New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services
Subchapter C - Social Services
Article 2 - Family and Children's Services
Part 432 - Child Abuse And Maltreatment
Section 432.13 - Family assessment response
Universal Citation: 18 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 432.13
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) General.
(1) Description of family
assessment response. Pursuant to Social Services Law section 427-a, the local
commissioner of a social services district may establish, with OCFS approval, a
differential response program, family assessment response, as an alternative
means of responding to certain child protective service reports that allege
abuse and maltreatment. In family assessment response, there is an ongoing
assessment of the safety of children without a determination of whether the
report of alleged abuse or maltreatment should be indicated or unfounded.
Reports are addressed by engaging the family in a comprehensive assessment of
child safety, risk of subsequent harm, and family strengths and needs. The
family assessment response approach seeks to minimize future risk of abuse or
maltreatment of a child or children by engaging the family in the development
and implementation of solution-focused plans to address identified needs in
order to support the family's ability to care for its children.
(2) A family assessment response program
established by a social services district shall be part of that district's
child protective service.
(3)
Responsibilities for a family assessment response. When a report alleging
maltreatment of a child is assigned to the family assessment response track,
the child protective service must fulfill the following responsibilities:
(i) first establish that children in the
family named in the report are safe; and
(ii) provide ongoing assessment of safety and
risk, including completion of an initial safety assessment; and
(iii) engage the family in an assessment of:
the concerns reported to the State Central Register, any family-identified
needs and concerns that may impact the safety or risk of children, and the
family's strengths and resources that could be engaged to address the
identified concerns; and
(iv) when
appropriate, partner with the family to assist the family in obtaining goods
and services that will help the family meet its identified needs regarding care
of the children, thereby reducing future risk of abuse or maltreatment of a
child or children.
(4)
Reports assigned to the family assessment response track are not subject to the
requirements of child protective services specified in Title 6 of the Social
Services Law and in sections 409-e and 409-f of the Social Services Law, except
as specified in Social Services Law sections 422, 426 and 427-a.
(b) Authorization and application to implement family assessment response.
(1) Application and OCFS approval. The
commissioner of a social services district that seeks to implement a family
assessment response program must submit an application to OCFS that describes,
in a manner prescribed by OCFS, its plans for family assessment response. The
application must be approved by OCFS before the social services district can
implement family assessment response.
(i)
Each social services district that has received OCFS approval to implement a
family assessment response program must comply with any requirements for family
assessment response that may be established by statute, these regulations, or
by OCFS.
(ii) OCFS may revoke its
approval for family assessment response for any social services district that
does not comply with family assessment response requirements established by
statute, these regulations, or by OCFS, but only after having first consulted
with the district in an effort to assist them to resolve the compliance
issues.
(iii) If OCFS revokes its
approval for a social services district to provide family assessment response,
the district may at any time, after having resolved the issues that resulted in
its previous revocation, submit a new application to OCFS requesting to
implement family assessment response.
(2) Family assessment response is optional.
The decision by a social services district to apply to establish and implement
a family assessment response program is voluntary and optional. The
commissioner of a social services district that has established a family
assessment response program may terminate that program at any time. The
commissioner must immediately notify OCFS of a decision to terminate family
assessment response. A social services district that has terminated its family
assessment response program may, at any time, submit a new application to OCFS
to implement family assessment response.
(3) Applicability. The provisions of this
section apply only to those social services districts that have received
approval from OCFS to implement family assessment response.
(4) Determination of the size and scope of a
family assessment response program. A social services district applying to
implement family assessment response must determine the projected size and
scope of its family assessment response program, including targeted goals for
the number of child protective service reports that it will assign to the
family assessment response track, the number of staff members who will work in
its family assessment response program, and the criteria it will use to
classify and assign reports to the family assessment response track. After
implementing a family assessment response program, a district may reassess and
revise these determinations.
(i) A social
services district's plans for the size and scope of its family assessment
response program that are submitted in its family assessment response
application, as well as subsequent changes to those plans, are subject to the
approval of OCFS.
(ii) Criteria for
screening reports. Districts must establish criteria, which are subject to the
approval of OCFS, for the categories of allegations in child protective service
reports that the district will or will not accept for potential assignment to
the family assessment response track. The criteria must comply with the
provisions of subdivision 3 of section 427-a of the Social Services Law, as well
as with any additional standards that may be established by OCFS. Changes in a
district's criteria are subject to the approval of OCFS.
(a) In order to establish a robust family
assessment response program, a district should develop screening criteria for
the family assessment response track that include a broad spectrum of cases
representing a significant percentage of its child protective service
reports.
(b) Child protective
service reports regarding a child fatality must be investigated pursuant to
section 20 (5) of the Social Services
Law and sections 422-b, 423 (6) and 424 (5)(a) of the Social Services Law, and
must not be assigned to the family assessment response track.
(iii) Written protocol. The social
services district must develop and adhere to a written screening protocol for
determining initial track assignments. The protocol must protect the safety of
children while effectively matching the child protective service to the
family's needs. The initial screening protocol must include:
(a) the designation of the types of reports
that, upon receipt, the social services district will and will not consider for
potential assignment to the family assessment response track;
(b) the designation of the staff responsible
for determining the initial track assignments for new child protective service
reports; and
(c) a description of
whether and how the social services district will screen reports that are
received during on-call hours for potential assignment to the family assessment
response track.
(c) Determining the appropriate child protective service track.
(1) Intake
procedures. The intake procedures for child protective service reports
described in section
432.2(b)(2)
of this Part apply to family assessment response cases.
(2) Initial track assignment. When it
receives a child protective service report from the State Central Register, a
social services district with a family assessment response program, using its
written protocol, must identify whether the report is eligible to be assigned
to the family assessment response track, make an initial determination about
whether to assign the report to the investigative track or the family
assessment response track, and enter the initial track assignment into
CONNECTIONS.
(3) Inform the family
of family assessment response option. Following the preliminary assignment of a
child protective service report to the family assessment response track, child
protective service staff must, pursuant to subparagraph (e)(1)(ii) of this
section, provide each parent, guardian or other person legally responsible for
the child or children who will be participating in the family assessment
response with information that describes and compares the family assessment
response track to the investigative track in order to enable the family to make
an informed decision about whether to accept participation in the family
assessment response track.
(4)
Final determination of track assignment. Not later than seven days after
receipt of a report alleging abuse or maltreatment that has been assigned to
the family assessment response track, the child protective service must
determine whether the case should continue as a family assessment response. The
initial track assignment of a report may be changed until it becomes permanent,
but no later than seven days following receipt of the report, at the same time
that the initial safety assessment must be completed pursuant to subdivision
(d) of this section.
(i) The child protective
service must document in the initial safety assessment the reasons for its
choice of track assignment for any report that is permanently assigned to
family assessment response or that is initially assigned to family assessment
response, but subsequently assigned to the investigative track within seven
days of receipt of the report.
(ii)
All information entered into the record before the track assignment becomes
permanent remains in the record, irrespective of whether the track assignment
is changed.
(iii) The decision
about track assignment supports the safety of children while effectively
matching the child protective service to the family's needs. The determination
of the appropriate track assignment must be based on the following factors:
(a) Finding that children are safe. In order
for a child protective service report to be assigned to the family assessment
response track, the initial (seven day) safety assessment, conducted pursuant
to subdivision (d) of this section, must include a determination that each
child named in the child protective service report or known to be living in the
household is safe in the home.
(b)
Compliance with State- and locally-designated screening criteria. If a child
protective service report is initially assigned to the family assessment
response track, and the child protective service determines during its initial
safety assessment that conditions in the family's circumstances that were not
included in allegations in the report place the case outside of state-mandated
or locally determined screening criteria for family assessment response, the
child protective service must re-assign the report to the investigative
track.
(c) Record review. During
the initial safety assessment, the child protective service must review State
Central Register records as well as its own child protective records pertaining
to all prior reports involving members of the family, as specified in section
432.2(b)(3)(i)
of this Part, and assess whether information in those case records indicates
that the family assessment response approach would not be an appropriate
response to the current child protective service report.
(d) Agreement by parents, guardians, and
other legally responsible persons.
(1)
Participation in family assessment response is voluntary on the part of the
family named in the child protective service report. Their agreement to
participate in a family assessment response and to cooperate in assessment
activities with child protective service staff is necessary in order for the
child protective service to confirm the assignment of a report to the family
assessment response track. Child protective service workers must provide
information about family assessment response to parents, guardians, or other
persons legally responsible, pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subdivision and
subparagraphs (e)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section, to inform their decisions
about whether to choose to participate in a family assessment
response.
(2) If a parent declines
assignment of the report to the family assessment response track, the report
must be addressed through the investigation track; except that, if one or more
persons who are subjects of the report wish to participate in a family
assessment response, and the child protective service believes that the family
can benefit from a family assessment response despite the refusal to cooperate
by a parent, the child protective service may assign the report to the family
assessment response track.
(5) Changing the track assignment after seven
days.
(i) Seven days after a child protective
services receives a report, the assignment of the report in CONNECTIONS to the
family assessment response track or the investigation track cannot be
changed.
(ii) If more than seven
days have passed since the assignment of a report to the family assessment
response track, in the following instances the open family assessment response
case must be closed and a new case opened, to be assigned to the investigative
track:
(a) If while conducting a family
assessment response, the child protective service has reasonable cause to
suspect child abuse, or the family is not cooperating with the family
assessment response assessment and there is reasonable cause to suspect
maltreatment of a child, the case is no longer eligible for inclusion in the
family assessment response track. The child protective service must make a new
report to the State Central Register, which must be assigned to the
investigation track, and the open case that was assigned to the family
assessment response track must be closed.
(b) If a child protective service that is
conducting a family assessment response receives a new report alleging child
abuse or maltreatment from the State Central Register that contains allegations
that do not meet the State's or local district's criteria for inclusion in
family assessment response, the child protective service must assign the new
report to the investigative track and close the open case that was assigned to
the family assessment response track. Allegations from the family assessment
response report should be added to the new investigative track report, as
appropriate.
(iii)
Information in the case record for a family assessment response case that is
relevant to a subsequent investigation case may be included in the case record
for the investigation track case, pursuant to Social Services Law section 427-a (5)(e)(iii).
(d) Initial safety assessment.
Whenever a child protective service receives a report of child abuse and maltreatment that it assigns preliminarily to the family assessment response track, the child protective service must commence an initial safety assessment within 24 hours of receipt of the report to determine whether children named in the child protective service report are safe in their homes. The initial safety assessment must be completed no later than seven days following receipt of the report, at which time the assignment of the report to the family assessment response track or the investigative track becomes permanent. In order to confirm the assignment of a child protective service report to the family assessment response track, the initial safety assessment must contain a finding that no child in the home is in immediate or impending danger of serious harm.
(1) Initiation
within 24 hours. The child protective service must initiate a safety assessment
no more than 24 hours after receiving a report, by conducting a face-to-face
interview or making a telephone contact with one or more of the following
persons who are in a position to provide information on the safety of the child
or children:
(i) Source. Whenever possible,
child protective service staff should contact the source of the report prior to
the first meeting with the family. The source can confirm and possibly expand
upon the details of the report or provide impressions of family functioning,
strengths, and resources.
(ii)
Subject(s) and members of the family. Whenever possible, initial contact with
the subject(s) of the report should be by telephone. Child protective services
staff should inform the subject(s) about the existence of concerns, initiate
the safety assessment and begin engaging the family in the family assessment
response process. During the initial contact, the family assessment response
worker and the family schedule the first face-to-face meeting.
(iii) Other persons. Child protective workers
should interview any other persons who are in a position to provide information
about whether any child is in immediate danger of serious harm.
(2) Completing the initial (seven
day) safety assessment. The initial safety assessment should be completed using
the following guidelines:
(i) The child
protective service conducts the initial safety assessment by assessing, with
the family, the physical health and well-being of all of the children in the
family, the safety of the children's living conditions and the existence of any
other safety factors in the home. All children named in the report or living in
the home must be seen and all children who are developmentally capable should
be engaged in the assessment process. The child protective service worker
applies the safety criteria designated by OCFS to determine if one or more
safety factors place a child in immediate or impending danger, and makes a
decision regarding the child's safety status.
(ii) The child protective service may obtain
information from collateral contacts including, but not limited to, hospitals,
family medical providers, schools, police, social services agencies and other
agencies providing services to the family, relatives, extended family members,
neighbors and other persons who may provide information on the status of the
child's safety should that information be needed to determine the presence of
safety factors within the family. Family assessment response staff should ask
the parents/caretaker for their recommendations regarding collaterals that can
supply this information and should not routinely make collateral contacts
without first asking the family.
(3) Documenting the safety assessment.
Whenever a report alleging maltreatment of a child is initially assigned to the
family assessment response track during the seven days following receipt of the
report, the child protective service must enter the initial safety assessment
into CONNECTIONS no later than seven days after receipt of the report, in a
manner specified by OCFS. The initial safety assessment must specify the track
to which the report is assigned following completion of the safety assessment
and document the reasons for assigning the report to the family assessment
response track or the investigation track, as specified in paragraph (c)(4) of
this section.
(4) Ongoing
assessment of safety. After completing the initial safety assessment, the child
protective service remains responsible for continually monitoring the presence
or emergence of safety threats throughout their work with the family, until the
family assessment response case is closed.
(e) Conducting the family assessment response.
(1) Use of the family
assessment response approach. Immediately upon preliminary assignment of a
report to the family assessment response track, the child protective service
should apply family assessment response principles in its work with the family
and continue to do so until the case is either reassigned to the investigative
track, within seven days of receipt of the report, or the case is
closed.
(2) Activities implementing
the family assessment response. The child protective service's activities in
conducting family assessment response must, at a minimum, include the
following:
(i) Provide written notification
to parents. No later than seven days after receipt of a child protective report
that the has been assigned to the family assessment response track, the child
protective service must provide written notification to every parent, guardian
or other person legally responsible for the child or children named in the
report. Written notice is not provided to any other persons.
(a) The child protective service may
determine the form of the written notification it provides, but it should be
written in plain language.
(b) The
notification must inform the person that a report was made to the State Central
Register and explain that it is the intent of the social services district to
meet the needs of the family without engaging in an investigation by assigning
the report to the family assessment response track, and that the child
protective service workers who will be assisting the family are mandated
reporters and are required to report suspected abuse or maltreatment.
(c) The child protective service must
verbally inform the parent, guardian or other person legally responsible about
the areas of concern that triggered the report and explain that they must
explore those concerns and assess the safety of any child named in the report
or living in the household.
(d) If,
while a case assigned to family assessment response is open, a subsequent
report is received that is consolidated with the open case, the requirement to
provide written notification is waived; the child protective service must
provide verbal notification of the new report to every parent, guardian or
other person legally responsible for the child or children named in the
report.
(ii) Provide
information about family assessment response. The child protective service must
provide the family with information about family assessment response to aid
them in making an informed decision about whether to accept assignment of the
report to the family assessment response track. Such information should include
but is not limited to:
(a) a description of
family assessment response that explains how it differs from an investigative
response, including that there is no determination made in family assessment
response cases. This information must be given to the family verbally; families
must also be given written information about family assessment response, such
as a brochure;
(b) an explanation
of the importance of partnership and cooperation in the family assessment
response, including the essential role of meetings between child protective
service workers and the family, so that CPS workers and the family are able to
jointly assess the children's safety and well-being as well as the family's
strengths, risks, and needs;
(c)
information regarding the confidentiality of records in family assessment
response; and
(d) an explanation
that the choice to accept assignment of the report to the family assessment
track is voluntary and that the family may choose either family assessment
response or assignment to the investigative track.
(iii) Engage the family. Family assessment
response workers must work in partnership with the families participating in a
family assessment response. Workers should be transparent with families
regarding all actions that they take regarding the case. To the extent
feasible, child protective service workers should include all family members in
discussions, including children who are old enough to express opinions, as well
as any other persons who the family would like to include, such as members of
the extended family.
(iv) Complete
the family led assessment guide (FLAG). Family assessment response staff must
engage the family in an examination of the issues of concern to the child
protective service as well as the family's strengths, concerns, and needs. The
assessment must be conducted using a Family Led Assessment Guide (FLAG), as
specified by OCFS. The family-led assessment should be initiated as soon as
possible after receipt of the child protective service report, but no more than
30 days following receipt of the report. The assessment should be conducted in
accordance with the principles and practices of family assessment response.
Child protective workers must document at least one completed FLAG in
CONNECTIONS, as well as any revised versions of the FLAG.
(v) Provide on-going risk assessment. Family
assessment response workers must engage with the family in on-going joint
evaluation and assessment of the family's progress including periodic
assessments of risk to the child or children.
(vi) Focus on solutions. When the FLAG
identifies challenges to the family's ability to support the well-being or meet
the needs of their child or children, family assessment response workers must
offer to work jointly with the family to develop and implement solutions to
address their needs.
(vii) Offer
needed services. Where appropriate, family assessment response workers must
offer assistance to the family in implementing solutions to their identified
needs that will be supportive of family functioning, meet the children's needs
and reduce risk to children in the family. Assistance may include providing
information on services and supports available in their community, building
supportive networks with extended family and community resources, advocating
for the family with schools, landlords and others, referring the family to
government and privately funded programs, contacting service providers, and
paying for goods or services.
(a) No
"application for services" or signatures, as required in section
404.1(c)(8)
of this Title, are necessary in order to provide services in cases assigned to
the family assessment response track.
(b) Districts may use child protective,
wraparound, or other funding sources to pay for goods and services provided
through family assessment response.
(c) The acceptance of services or goods by
families who are receiving family assessment response is voluntary.
(viii) Notifying the family of
case closing. No more than seven days after closing a family assessment
response case record, the child protective service must notify the family,
including all subject(s) of the report, that the case has been closed. The
notification may be in a form determined by the child protective service, but
must be provided in writing and, if feasible, also verbally. The notice must
inform the family and subject(s) that the family assessment response report is
sealed and that the records will be maintained for 10 years after the report
was received at the State Central Register. Notices must also inform the
subject(s) of the report about the applicable confidentiality provisions and of
their right to access the records for the family assessment response.
(3) Closing cases. Family
assessment response is a short term child protective service.
(i) The case should be closed if the family
is assessed as providing adequate care for their children, the children are
safe, and the family has no requests for services or supports.
(ii) The decision to close a family
assessment response case must be made in conjunction with the family, whenever
possible.
(iii) When needs have
been identified, the family should be given information about available
community resources to meet those needs. To the extent possible, a family
assessment response caseworker should be present with identified service
providers and appropriate family members at their first meeting to introduce
them to facilitate a "warm handoff."
(iv) If the family assessment response
caseworker believes the family has unmet needs but the family declines
additional services, and there is no current maltreatment or immediate danger
of serious harm, the case must be closed.
(v) Timeframes. The following timeframes
apply to closing a family assessment response case:
(a) a family assessment response case should
usually be closed within 60 days;
(b) addressing family needs may necessitate
keeping a family assessment response case open for up to 90 days. A case that
remains open for more than 60 days should be kept open only for the specific
purpose of assisting a family to meet specific needs;
(c) if a family requires more assistance in
meeting its needs than can be provided within 90 days, the child protective
service will assess the family's eligibility for preventive services in
accordance with section
430.9
of this Title and, if the family is eligible and consents, open a preventive
services case;
(d) in extraordinary
circumstances, a family assessment response case may be kept open for more than
90 days. When such an instance occurs:
(1) a
family assessment response worker and supervisor must document in progress
notes the reason for keeping the case open, including specific goals and steps
to achieve those goals; and
(2) a
family assessment response worker must make contact with the family no less
than once every two weeks during the period past 90 days, and must document
each contact.
(4) Case work contacts. The number of
casework contacts must be commensurate with the requirements for completing the
family assessment response assessments and for meeting the needs of the family.
There are no specific contact requirements for family assessment response
except when the family assessment response case is open for more than 90 days,
as specified in clause (3)(v)(d) of this
subdivision.
(5) Documentation.
Activities conducted as part of a family assessment response case must be
documented in CONNECTIONS, in the form and manner prescribed by OCFS. Family
assessment response workers must document, at a minimum, the following
information in the family assessment response case record:
(i) essential data relating to the
identification of each child and family member;
(ii) activities undertaken to initiate a
safety assessment within 24 hours;
(iii) findings of the initial safety
assessment, including the reasons for assigning the report to the family
assessment response track;
(iv)
information from at least one Family Led Assessment Guide (FLAG), based on
discussions with the family, as well as any revisions of the FLAG;
(v) services that were offered to the family
and services that were accepted and provided, directly and through contract or
other means;
(vi) findings of
periodic risk assessments;
(vii)
evaluations and assessments of progress;
(viii) ongoing plans for supportive services
after the case is closed, if applicable; and
(ix) factors allowing for the closing of the
case.
(6) Changing the
case status from family assessment response track to investigative track.
(i) Reporting suspected abuse. If a family
assessment response worker has reasonable cause to suspect that there is child
abuse occurring in a family that is part of a family assessment response, the
worker must make a report to the State Central Register. The new child
protective service report containing allegations of child abuse must be
assigned to the investigative track and the family assessment response case
must be closed.
(ii) Closing a case
due to lack of cooperation. If a report has been assigned to the family
assessment response track following an initial safety assessment and the family
later refuses to cooperate with the family assessment response workers in
completing the full assessment of strengths and needs and/or in developing or
implementing a plan to address family problems or issues and the family
assessment response worker has reasonable cause to suspect maltreatment of a
child, the child protective service must make a report of suspected
maltreatment to the State Central Register. The resulting child protective
service report must be assigned to the investigative track and the family
assessment response case must be closed.
(f) Administration and organization.
(1) Staffing.
(i) Sufficient staff. Each family assessment
response unit must designate sufficient qualified staff, whose primary function
is to address child protective service reports using the family assessment
response approach, to fulfill the purposes of section
427-a of the Social Services
Law.
(ii) Education and training
requirements.
(a) Every family assessment
response worker, including supervisors, must meet the minimum education and
training requirements for a child protective service worker specified in
section
432.2(e)(5)
of this Part.
(b) Every family
assessment response worker must complete training in family assessment
response, in the form and manner specified by OCFS.
(iii) Other employment requirements for
family assessment response. All family assessment response staff are subject to
the requirements (employment history, employment and personal references,
criminal background attestation, State Central Register database check) for
applicants for child protective service staff, pursuant to section
432.2(e)(6)
of this Part.
(iv) Supervision of
family assessment response.
(a) A child
protective service supervisor must review assessments and decisions made by a
family assessment response caseworker, including, at a minimum, a review of the
progress notes, the initial safety assessment, the complete Family Led
Assessment Guide, and the information related to the decision to close the
case.
(b) A child protective
service supervisor must approve the assignment of a child protective service
report to the family assessment response track and the decision to close a case
assigned to the family assessment response track.
(v) Case assignment.
(a) Local districts applying to implement
family assessment response and those requesting to expand or change their
approved family assessment response program shall develop a plan that describes
their program organization, staffing plan, and case assignment process,
including how they will support effective practices in providing family
assessment response. The plan shall include:
(1) a description of the policy and process
for assigning reports to the family assessment response track, including
whether family assessment response cases are assigned to child protective
services staff who are dedicated exclusively to family assessment response or
to staff who provide both family assessment response and
investigations;
(2) the number of
staff and supervisors that will be assigned to family assessment response cases
exclusively, including staff of any community-based agency that will perform
family assessment response activities pursuant to paragraph (3) of this
subdivision;
(3) the number of
staff and supervisors that may be assigned to cases in both the family
assessment response track and the investigative track; and
(4) if the local district has determined that
any child protective service worker may be assigned to cases in both tracks, a
description of the measures that will be taken to maintain the integrity of
both approaches, including a description of the measures that will be taken to
support such staff.
(b)
If a local district currently providing family assessment response assigns
staff to cases in both the family assessment response track and the
investigative track, that district shall, upon the request of OCFS, provide
OCFS with a written description of its plans to support both approaches, as
described in clause (a) of this subparagraph.
(2) Quality assurance.
(i) The social services district shall be
responsible for assessing and evaluating the implementation of its family
assessment response program, including the provision of services to families
served by family assessment response, in order to assure the quality of its
service.
(ii) The social services
district must comply with any requirements for quality assurance established by
OCFS.
(3) Contracting
for family assessment response services. A child protective service may allow a
community-based agency currently used by the local district for preventive
services to perform the activities in subdivision (e) of this section that are
necessary for assessment and service provision in a family assessment response
case. A local social services district that wishes to contract its family
assessment response activities to a community-based agency must first receive
approval of its arrangement by OCFS. The arrangement between the social
services district and the community-based agency must:
(i) adhere to all provisions of this
section;
(ii) require that staff at
the community-based agency who are assigned to family assessment response meet
the minimum education and training requirements for family assessment response
workers, as specified in subparagraph (1)(ii) of this subdivision;
(iii) require that the community-based agency
inform the social services district if such community-based agency determines
that a report must be investigated as a case of suspected child abuse or
maltreatment. The community-based agency is to be directed to have a staff
member make a report to the State Central Register, if no person has yet done
so. The social services district shall be responsible for conducting the
ensuing child protective service investigation; and
(iv) provide that the local child protective
service retains responsibility for the following activities:
(a) conducting the initial safety
assessment;
(b) making the decision
about whether to assign a child protective service report to the family
assessment response track or to the investigative track; and
(c) approving the closing of a family
assessment response case.
(4) Annual report. The local district must
provide OCFS with such information about family assessment response as is
requested by OCFS to be used in the preparation of an annual report on child
protective services by OCFS.
(g) Confidentiality of family assessment response records.
(1) The
records of a family assessment response report are legally sealed. They will be
maintained at the State Central Register for ten years from the date the report
was made.
(2) All reports assigned
to, and records created as part of, family assessment response, including
reports made or written as well as any other information obtained or
photographs taken concerning such reports or records, are confidential, as
required by Social Services Law section 427-a(5)(d), and shall only be made
available to:
(i) staff of OCFS and persons
designated by OCFS, which shall include:
(a)
local or regional child fatality review team members, provided that the child
fatality review team is preparing a fatality report pursuant to section 20 or
422-b of the Social Services Law;
(b) all members of a local or regional
multidisciplinary investigative team established pursuant to section 423 (6) of the Social
Services Law, when investigating a subsequent report of suspected child abuse
or maltreatment involving a member of a family that was part of a family
assessment response, provided that only the information from the family
assessment response record that is relevant to the subsequent report be entered
into the record of the subsequent report, which is to be provided to the
multidisciplinary review team or agency; and
(c) citizen review panels established
pursuant to section 371-b of the Social Services Law, provided
that any information obtained shall not be re-disclosed and shall only be used
for the purposes set forth in section 371-b of the Social Services
Law;
(ii)
community-based agencies that have contracts with the social services district
to carry out activities for the district under family assessment
response;
(iii) providers of
services under family assessment response;
(iv) any social services district
investigating a subsequent report of abuse or maltreatment involving the same
subject or the same child or children named in the report;
(v) the subject of the report. Reports or
records must not be provided to any other persons named in the
report;
(vi) a court, but only:
(a) while the family assessment response case
is open; and
(b) pursuant to a
court order or judicial subpoena, issued only after the subject of the report
and all parties to the present proceeding have been given notice and an
opportunity to be heard, based on a judicial finding that such reports,
records, and any information concerning such reports and records, are necessary
for the determination of an issue before the court.
(3) When presented with a court
order or judicial subpoena, a social services district must submit family
assessment response reports, records, and information to the court for
inspection and for such directions as may be necessary to protect
confidentiality, including but not limited to redaction of portions of the
reports, records, and information and to determine any further limits on
re-disclosure.
(4) A court shall
not have access to sealed family assessment response records, reports, or other
information after the conclusion of services provided under family assessment
response, except when provided that information pursuant to subparagraphs
(5)(iii) and (iv) of this section.
(5) Persons who are given access to legally
sealed family assessment response reports must not re-disclose such records,
reports, and information except as follows:
(i) OCFS, its designees, and social services
districts may disclose aggregate, non-client identifiable
information;
(ii) social services
districts, community-based agencies that have contracts to carry out activities
for family assessment response, and providers of services under family
assessment response may exchange such reports, records, and information as
necessary to carry out activities and services related to the same person or
persons addressed in the records of a family assessment response
case;
(iii) a child protective
service may unseal a family assessment response report, record, or information
when it is relevant to a subsequent report of suspected child abuse and
maltreatment;
(a) the child protective
service may use relevant information from the unsealed report or record for
purposes of investigation and family court action concerning the subsequent
report and may include such relevant information in the record of the
investigation of the subsequent report;
(b) if the social services districts
initiates a proceeding under article ten of the Family Court Act in connection
with a subsequent report of suspected abuse or maltreatment and there is
information in the report or record of a previous family assessment response
case that is relevant to the proceeding, the social services district must
include such information in the record of the investigation of the subsequent
child protective service report and make that information available to the
family court and the other parties for use in the proceeding. The family court
may consider the information from the family assessment response case that is
relevant to such proceeding in making any determination in the proceeding. Such
information shall then be subject to all the laws and regulations regarding
confidentiality that apply to the record of the subsequent report;
(iv) a subject of a family
assessment response report may, at his or her discretion, present information
from a legally sealed family assessment response report, in whole or in part,
in any proceeding under article ten of the Family Court Act in which the
subject is a respondent, or in any proceeding involving the custody of, or
visitation with, the subject's children, or in any other relevant proceeding.
The court may consider any such information provided by the subject in making a
determination. However, the court is not authorized to order the subject to
produce such report, records, or information, in whole or in part.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New York may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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