
29 residential foster care programs is higher or lower than the average of
30 the approved maximum state aid rates for group residential foster care
31 programs in existence immediately prior to the most recently approved
32 rates.
33 (iii) The reimbursement amounts set forth in subparagraph (i) of this
34 paragraph shall be increased if either the population of alleged juve-
35 nile delinquents who receive a probation intake or the total population
36 of adjudicated juvenile delinquents placed on probation combined with
37 the population of adjudicated juvenile delinquents placed out of their
38 homes in a setting other than a secure facility pursuant to section
39 352.2 of the family court act, increases by at least ten percent over
40 the respective population in the annual baseline year. The baseline year
41 shall be the period from July first, two thousand ten through June thir-
42 tieth, two thousand eleven or the most recent twelve month period for
43 which there is complete data, whichever is later. In each successive
44 year, the population of the previous July first through June thirtieth
45 period shall be compared to the baseline year for determining any
46 adjustments to a state fiscal year appropriation. When either population
47 increases by ten percent or more, the reimbursement will be adjusted by
48 a percentage equal to the larger of the percentage increase in either
49 the number of probation intakes for alleged juvenile delinquents or the
50 total population of adjudicated juvenile delinquents placed on probation
51 combined with the population of adjudicated juvenile delinquents placed
52 out of their homes in a setting other than a secure facility pursuant to
53 section 352.2 of the family court act.
54 (iv) The social services district and/or the New York city department
55 of probation shall provide an annual report including the data required
56 to calculate the population adjustment to the New York city office of
S. 5475 4
1 management and budget, the division of criminal justice services and the
2 state division of the budget no later than the first day of September
3 following the close of the previous July first through June thirtieth
4 period.
5 (a-1) State reimbursement shall be made available for one hundred
6 percent of eligible expenditures made by a social services district,
7 exclusive of any federal funds made available for such purposes, for
8 approved juvenile justice services under an approved close to home
9 initiative provided to youth age sixteen years of age or older when such
10 services would not otherwise have been provided to such youth.
11 (b) The department of family assistance is authorized, in its
12 discretion, to make advances to a social services district in antic-
13 ipation of the state reimbursement provided for in this section.
14 (c) A social services district shall conduct eligibility determi-
15 nations for federal and state funding and submit claims for reimburse-
16 ment in such form and manner and at such times and for such periods as
17 the department of family assistance shall determine.
18 (d) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law or regulation of
19 the department of family assistance, state reimbursement shall not be
20 made for any expenditure made for the duplication of any grant or allow-
21 ance for any period.
22 (e) Claims submitted by a social services district for reimbursement
23 shall be paid after deducting any expenditures defrayed by fees, third
24 party reimbursement, and any non-tax levy funds including any donated
25 funds.
26 (f) The office of children and family services shall not reimburse any
27 claims for expenditures for residential services that are submitted more
28 than twenty-two months after the calendar quarter in which the expendi-
29 tures were made.
30 (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state shall not be
31 responsible for reimbursing a social services district and a district
32 shall not seek state reimbursement for any portion of any state disal-
33 lowance or sanction taken against the social services district, or any
34 federal disallowance attributable to final federal agency decisions or
35 to settlements made, when such disallowance or sanction results from the
36 failure of the social services district to comply with federal or state
37 requirements, including, but not limited to, failure to document eligi-
38 bility for the federal or state funds in the case record. To the extent
39 that the social services district has sufficient claims other than those
40 that are subject to disallowance or sanction to draw down the full annu-
41 al appropriation, such disallowance or sanction shall not result in a
42 reduction in payment of state funds to the district unless the district
43 requests that the department use a portion of the appropriation toward
44 meeting the district's responsibility to repay the federal government
45 for the disallowance or sanction and any related interest payments.
46 (h) Rates for residential services. (i) The office shall establish the
47 rates, in accordance with section three hundred ninety-eight-a of this
48 [chapter] title, for any non-secure facilities established under an
49 approved juvenile justice services close to home initiative. For any
50 such non-secure facility that will be used primarily by the social
51 services district with an approved close to home initiative, final
52 authority for establishment of such rates and any adjustments thereto
53 shall reside with the office, but such rates and any adjustments thereto
54 shall be established only upon the request of, and in consultation with,
55 such social services district.
S. 5475 5
1 (ii) A social services district with an approved juvenile justice
2 services close to home initiative for juvenile delinquents placed in
3 limited secure settings shall have the authority to establish and
4 adjust, on an annual or regular basis, maintenance rates for limited
5 secure facilities providing residential services under such initiative.
6 Such rates shall not be subject to the provisions of section three
7 hundred ninety-eight-a of this [chapter] title but shall be subject to
8 maximum cost limits established by the office of children and family
9 services.
10 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 409-a of the social
11 services law, as amended by chapter 87 of the laws of 1993, subparagraph
12 (i) as amended by chapter 342 of the laws of 2010, and subparagraph (ii)
13 as amended by section 22 of part C of chapter 83 of the laws of 2002, is
14 amended to read as follows:
15 (a) A social services official shall provide preventive services to a
16 child and his or her family, in accordance with the family's service
17 plan as required by section four hundred nine-e of this [chapter] arti-
18 cle and the social services district's child welfare services plan
19 submitted and approved pursuant to section four hundred nine-d of this
20 [chapter] article, upon a finding by such official that (i) the child
21 will be placed, returned to or continued in foster care unless such
22 services are provided and that it is reasonable to believe that by
23 providing such services the child will be able to remain with or be
24 returned to his or her family, and for a former foster care youth under
25 the age of twenty-one who was previously placed in the care and custody
26 or custody and guardianship of the local commissioner of social services
27 or other officer, board or department authorized to receive children as
28 public charges where it is reasonable to believe that by providing such
29 services the former foster care youth will avoid a return to foster care
30 or (ii) the child is the subject of a petition under article seven of
31 the family court act, [or has been determined by the assessment service
32 established pursuant to section two hundred forty-three-a of the execu-
33 tive law,] or by the probation service where no such assessment service
34 has been designated, to be at risk of being the subject of such a peti-
35 tion, and the social services official determines that the child is at
36 risk of placement into foster care. Such finding shall be entered in the
37 child's uniform case record established and maintained pursuant to
38 section four hundred nine-f of this [chapter] article. The commissioner
39 shall promulgate regulations to assist social services officials in
40 making determinations of eligibility for mandated preventive services
41 pursuant to this [subparagraph] paragraph.
42 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
43 the amendments to subdivision 8 of section 404 of the social services
44 law made by section three of this act shall not affect the repeal of
45 such subdivision and shall be deemed repealed therewith; provided,
46 further, that the amendments to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of
47 subdivision 1 of section 409-a of the social services law made by
48 section four of this act shall not affect the expiration of such subpar-
49 agraph and shall be deemed to expire therewith.