§ 41.44 Community residential services for the mentally ill.

(a) The commissioner of mental health is authorized, within
appropriations made therefor, to establish a continuum of community
residential services for the mentally ill.

(b) The commissioner shall establish standards for the operation and
funding of community residential services, including but not limited to:

1. criteria for admission to and continued residence in each type of
community residence;

2. periodic evaluation of services provided by community residences;

3. staffing patterns for each type of community residence; and

4. guidelines for determining state aid to community residences, as
described in subdivision (c) of this section.

(c) Within amounts available therefor and subject to regulations
established by him and notwithstanding any other provisions of this
article, the commissioner may provide state aid to local governments and
to voluntary agencies in an amount not to exceed one hundred percent of
net operating costs of community residences for the mentally ill. The
commissioner shall establish guidelines for determining the amount of
state aid provided pursuant to this section. The guidelines shall be
designed to enable the effective and efficient operation of such
residences and shall include, but need not be limited to standards for
determining anticipated revenue, for retention and use of income
exceeding the anticipated amount and for determining reasonable levels
of uncollectible income. Such state aid to voluntary agencies shall not
be granted unless there has been prior approval of the proposed
community residence by the local governmental unit.

(d) The commissioner shall establish standards for the operation and
funding of residential care centers for adults, including but not
limited to:

1. criteria for admission to and continued residence in residential
care centers for adults, including curfews, restrictions against on-site
use of alcohol and controlled substances and criminal involvement. For
residential care centers for adults licensed or established after April
first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight criteria for admission shall also
include but not be limited to, in the case of centers on the grounds of
existing state operated psychiatric hospitals, the availability of at
least twenty-five percent of the placements for community clients. In
the case of community based residential care centers for adults, a
minimum of fifty percent of the placements within a region shall be
reserved for community clients. For the purposes of this section a
community client is any person who, immediately prior to admission to
the residential care center for adults, was not a resident of a state
operated psychiatric hospital for more than thirty consecutive days, or
if such person was residing in the community immediately prior to
admission to the residential care center for adults, was not a resident
of a state operated psychiatric hospital within the previous thirty
days;

2. provision of on-site services by residential care centers for
adults which shall include but not be limited to, case management,
medication management, and development of a recommended service plan for
each resident for necessary social, vocational and clinical services;

3. periodic review of services provided by residential care centers
for adults;

4. staffing patterns for residential care centers for adults which
shall be sufficient to provide on-site supervision twenty-four hours per
day at each facility; and

5. guidelines for determining state aid to residential care centers
for adults as described in subdivisions (e) and (f) of this section.

(e) Within amounts available therefor and notwithstanding any other
provisions of this article, the commissioner may provide state aid to
local governments and to voluntary agencies for the operation of
residential care centers for adults in accordance with paragraph one of
this subdivision, and may provide state aid to local governments,
voluntary agencies, and other individuals or organizations certified to
operate residential care centers for adults, in accordance with
paragraph two of this subdivision.

1. The commissioner may provide state aid in an amount not to exceed
one hundred percent of net operating costs of residential care centers
for adults. The commissioner shall establish guidelines for determining
the amount of state aid provided pursuant to this paragraph.

2. The commissioner may provide state aid through the payment of fees
for reimbursable services. For purposes of this paragraph, reimbursable
services include, but are not limited to, room and board. The
commissioner shall establish standards for programs funded under this
section and shall by rule or regulation annually establish fees for each
reimbursable service, subject to the approval of the director of the
budget. Fees may be varied for geographic reasons or for other good
cause shown.

(f) Within amounts available therefor, the commissioner may provide
state aid to local governments and voluntary agencies for capital costs
for residential care centers for adults at the rate of up to fifty
percent of such capital costs; provided, however, that no such state aid
shall be granted unless the recipient enters into an agreement in a form
acceptable to the commissioner guaranteeing that the residential care
center for adults will be operated by the recipient or made available at
no cost to another provider of services or the office of mental health
for no less than twenty years, and grants the state such security and
real property interests as the commissioner may require.

(g) No psychiatric center shall have more than one residential care
center for adults on its grounds unless the commissioner of mental
health submits a report to the legislature and the governor
demonstrating the appropriateness of such additional residential care
center for adults. After October first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven,
the commissioner shall not convert inpatient buildings on the grounds of
a psychiatric center to a residential care center for adults unless such
buildings are vacant, nor cause such buildings to be vacated solely for
the purposes of establishing a residential care center for adults.