§ 409-a. Preventive services; provision by social services officials.
1. (a) A social services official shall provide preventive services to
a child and his or her family, in accordance with the family's service
plan as required by section four hundred nine-e of this chapter and the
social services district's child welfare services plan submitted and
approved pursuant to section four hundred nine-d of this chapter, upon a
finding by such official that (i) the child will be placed, returned to
or continued in foster care unless such services are provided and that
it is reasonable to believe that by providing such services the child
will be able to remain with or be returned to his or her family, and for
a former foster care youth under the age of twenty-one who was
previously placed in the care and custody or custody and guardianship of
the local commissioner of social services or other officer, board or
department authorized to receive children as public charges where it is
reasonable to believe that by providing such services the former foster
care youth will avoid a return to foster care or * (ii) the child is the
subject of a petition under article seven of the family court act or by
the probation service, to be at risk of being the subject of such a
petition, and the social services official determines that the child is
at risk of placement into foster care or

* NB Effective until June 30, 2027
* (ii) the child is the subject of a petition under article seven of the
family court act, or has been determined by the assessment service
established pursuant to section two hundred forty-three-a of the
executive law, or by the probation service where no such assessment
service has been designated, to be at risk of being the subject of such
a petition, and the social services official determines according to
standards promulgated pursuant to section three hundred ninety-eight-b
of this chapter that the child is at risk of placement into foster care.
Such finding shall be entered in the child's uniform case record
established and maintained pursuant to section four hundred nine-f of
this chapter. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations to assist
social services officials in making determinations of eligibility for
mandated preventive services pursuant to clause (ii) of this paragraph.

* NB Effective June 30, 2027
(iii) the child is under the age of twelve, the child does not fall
under the definition of a juvenile delinquent pursuant to subparagraph
(iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 301.2 of the family
court act and but for their age, their behavior would bring them within
the jurisdiction of the family court pursuant to article three of the
family court act, and the social services official determines that the
child is at risk of placement into foster care. Such finding shall be
entered in the child's uniform case record established and maintained
pursuant to section four hundred nine-f of this article. The
commissioner shall promulgate regulations to assist social services
officials in making determinations of eligibility for mandated
preventive services pursuant to this subparagraph.

(b) When a child and his family have received preventive services for
a period of six months pursuant to this subdivision, the social services
official shall continue to provide such services only upon making a new
finding that the child will be placed or continued in foster care unless
such services are provided and that it is reasonable to believe that by
providing such services, the child will be able to remain with or be
returned to his family. Such new finding shall be entered in the child's
uniform case record established and maintained pursuant to section four
hundred nine-f of this chapter.

2. A social services official is authorized to provide preventive
services to a child and his family to accomplish the purposes set forth
in section four hundred nine of this chapter, when such services are not
required to be provided pursuant to subdivision one of this section.

3. * (a) A social services official is authorized to provide community
preventive services to communities likely to benefit from such services
to accomplish the purposes set forth in section four hundred nine of
this chapter. Social services officials may apply to the office of
children and family services for waiver of eligibility and
administrative requirements for preventive services to be provided
pursuant to this subdivision. Such application shall include a plan
setting forth the services to be provided, the persons or community that
will receive the services and the estimated cost of such services. Upon
approval of the application by the office of children and family
services, eligibility requirements established in statute or regulation
may be waived for those persons and communities identified in the plan
as recipients of the services set forth in the plan. Where services are
administered pursuant to a plan approved by the office of children and
family services, the office of children and family services may waive
the requirements of section four hundred nine-f or four hundred
forty-two of this article.

* NB Effective until June 30, 2027

* (a) A social services official is authorized to provide community
preventive services to communities likely to benefit from such services
to accomplish the purposes set forth in section four hundred nine of
this chapter. Social services officials may apply to the department for
waiver of eligibility and administrative requirements for preventive
services to be provided pursuant to this subdivision. Such application
shall include a plan setting forth the services to be provided, the
persons or community that will receive the services and the estimated
cost of such services. Upon approval of the application by the
department, eligibility requirements established in statute or
regulation may be waived for those persons and communities identified in
the plan as recipients of the services set forth in the plan. Where
services are administered pursuant to a plan approved by the department,
the department may waive the requirements of sections one hundred
fifty-three-d and three hundred ninety-eight-b of this chapter
pertaining to denial or reimbursement. Where such a waiver is approved,
the department approval must specify standards whereby services provided
will be subject to denial of reimbursement. Where services are
administered pursuant to a plan approved by the department, the
department may waive the requirements of section four hundred nine-f or
four hundred forty-two of this article.

* NB Effective June 30, 2027

(b) The department must inform social services districts of procedures
governing application for waivers of eligibility and administrative
requirements and approval of waivers of eligibility and administrative
requirements. Where such waivers are granted, the department shall have
the authority to establish alternative standards to be followed by
social services officials who are granted waivers by the department.
Upon approval of an application for such waivers, the department
approval must specify the requirements being waived and any alternative
standards established.

(c) Community preventive services may be provided pursuant to this
subdivision through demonstration projects to the extent the department
makes funds available for such projects.

(d) The department shall develop an evaluation plan no later than
April first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, for community service
demonstration projects and, subject to the approval of the director of
the budget, may use up to five percent of the amount annually
appropriated for project grants to conduct such evaluation which shall
include but need not be limited to: an assessment of the effectiveness
of various service delivery models in creating or enhancing linkages
among school, housing, health, and income support services available in
the community; the effectiveness of various preventive services in
averting family disruption; the cost effectiveness of providing
community focused preventive services; the impact of this service
provision on requirements for more intensive mandated preventive
services; and, the feasibility of replicating successful service models
in other communities throughout the state.

4. Preventive services may be provided directly by the social services
official or through purchase of service, in accordance with regulations
of the department.

5. (a) Regulations of the department, promulgated pursuant to and not
inconsistent with this section, shall contain program standards
including, but not limited to: specification of services to be
classified as preventive services; appropriate circumstances and
conditions for the provision of particular services; appropriate
providers and recipients of such services; and time limits, as may be
appropriate, for the provision of particular services. The department
shall, subject to the approval of the director of the budget, establish
reimbursement or charge limitations for particular services or groups of
services to be provided. The department shall also promulgate
regulations to prevent social services districts from overutilizing
particular forms or types of preventive services and to encourage
districts to provide balanced preventive services programs based on the
identified needs of children and families residing in such districts.

(b) The program standards promulgated pursuant to this subdivision
shall be developed with the participation of the child welfare standards
advisory council established pursuant to section four hundred nine-h of
this chapter and in consultation with public and voluntary authorized
agencies, citizens' groups and concerned individuals and organizations,
including the state council on children and families.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, where a
social services official determines that a lack of adequate housing is
the primary factor preventing the discharge of a child or children from
foster care including, but not limited to, children with the goal of
discharge to independent living, preventive services shall include, in
addition to any other payments or benefits received by the family,
special cash grants in the form of rent subsidies, including rent
arrears, or any other assistance, sufficient to obtain adequate housing.
Such rent subsidies or assistance shall not exceed the sum of seven
hundred twenty-five dollars per month, shall not be provided for a
period of more than three years, and shall be considered a special
grant. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the ability
of those using such rent subsidy to live with roommates. The provisions
of this paragraph shall not be construed to limit such official's
authority to provide other preventive services.

(e) (i) A social services official is authorized to establish and
operate, or contract for the establishment and operation of, intensive,
homebased, family preservation programs.

(ii) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reimbursement for
intensive, homebased family preservation services shall be limited to
those programs that reduce or avoid the need for foster care of children
who are in imminent danger of placement. Such programs shall employ
caseworkers trained in family preservation techniques and who provide at
least half of their direct services in the client's residence or
temporary home, work with no more than four families at any given time,
provide direct therapeutic services for up to thirty days which may be
extended up to an additional thirty days per family and are available
twenty-four hours a day. No program described herein shall receive
reimbursement unless such program agrees to collect and provide to the
department information necessary to evaluate and assess the degree to
which such program results in lower costs to the state and to social
services districts than those of foster care placement. Such information
shall be compiled in a manner that permits comparisons between families
served by such programs and those families who meet eligibility criteria
but who were not able to be served within available resources.

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, where a social
services official authorizes the provision of respite care, such care
shall mean the temporary care and supervision of a child to relieve
parents or other persons legally responsible for the care of such child
where immediate relief is needed to maintain or restore family
functioning.

6. In accordance with regulations of the department, where the child's
family is able to pay all or part of the cost of such services, payments
of such fees as may be reasonable or other third party reimbursement as
may be available in the light of such ability shall be required.
Expenditures subject to reimbursement pursuant to section four hundred
nine-b of this title shall be reduced by the sum of all fees received or
to be received pursuant to this subdivision.

* 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a social
services official determines that a lack of adequate housing is a factor
that may cause the entry of a child or children into foster care and the
family has at least one service need other than lack of adequate
housing, preventive services may include, in addition to any other
payments or benefits received by the family, special cash grants in the
form of rent subsidies, including rent arrears, or any other assistance,
sufficient to obtain adequate housing. Such rent subsidies or assistance
shall not exceed the sum of seven hundred twenty-five dollars per month,
shall not be provided for a period of more than three years, and shall
be considered a special grant. Nothing in this subdivision shall be
construed to limit the ability of those using such rent subsidy to live
with roommates. The provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed
to limit such official's authority to provide other preventive services.

* NB There are two sub 7's

* 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, preventive services
information governed by this section may be released by the department,
social services district or other provider of preventive services to a
person, agency or organization for purposes of a bona fide research
project. Identifying information shall not be made available, however,
unless it is absolutely essential to the research purpose and the
department gives prior approval. Information released pursuant to this
subdivision shall not be re-disclosed except as otherwise permitted by
law and upon the approval of the department.

* NB There are 2 sub 7's

8. In contracting for the provision of preventive services, social
services districts shall, to the extent feasible, place such services in
areas with a high rate of child abuse and neglect and foster care
placements. Social services districts shall, to the extent feasible,
consider as a priority community-based organizations with a record of
providing quality services to children and families in such communities.

9. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, records
relating to children pursuant to this section shall be made available to
officers and employees of the state comptroller, or of the city
comptroller of the city of New York, or of the county officer designated
by law or charter to perform the auditing function in any county not
wholly contained within a city, for purposes of a duly authorized
performance audit, provided, however that such comptroller or officer
shall have certified to the keeper of such records that he or she has
instituted procedures developed in consultation with the department to
limit access to client-identifiable information to persons requiring
such information for purposes of the audit, that such persons shall not
use such information in any way except for purposes of the audit and
that appropriate controls and prohibitions are imposed on the
dissemination of client-identifiable information obtained in the conduct
of the audit. Information pertaining to the substance or content of any
psychological, psychiatric, therapeutic, clinical or medical reports,
evaluations or like materials or information pertaining to such child or
the child's family shall not be made available to such officers and
employees unless disclosure of such information is absolutely essential
to the specific audit activity and the department gives prior written
approval.

(b) Any failure to maintain the confidentiality of client-identifiable
information shall subject such comptroller or officer to denial of any
further access to records until such time as the audit agency has
reviewed its procedures concerning controls and prohibitions imposed on
the dissemination of such information and has taken all reasonable and
appropriate steps to eliminate such lapses in maintaining
confidentiality to the satisfaction of the department. The department
shall establish the grounds for denial of access to records contained
under this section and shall recommend as necessary a plan of
remediation to the audit agency, except as provided in this section,
nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as limiting the powers of
such comptroller or officer to records which he is otherwise authorized
to audit or obtain under any other applicable provision of law, any
person given access to information pursuant to this subdivision who
released data or information to persons or agencies not authorized to
receive such information shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

10. All sums received by the state under section 201 of Federal Public
Law 105-89 shall be paid to the districts in proportion to the amount
earned by the district for federal adoption incentives and shall only be
used to provide preventive services to a child and his or her family as
defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision five of this section, in
addition to those required by the maintenance of effort requirement
contained in subdivision six of section one hundred fifty-three-i of
this chapter, except that up to thirty percent of such sums may be used
to provide post-adoption services to children or families. Preventive
services shall include substance abuse treatment services provided to
pregnant women or a caretaker person in an outpatient, residential or
in-patient setting. Amounts expended by the state in accordance with
this section shall be disregarded in determining the state's
expenditures for purposes of federal matching payments under sections
four hundred twenty-three, four hundred thirty-four and four hundred
seventy-four of this chapter.

* 11. (a) The office of children and family services shall collect the
following data regarding preventive services, as defined in section four
hundred nine of this title, and compile an annual report on such data by
local social services district:

(i) the total number of children and families admitted to or receiving
a new service authorization for preventive services during the preceding
calendar year;

(ii) the total annual number of unduplicated children and families
receiving one or more days of preventive services including how many new
preventive cases were opened during the preceding calendar year and to
the extent such information is known and available after making all
diligent efforts, the referral source for each new case;

(iii) the total number of children and families whose preventive
services authorization was closed during the preceding calendar year;

(iv) a descriptive list of the services and their utilization rate, if
practicable, in each local social services district which utilize
preventive service funding as allowable under section one hundred
fifty-three-k of this chapter;

(v) a descriptive list and their utilization rate, if practicable, of
other preventive services provided by a local social services district
that does not utilize preventive service funding pursuant to section one
hundred fifty-three-k of this chapter. For purposes of this paragraph,
other preventive services shall include but not be limited to primary
preventive services which may be funded through community optional
preventive services funding or home visiting funds;

(vi) the total number of children who entered foster care during the
preceding calendar year who had received preventive services at any
point during the twelve-months prior to their entry into foster care;
and

(vii) any other information the commissioner may deem necessary to
include in said report.

(b) The office of children and family services shall submit such
report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary
president of the senate, the chairpersons of the assembly and senate
children and families committees, the chairperson of the assembly ways
and means committee and the chairperson of the senate finance committee
starting no later than September first, two thousand twenty-one. Such
report shall include data and information required by paragraph (a) of
this subdivision for the preceding calendar year, to the extent such
information is available. When practicable, such information shall be
disaggregated by age, sex, race and ethnicity.

(c) The initial report shall include the aforementioned data from the
preceding two calendar years.

* NB Repealed September 1, 2024