§ 481-E — William B

§ 481-e. William B. Hoyt Memorial children and family trust fund;\nawarding of grants. 1. The commissioner is hereby authorized to issue\ngrants from funds credited to the William B. Hoyt Memorial children and\nfamily trust fund as provided in section four hundred eighty-one-f of\nthis article to public agencies or not-for-profit corporations for the\npurpose of establishing or extending any or all of the following:\n (a) primary prevention programs;\n (b) secondary prevention programs;\n (c) programs which provide services to victims of family violence,\nsuch as establishing temporary shelters and other emergency services;\nprograms which provide or facilitate counseling, or other appropriate\nfollow-up services to victims and their family or household members; and\nany other program deemed helpful in the treatment of victims of family\nviolence.\n 2. (a) Funds shall be awarded in the following manner: forty percent\nfor local child abuse prevention or family resource and support\nprograms, forty percent for local domestic violence prevention or\nservice programs and twenty percent for regional or statewide family\nviolence prevention programs; provided, however, that any unexpended\nportion of such twenty percent as allocated shall be made available for\nlocal family violence prevention programs and provided further, however,\nthat in determining the eligibility of any regional or statewide family\nviolence prevention program or of any local family violence prevention\nprogram for any part of such unexpended portion, the commissioner shall\ngive first consideration to those programs which combine both child\nabuse prevention and domestic violence prevention.\n (b) For a program which combines child abuse prevention and domestic\nviolence prevention, the commissioner shall predetermine, to the extent\nfeasible, the percentage of concentration for each within such program\nand shall apportion the total amount awarded between such forty percent\nallocation in the same proportion.\n 3. No moneys from the fund established pursuant to section four\nhundred eighty-one-f of this article shall be granted for services\nmandated under this chapter. Funds awarded to not-for-profit\ncorporations or public agencies pursuant to the provisions of\nsubdivision one of this section shall not be used to supplant other\nfederal, state or local funds.\n 4. The commissioner, with the advice and recommendations of the\nWilliam B. Hoyt Memorial children and family trust fund advisory board,\nshall issue requests for proposals and specify methods to evaluate the\neffectiveness of proposed programs. Such evaluation shall include but\nnot be limited to the following:\n (a) appropriate accounting and fiscal control procedures which shall\ninclude the filing of an annual financial statement by each provider so\nas to ensure the proper disbursement and accounting for funds received\nby public agencies and not-for-profit corporations for services; and\n (b) appropriate written records regarding the population served and\ntype and extent of services rendered by the provider; and\n (c) confidentiality standards in conformance with appropriate federal\nand state standards so as to ensure the confidentiality of records of\npersons receiving services; and\n (d) nature and quality of services provided and impacts upon the\npopulations and communities served.\n 5. The commissioner shall solicit and shall select proposals for the\nprovision of services funded pursuant to this act. Public agencies and\nnot-for-profit corporations shall be eligible for purposes of\napplication for grants provided for herein and subject to any rules and\nregulations promulgated pursuant to subdivision four of this section.\n 6. The commissioner, with the advice of the William B. Hoyt Memorial\nchildren and family trust fund advisory board, shall publicize the\navailability of funds to be used for purposes of this section. The\ncommissioner shall request, on prescribed forms, information determined\nto be necessary and relevant for the evaluation of each application. The\ncommissioner may solicit comments on the applications from concerned\nindividuals and agencies. Applications for local grants shall be\nsubmitted to the local commissioner of social services and to the local\nyouth bureau in the locality in which the program will operate and\napplicants for local grants shall solicit comments on the application\nfrom such local commissioner of social services and such local youth\nbureau prior to submitting such application to the commissioner.\nApplicants shall inform the local commissioner of social services and\nthe local youth bureau that their comments upon the application may be\nsubmitted either to the applicant or to the commissioner or to both. The\ncommissioner shall give full consideration to any such comments received\nwithin twenty-one days after the application deadline and shall review\nthe applications in relation to relevant local plans before approving or\ndisapproving such applications. The commissioner shall inform the local\ncommissioner of social services and the local youth bureau of the final\ndisposition of the applications. No grant award shall be for a period in\nexcess of twelve months unless renewed by the commissioner, with the\nadvice of the advisory board. The initial grant and the first year\nrenewal, if any, shall not exceed one hundred percent of the cost of\nproviding the service. The third year grant, if any, shall not exceed\nseventy-five percent of the initial grant. The fourth year grant and any\ngrant thereafter, if any, shall not exceed fifty percent of the initial\ngrant. No program shall receive funding after the fourth year unless the\ncommissioner, annually, finds that the program effectively prevents\nfamily violence or provides a necessary service to victims of family\nviolence.\n 7. Pursuant to subdivision one of this section, the commissioner shall\nensure that grants are awarded evenly across the state with\nconsideration given to geographic areas with the greatest need and that\npriority is given to programs:\n (a) which are innovative; or\n (b) of demonstrated effectiveness; and/or\n (c) illustrates the capacity to coordinate with established community\nprograms; and/or\n (d) which can demonstrate a potential for future financial\nself-sufficiency.\n 8. The commissioner with the advice and recommendations of the William\nB. Hoyt Memorial children and family trust fund advisory board shall\nsubmit a report prior to the fifteenth day of December beginning in\nnineteen hundred eighty-five and annually thereafter to the governor and\nthe legislature regarding the implementation and evaluation of the\neffectiveness of prevention and treatment services related to family\nviolence. Prior to submitting such reports to the governor and the\nlegislature, the commissioner shall permit the William B. Hoyt Memorial\nchildren and family trust fund advisory board to review and comment upon\nsuch reports. Such report shall include:\n (a) the number of persons estimated to have been assisted in programs\ncovered by this section;\n (b) the number, recipients and amounts of grants to public agencies\nand not-for-profit corporations;\n (c) the amount of public and private funds used for approved programs\nby service type;\n (d) the amount of funds used for the administration of such services;\n (e) a description of the nature and quality of services provided and\nthe impact upon the populations and communities served and their\npotential for being replicated elsewhere;\n (f) a description of how the moneys of the fund collected pursuant to\nsection six hundred thirty-g of the tax law were utilized during the\npreceding calendar year, including information concerning:\n (i) the amount of money disbursed from the fund and the distribution\nprocess used for such disbursements;\n (ii) recipients of the expenses from the fund;\n (iii) the amount allotted to each;\n (iv) the purposes for which such distributions were granted; and\n (v) a summary financial plan for such monies which shall include\nestimates of all receipts and all disbursements for the current and\nsucceeding fiscal years; and\n (g) all such other matters as may be necessary to inform the governor\nand the legislature regarding the implementation and evaluation of the\neffectiveness of programs covered by this section and the success of\nsuch programs in accomplishing the intent of the legislature.\n