* § 153-k. Funding for children and family services. 1. (a)
Expenditures made by social services districts for child protective
services, preventive services provided, as applicable, to eligible
children and families of children who are in and out of foster care
placement, independent living services, aftercare services, and adoption
administration and services other than adoption subsidies provided
pursuant to article six of this chapter and the regulations of the
department of family assistance shall, if approved by the office of
children and family services, be subject to sixty-five percent state
reimbursement exclusive of any federal funds made available for such
purposes, in accordance with the directives of the department of family
assistance and subject to the approval of the director of the budget.

(b) Claims for preventive services and independent living services
submitted by a social services district for reimbursement may be
comprised of in-kind, indirect services, and non-tax levy funds,
including but not limited to privately donated funds, up to the same
amount as the social services district's claims for such services during
federal fiscal year nineteen hundred ninety-eight--ninety-nine were
comprised of in-kind, indirect services and non-tax levy funds;
provided, however, that up to seventeen and one-half percent of a social
services district's claims for preventive services and independent
living services may be comprised of privately donated funds if the
percentage of its claims comprised of privately donated funds was less
than seventeen and one-half percent during federal fiscal year nineteen
hundred ninety-eight--nineteen hundred ninety-nine. Federal
reimbursement of such claims shall be available only to the extent
permitted by federal law or regulations.

2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any other
law to the contrary, eligible expenditures by a social services district
for foster care services shall be subject to reimbursement with state
funds only to the extent of annual appropriations to the state foster
care block grant. Such foster care services shall include expenditures
for the provision and administration of: care, maintenance, supervision,
tuition, and transportation costs related to the education of a foster
child or youth incurred in accordance with paragraph c of subdivision
four of section thirty-two hundred forty-four of the education law;
supervision of foster children placed in federally funded job corps
programs; and care, maintenance, supervision and tuition for adjudicated
juvenile delinquents and persons in need of supervision placed in
residential programs operated by authorized agencies and in out-of-state
residential programs; except that, notwithstanding any other provision
of law to the contrary, reimbursement with state funds pursuant to the
state foster care block grant shall not be available for tuition
expenditures for foster children, including persons in need of
supervision and adjudicated juvenile delinquents, made by a social
services district located within a city having a population of one
million or more. Social services districts must develop and implement
children and family services delivery systems that are designed to
reduce the need for and the length of foster care placements and must
document their efforts in the multi-year consolidated services plan and
the annual implementation reports submitted pursuant to section
thirty-four-a of this chapter.

(b) State reimbursement to each social services district shall be
limited to the district's allocation of the foster care block grant. The
state funds appropriated for the foster care block grant shall be
apportioned among the social services districts by the office of
children and family services based on the district's claiming history
and other factors. Such apportionments shall be subject to the approval
of the director of the budget.

(c) Any portion of a social services district's apportionment from the
foster care block grant for a particular state fiscal year that is not
claimed by such district during that state fiscal year may be used by
such district for preventive services, independent living services or
aftercare services claimed by such district during the next state fiscal
year up to the amount remaining from the district's foster care block
grant apportionment; provided, however, that any claims for preventive
services, independent living services or aftercare services during the
next state fiscal year in excess of such amount shall be subject to
state reimbursement pursuant to subdivision one of this section. Any
claims submitted by a social services district for reimbursement for a
particular state fiscal year for which the social services district does
not receive state or federal reimbursement during that state fiscal year
may not be claimed against that district's block grant apportionment for
the next state fiscal year.

3. To the extent that monies are made available to the commissioner of
the office of children and family services from the children and family
services quality enhancement fund established pursuant to section
ninety-seven-yyy of the state finance law, the office of children and
family services is authorized to conduct activities to increase the
availability and/or quality of children and family services programs
which may include, but not be limited to, staff recruitment, retention
and training activities, research projects, and targeted services
expansion and/or demonstration projects to test innovative models for
service delivery which may include such areas as health, mental health
and substance abuse services. Notwithstanding sections one hundred
twelve and one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law, such
activities shall be conducted without competitive bid or request for
proposal.

4. (a) A social services district, either individually or in
combination with other social services districts, may establish managed
care systems or other systems to provide children and family services
other than child protective services investigations, in accordance with
applicable laws and regulations. Such a system may include, but not be
limited to, the establishment of capitated rates for service provided to
children to prevent the placement of such children into foster care and
to discharge such children from foster care to suitable, permanent, safe
homes in a more timely manner through preventive services, intensified
discharge planning, pre-adoptive services, after-care services and/or
post-adoption services.

(b) Social services district payments to case managers or public or
private service providers under such a system may be based on
reimbursement rates established by the office of children and family
services pursuant to section three hundred ninety-eight-a of this
chapter, capitated rates or other payment mechanisms for all or a
portion of the services, either separately or combined. To facilitate
payments to case managers or providers, the office of children and
family services may establish procedures for standardizing payments to
managers or providers that enter into agreements with more than one
social services district.

(c) Under such a system, a social services district may delegate
responsibility for case management services to case managers or
providers in a manner designed to afford case manager or provider
accountability through the incorporation of quality control standards
that provide appropriate monitoring of these services such as recognized
accreditation mechanisms, performance audits by the social services
district or other means.

(d) Under such a system, a social services district, in a purchase of
service agreement for preventive services with an authorized agency, may
delegate to such authorized agency the responsibility for approving and
paying rent subsidies or assistance under paragraph (c) of subdivision
five and/or subdivision seven of section four hundred nine-a of this
chapter.

(e)(i) A social services district must obtain the office's prior
approval of its plan for establishing and implementing such a system, in
accordance with guidelines established by the office of children and
family services.

(ii) Such a plan may include requests for a waiver of any statutory or
regulatory requirements established pursuant to sections thirty-four-a,
four hundred nine-d and four hundred nine-e of this chapter regarding
the form, content, development, or amendment of the child welfare
services plan component of the multi-year services plan and the annual
implementation reports, family services plans and uniform case records.

(iii) Any request by a social services district for a waiver shall
identify the specific statute or regulation to be waived, and include a
justification for the waiver and alternative actions to be taken by the
social services district to satisfy the purposes of the statute or
regulation. The office of children and family services may grant any
such waiver request, subject to the approval of the director of the
budget, where the social services district applying for the waiver
demonstrates a reasonable administrative or programmatic justification
for the waiver. The potential fiscal impact of the waiver upon federal,
state and local governments shall be evaluated by the office of children
and family services as part of its review of the request for a waiver.
The office of children and family services may impose durational and
other reasonable conditions if an approval of the waiver is granted.
Where a waiver is granted, the office of children and family services
shall have the authority to establish alternative standards to be
followed by social services officials. The office of children and family
services may not grant a waiver that would fail to comply with
applicable federal statutory or regulatory standards. The social
services district may not revise local practice or policy unless and
until the office of children and family services approves the waiver.

(iv) The office of children and family services shall provide notice
to the governor and the legislature of each plan that is approved
including a brief description of the plan and any waivers granted and
any alternative standards established. The office shall provide an
annual report to the governor and the legislature regarding the
implementation of all approved plans during a calendar year by January
thirty-first of the following year.

5. (a) Social services districts shall conduct eligibility
determinations and submit claims for reimbursement in such form and
manner and at such times and for such periods as the department of
family assistance shall determine.

(b) When certified by the department of family assistance, state
reimbursement shall be paid from the state treasury upon the audit and
warrant of the comptroller out of funds made available therefor.

(c) The department of family assistance is authorized in its
discretion to make advances to social services districts in anticipation
of the state reimbursement provided for in this section.

6. (a) Payment of state reimbursement and advances shall be made to
the fiscal officer of the social services district entitled thereto
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(b) Any inconsistent provision of the law or regulation of the
department of family assistance notwithstanding, state reimbursement
shall not be made for any expenditure made for the duplication of any
grant or allowance for any period.

7. The office of children and family services shall not reimburse any
claims for expenditures for those children and family services set forth
in subdivisions one and two of this section that are submitted more than
twenty-two months after the calendar quarter in which the expenditures
were made.

8. Claims submitted by a social services district for reimbursement
shall be paid after deducting any expenditures defrayed by fees, third
party reimbursement, and any non-tax levy funds including donated funds
that exceed the amount that may be claimed for state and federal
reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this
section.

9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state shall not be
responsible for reimbursing a social services district and a district
shall not seek state reimbursement for any portion of any state
disallowance or sanction taken against the social services district, or
any federal disallowance attributable to final federal agency decisions
or to settlements made, on or after July first, nineteen hundred
ninety-five, when such disallowance or sanction results from the failure
of the social services district to comply with federal or state
requirements, including, but not limited to, failure to document
eligibility for the federal or state funds in the case record; provided,
however, if the office of children and family services determines that
any federal disallowance for services provided between January first,
nineteen hundred ninety-nine and May thirty-first, nineteen hundred
ninety-nine results solely from the late enactment of the state
legislation implementing the federal adoption and safe families act, the
state shall be solely responsible for the full amount of the
disallowance or sanction. This provision shall be deemed to apply both
prospectively and retroactively regardless of whether the disallowance
or sanction is for services provided or claims made prior to or after
April first, two thousand two.

10. (i) In accordance with regulations developed by the office of
children and family services, the office shall measure each district's
compliance with the federal child welfare outcome standards beginning no
later than twenty months after the effective date of this section. The
office is authorized to impose fiscal penalties against a social
services district that fails to substantially comply with the outcome
standards or to make sufficient progress towards complying with the
outcome standards after developing and implementing a corrective action
plan in the time and manner approved by the office. The imposition of a
fiscal penalty shall be subject to an appeal process set forth in
regulation. Any fiscal penalties received by the office of children and
family services pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited to the
credit of the children and family services quality enhancement fund
established pursuant to section ninety-seven-yyy of the state finance
law. For social services districts in counties with less than fifteen
thousand children under the age of eighteen, the office may waive the
fiscal penalties and the need for a corrective action plan if the
failure to substantially comply with the outcome standards was based on
extraordinary circumstances. The office may provide fiscal incentives to
social services districts with high performances on the federal child
welfare outcome standards. A social services district may pass on to its
contract agencies some portion of the fiscal penalties or fiscal
incentives that may be attributable to such agencies.

(ii) The office shall provide an annual report to the governor and the
legislature detailing: each county's performance on the outcome
standards, the amount of fiscal penalties imposed against each county,
and the amount of fiscal penalties collected from each county. Said
report shall be delivered to the director of the budget, the chair of
the senate finance committee and the chair of the assembly ways and
means committee annually on a calendar year basis, by March fifteenth of
the following year.

11. The office of children and family services shall submit a
preliminary report to the governor and the legislature on or before the
thirty-first day of December, two thousand four providing preliminary
data and information on the implementation of this section, and shall
submit a final report by the fifteenth day of August, two thousand five
assessing the implementation of and the outcomes resulting from the
children and family services financing provisions established by this
section through the thirtieth day of June, two thousand five. The final
report shall include information regarding services delivery trends
under the financing structure set forth in this section and innovative
models of service provision to be considered for replication.

12. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, on or after January
first, two thousand twenty, the state shall not reimburse for the cost
of any placement of persons in need of supervision under article seven
of the family court act.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027