§ 657 — Certain provisions relating to the guardianship and custody of children by persons who are not the parents of such children

§ 657. Certain provisions relating to the guardianship and custody of\nchildren by persons who are not the parents of such children. (a)\nNotwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, a person\npossessing a lawful order of guardianship or custody of a minor child,\nwho is not the parent of such child, may enroll such child in public\nschool in the applicable school district where he or she and such child\nreside. Upon application for enrollment of a minor child by a guardian\nor custodian who is not the parent of such child, a public school shall\nenroll such child for such time as the child resides with the guardian\nor custodian in the applicable school district, upon verification that\nthe guardian or custodian possess a lawful order of guardianship or\ncustody for such child and that the guardian or custodian and the child\nproperly reside in the same household within the school district.\n (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, persons\npossessing a lawful order of custody of a child who are not a parent of\nsuch child shall have the same right to enroll and receive coverage for\nsuch child in their employer based health insurance plan and to assert\nthe same legal rights under such employer based health insurance plans\nas persons who possess lawful orders of guardianship of the person for a\nchild pursuant to rule twelve hundred ten of the civil practice laws and\nrules, article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act, or part\n4 of this article.\n (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,\npersons possessing a lawful order of guardianship or custody of a child\nshall have the right and responsibility to make decisions, including\nissuing any necessary consents, regarding the child's protection,\neducation, care and control, health and medical needs, and the physical\ncustody of the person of the child. Provided, however, that nothing in\nthis subdivision shall be construed to limit the ability of a child to\nconsent to his or her own medical care as may be otherwise provided by\nlaw.\n