Senate Bill S7584

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7584

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the executive law, in relation to
the authority of the justice center to visit, inspect and appraise the
management of out-of-state schools or facilities

 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

This bill would authorize the Justice Center for the Protection of
People with Special Needs ("Justice Center") to visit, inspect and
appraise the management of residential schools and facilities outside
of New York State that serve New York residents.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill would amend Executive Law § 553(7)(a) to
authorize the Justice Center to visit, inspect and appraise the
management of schools and facilities located outside of New York State
that serve New York State residents.

Section 2 of the bill would make it effective immediately.

 EXISTING LAW :

Under Executive Law § 553(7)(a), the Justice Center has the authority
to visit, inspect and appraise the management of the facilities and
              

provider agencies defined in Social Services Law § 488(4). This
includes certain facilities and provider agencies operated, licensed
or certified by the Office of Mental Health, the Office for People
with Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse Services, the Office of Children and Family Services,
the Department of Health and the State Education Department. Social
Services Law § 491 requires mandated reporters to report alleged abuse
or neglect of vulnerable persons served by these facilities and
provider agencies to the Justice Center.

Allegations of abuse or neglect against New York residents who are
served by residential schools or facilities located outside of New
York State also are reportable to the Justice Center, and to the
applicable state oversight agency, local social services district
and/or local educational district, pursuant to Social Services Law §
490(5). However, these schools and facilities are not included within
the definition of facilities or provider agencies in Social Services
Law § 488(4). Nonetheless, under Social Services Law § 490(5)(b), when
the Justice Center receives a report of alleged abuse or neglect of a
resident being served by an out-of-state school or facility, the
Justice Center is authorized to investigate that allegation, or it may
delegate that responsibility to another agency or entity.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :

Although Social Services Law § 490(5) expressly authorizes the Justice
Center to investigate a report that a New York resident receiving
services from a school or facility located outside of New York State
was an alleged victim of abuse or neglect, there is no explicit
statutory authority for the Justice Center to monitor the management
of these out-of-state schools or programs in the absence of an
allegation of abuse or neglect. As a result, questions have been
raised about whether the Justice Center may visit such a school or
facility to determine, for example, whether the school or facility is
complying with its obligation to report abuse or neglect.

In order to address this lack of clear authority, the Justice Center
has relied on authority delegated to it from state oversight agencies,
either through a general agreement or a specific Memorandum of
Understanding, in order to conduct monitoring visits to out-of-state
schools and facilities. This has allowed the Justice Center to visit
some out-of-state programs and to engage in monitoring activities at
those programs.

The State Education Department (SED) has, however, raised a concern
about its authority to delegate to the Justice Center the ability to
access certain types of information that are protected by the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR
Part 99), a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education
records. FERPA authorizes SED to access such records for audit and
evaluation purposes, and while SED is comfortable delegating this
monitoring authority to the Justice Center, it is concerned about the
propriety of delegating its right to access to these records when the
Justice Center does not have the explicit statutory authority to
conduct monitoring visits. This bill would address SED's concern by
clarifying that the Justice Center has the ability to "visit, inspect
and appraise" the management of out-of-state residential schools and
facilities, and would permit the Justice Center, on SED's behalf and
at its request, to conduct a comprehensive audit and evaluation of
these out-of-state schools and programs, even in the absence of a
report that a New York State resident has been the victim of alleged
abuse or neglect.

 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :

This bill would be implemented within existing resources.

 LOCAL IMPACT :

None known.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill would take effect immediately.