§ 410 — Day care; when public welfare official to furnish

§ 410. Day care; when public welfare official to furnish. 1. A public\nwelfare official of a county, city or town is authorized, provided funds\nhave been made available therefor, to provide day care at public expense\nfor children residing in his territory who are eligible therefor\npursuant to provisions of this title. Such care may be provided only in\ncases where it is determined, under criteria established by the office\nof children and family services, that there is a need and that such care\nis in the best interest of the child and parent; provided however that\nthe public welfare official shall not be required to limit authorized\nchild care services strictly based on the work, training, or educational\nschedule of the parents or the number of hours the parents spend in\nwork, training, or educational activities. Where the family is able to\npay part or all of the costs of such care, payment of such fees as may\nbe reasonable in the light of such ability shall be required.\n 2. The furnishing of such care is hereby declared to be a proper\nmunicipal purpose for which the monies of a county, city or town may be\nraised and expended. A county, city or town may receive and expend\nmonies from the state, the federal government or private individuals,\ncorporations or associations for furnishing such care.\n 3. (a) Day care under this title shall mean care in a group facility,\nin a family home, in a group family day care home or in a day care\ncenter project as defined in title five-a of this article for part of\nthe day. Day care may be provided by a social services official either\ndirectly or through purchase. Purchase of such care may be made only\nfrom a private non-profit corporation or association except when the\ncommissioner shall have approved the purchase of such care from private\nproprietary facilities by a social services official who has\ndemonstrated that conveniently accessible non-profit facilities are\ninadequate to provide required care. Purchase of such care may also be\nmade from a school district in accordance with state and federal\nrequirements pursuant to a contract between the social services district\nand the school district.\n (b) Care under this title may be provided only in group facilities,\nfamily homes, group family day care homes or in a day care center\nproject as defined in title five-a which are operated in compliance with\napplicable regulations of the office of children and family services. A\ngroup facility shall include a public school which provides day care\npursuant to this subdivision.\n (c) Except as hereinafter provided, care under this title shall not\ninclude care, supervision, training or participation in kindergartens,\nnursery schools or other schools, classes or activities operated or\nconducted by public or private schools. However such care shall include\nday care provided by a school district pursuant to the provisions of\nthis subdivision and subdivision thirty-three of section sixteen hundred\nfour of the education law in accordance with a contract entered into\nbetween such school district and a social services district.\n (d) The commissioner shall encourage social services districts and day\ncare providers to offer flexible hours of day care. Each provider may\nprovide a flexible schedule in accordance with the rules and regulations\nof the commissioner and an application for day care services shall not\nbe denied solely by reason of the time of day or days that care will be\nrequired provided that an available day care provider can accommodate\nsuch hours or days of care in accordance with such regulations.\n 4. The provisions of this title shall not apply to child care\nassistance provided under title five-C of this article.\n