New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 14 - DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE
Chapter XIII - Office of Mental Health
Part 511 - Early Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Services for Children
Subpart 511-2 - Children's Mental Health Rehabilitation Services Program
Section 511-2.10 - Organization and administration

(i) written criteria for admission, and discharge from the program.

(ii) policies and procedures for conducting initial and ongoing risk assessments and for development of plans to address identified areas of elevated risk, including procedures to ensure that any health or mental health issues identified are treated appropriately or that an appropriate referral to a treatment provider and subsequent follow up is made;

(iii) policies and procedures addressing child engagement and retention in treatment, including, at minimum, plans for outreach and re-engagement efforts commensurate with a child's assessed risk;

(iv) policies and procedures for screening for abuse or dependence on alcohol or other substances;

(v) policies and procedures ensuring that a reasonable effort shall be made to obtain records from prior recent episodes of treatment;

(vi) policies and procedures ensuring that a reasonable effort shall be made to communicate with family members, current service providers, and other collaterals, as appropriate;

(vii) written policies and procedures describing an individual grievance process which ensures the timely review and resolution of child complaints and which provides a process enabling the child to request review by the office when resolution is not satisfactory;

(viii) written personnel policies which shall prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, disability, sex, marital status, age, national origin or sexual orientation, HIV status, military status, predisposing genetic characteristics and the applicable obligations imposed by: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; Federal Executive Order 11246; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, section 504; the Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Act; the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; the Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; and the State Human Rights Law (Executive Law, Article 15);

(ix) for programs that will provide services to minors, written policies which shall provide for screening of employees, through the New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, verification of employment history, personal references, work record and qualifications as well as requesting the office to perform criminal history record checks.

(x) written volunteer policies which shall provide for screening of volunteers, through the New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, verification of employment history, personal references, work history, and supervision of volunteers, as well as requesting the office to perform criminal history checks, in accordance with Part 550 of this Title.

(xi) written policies regarding the selection, supervision, and conduct of students accepted for training in fulfillment of a written agreement between the agency and a State Education Department accredited higher education institution, as well as requesting the office to perform criminal history record checks, in accordance with Part 550 of this Title.

(xii) written policies which shall establish that contracts with third party contractors that are not subject to the criminal history background check requirements established in section 31.35 of the Mental Hygiene Law include reasonable due diligence requirements to ensure that any persons performing services under such contract that will have regular and substantial unsupervised or unrestricted contact with of the program do not have a criminal history that could represent a threat to the health, safety, or welfare of a child in the program, including, but not limited to, the provision of a signed, sworn statement whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, such person has ever been convicted of a crime in this State or any other jurisdiction; and

(xiii) written policies and procedures regarding the mandatory reporting of child abuse or neglect, reporting procedures and obligations of persons required to report, mandatory reporting of deaths, immunity from liability, penalties for failure to report, and obligations for the provision of services and procedures necessary to safeguard the life or health of the child. Such policies and procedures shall address the requirements for the identification and reporting of abuse or neglect regarding individuals who are children, or who are the parents or guardians of children; and

(xiv) to ensure the establishment and implementation of training for current and new employees and volunteers that addresses the policies and procedures regarding child abuse and neglect.

(i) utilize restraint or seclusion for any purpose, including, but not limited to, as a response to a crisis situation, provided, however, that in situations in which alternative procedures and methods not involving the use of physical force cannot reasonably be employed, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of reasonable physical force when necessary to protect the life and limb of any person; and

(ii) perform electroconvulsive therapy or aversive conditioning therapy for any purpose, including, but not limited to, as a treatment intervention.

(i) a review of the appropriateness of admission to services; and

(ii) a review of the need for continued treatment