§ 423 — Child protective service responsibilities and organization; purchase of service and reimbursement of cost; local plan

New York § 423

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law SOS: Social Services
• Title 6: Child Protective Services
• Art. 6: Children

Text

§ 423. Child protective service responsibilities and organization;\npurchase of service and reimbursement of cost; local plan. 1. (a) Every\nlocal department of social services shall establish a "child protective\nservice" within such department. The child protective service shall\nperform those functions assigned by this title to it and only such\nothers that would further the purposes of this title. Local social\nservices departments shall distribute the laws, regulations and policies\nof the department pursuant to section four hundred twenty-one of this\narticle to any society for the prevention of cruelty to children which\nhas entered into a currently valid contract with a local department of\nsocial services.\n (b) Every local department of social services shall provide to the\nchild protective service information available to the local department\nwhich is relevant to the investigation of a report of child abuse or\nmaltreatment or to the provision of protective services, where the\nconfidentiality of such information is not expressly protected by law.\n (c) The child protective service shall have a sufficient staff of\nsufficient qualifications to fulfill the purposes of this title and be\norganized in such a way as to maximize the continuity of responsibility,\ncare and service of individual workers toward individual children and\nfamilies. A social services district shall have flexibility in assigning\nstaff to the child protective service provided that each staff assigned\nto such service has the staff qualifications and has received the\ntraining required by the department regulations promulgated pursuant to\nsubdivisions four and five of section four hundred twenty-one of this\ntitle.\n (d) Consistent with appropriate collective bargaining agreements and\napplicable provisions of the civil service law, every child protective\nservice shall establish a procedure to review and evaluate the\nbackgrounds of and information supplied by all applicants for\nemployment. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the\nfollowing requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her\nemployment history, provide personal and employment references and\nrelevant experiential and educational information, and sign a sworn\nstatement indicating whether the applicant, to the best of his or her\nknowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other\njurisdiction.\n (e) For purposes of this title, a child protective service shall\ninclude an Indian tribe that has entered into an agreement with the\ndepartment pursuant to section thirty-nine of this chapter to provide\nchild protective services to Indians residing upon the tribe's\nreservation in the state. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,\nfor the purposes of this title, a social services district or a local\ndepartment of social services shall include an Indian tribe that has\nentered into an agreement with the department pursuant to section\nthirty-nine of this chapter to provide child protective services. Such\nIndian tribe shall only be considered a child protective service while\nsuch an agreement is in effect.\n 2. Any other provision of law notwithstanding, but consistent with\nsubdivision (1) of this section, the child protective service, based\nupon the local plan of services as provided in subdivision (3) of this\nsection, may purchase and utilize the services of any appropriate public\nor voluntary agency including a society for the prevention of cruelty to\nchildren. When services are purchased by the local department pursuant\nto this section and title, they shall be reimbursed by the state to the\nlocality in the same manner and to the same extent as if the services\nwere provided directly by the local department.\n 3. (a) Each social services district shall prepare and submit to the\ncommissioner, after consultation with local law enforcement agencies,\nthe family court and appropriate public or voluntary agencies including\nsocieties for the prevention of cruelty to children and after a public\nhearing, a district-wide plan, as prescribed by the commissioner, for\nthe provision of child protective services which shall be a component of\nthe district's multi-year consolidated services plan. This plan shall\ndescribe the district's implementation of this title including the\norganization, staffing, mode of operations and financing of the child\nprotective service as well as the provisions made for purchase of\nservice and inter-agency relations. Commencing the year following\npreparation of a multi-year consolidated services plan, each local\ndistrict shall prepare annual implementation reports including\ninformation related to its child protective services plan. The social\nservices district shall submit the child protective services plan to the\ndepartment as a component of its multi-year consolidated services plan\nand subsequent thereto as a component of its annual implementation\nreports and the department shall review and approve or disapprove the\nproposed plan and reports in accordance with the procedures set forth in\nsection thirty-four-a of this chapter.\n 4. As used in this section, "service" or "services" shall include the\ncoordinating and monitoring of the activities of appropriate public or\nvoluntary agencies utilized in the local plan.\n 5. In accordance with the provisions of subdivisions one and two of\nthis section, a local department of social services may submit to the\ndepartment a plan for a special program for the purpose of (a) ensuring\nthe delivery of services to children and their families by arranging for\nthe purchase and utilization of the service of any appropriate public or\nvoluntary agency to provide rehabilitative services to at least the\nmajority of children and families assisted by the child protective\nservice; and (b) strengthening the monitoring role of the child\nprotective service.\n Such program shall also include provisions for the training of\nemployees of public and private agencies assigned functions of the child\nprotective service, in the duties and responsibilities of the child\nprotective service and in the provision of services to children and\nfamilies, pursuant to this title. The department shall approve such a\nplan in not more than six social services districts upon satisfactory\ndemonstration that a local department of social services will\neffectively discharge all responsibilities required by this title. Any\nsuch plan must be submitted to the department as part of the multi-year\nservices plan required pursuant to section thirty-four-a of this chapter\nand, if approved, shall be operative for a period not to exceed three\nyears. The department shall contract with an individual, partnership,\ncorporation, institution or other organization for the performance of a\ncomprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of\nsuch plans. A report of such evaluations shall be submitted by the\ndepartment to the governor and the legislature by January first,\nnineteen hundred ninety. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to\nrelieve a child protective service from any responsibilities assigned to\nit by this title.\n 6. A social services district may establish a multidisciplinary\ninvestigative team or teams and may establish or work as part of a child\nadvocacy center established pursuant to section four hundred\ntwenty-three-a of this title, at a local or regional level, for the\npurpose of investigating reports of suspected child abuse or\nmaltreatment. The social services district shall have discretion with\nregard to the category or categories of suspected child abuse or\nmaltreatment such team or teams may investigate, provided, however, the\nsocial services district shall place particular emphasis on cases\ninvolving the abuse of a child as described in paragraph (i), (ii) or\n(iii) of subdivision (e) of section one thousand twelve of the family\ncourt act, sexual abuse of a child or the death of a child. Members of\nmultidisciplinary teams shall include but not be limited to\nrepresentatives from the following agencies: child protective services,\nlaw enforcement, district attorney's office, physician or medical\nprovider trained in forensic pediatrics, mental health professionals,\nvictim advocacy personnel and, if one exists, a child advocacy center.\nMembers of the multidisciplinary team primarily responsible for the\ninvestigation of child abuse reports, including child protective\nservices, law enforcement and district attorney's office, shall\nparticipate in joint interviews and conduct investigative functions\nconsistent with the mission of the particular agency member involved. It\nshall not be required that members of a multidisciplinary team not\nresponsible for the investigation of reports participate in every\ninvestigation. Such other members shall provide victim advocacy,\nemotional support, and access to medical and mental health care, where\napplicable. All members, consistent with their respective agency\nmissions, shall facilitate efficient delivery of services to victims and\nappropriate disposition of cases through the criminal justice system\nand/or the family court system in a collaborative manner, however,\nnon-investigative team members shall note their specific role in the\nteam for reports covered under this title. Notwithstanding any other\nprovision of law to the contrary, members of a multidisciplinary\ninvestigative team or a child advocacy center may share with other team\nmembers client-identifiable information concerning the child or the\nchild's family to facilitate the investigation of suspected child abuse\nor maltreatment. Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude the creation\nof multidisciplinary teams or child advocacy centers which include more\nthan one social services district. Each team shall develop a written\nprotocol for investigation of child abuse and maltreatment cases and for\ninterviewing child abuse and maltreatment victims. The social services\ndistrict is encouraged to train each team member in risk assessment,\nindicators of child abuse and maltreatment, and appropriate interview\ntechniques.\n