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 435 - Respite Care and Services for Families and Foster Families
Section 435.6 - Approval of individual providers of respite care and services for families
Universal Citation: 18 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 435.6
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 52, December 24, 2024
(a) Individual providers of respite care and services for families who are not also foster family boarding home providers or emergency foster family boarding home providers or individual providers certified or approved by the Office of Mental Health or the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities to care for children must be persons approved by the social services district, or by a voluntary authorized agency or preventive services agency on behalf of the district, in accordance with the local standards and criteria for the approval of such individual providers developed by the social services district pursuant to this section.
(b) Local standards for the approval of individual providers of respite care and services for families must include, but are not limited to, the following criteria:
(1) completion of a background review and
evaluation, including employment history, personal and employment references
and relevant child-caring experience;
(2) interviews with individual providers to
assess their capability to care for children;
(3) consideration of the general health of
the prospective provider of respite care and services and each member of the
prospective provider's household to ascertain that there are no health needs or
problems that could negatively affect the provider's ability to care for a
child under his or her supervision;
(4) for each individual provider to be
approved to care for children with AIDS, HIV infection or HIV-related illness,
documentation that:
(i) the provider has
experience caring for children with AIDS, HIV infection or HIV-related illness;
or
(ii) the provider has received
training to care for children with AIDS, HIV infection or HIV-related illness;
or
(iii) the provider will receive,
at the same time as the provider is caring for children with AIDS, HIV
infection or HIV-related illness, training in caring for such
children;
(5) an inquiry
to the department whether a prospective provider of respite care and services
or any person 18 years of age or older residing in a prospective provider's
home is the subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment on
file with the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment:
(i) Prior to making an inquiry to the
department, the social services district must notify, in the form prescribed by
the department, the person who will be the subject of the inquiry that such an
inquiry will be made.
(ii) If the
person about whom the agency has made an inquiry is found to be the subject of
an indicated report of abuse or maltreatment, the district must determine
whether to approve such person as a provider of respite care and services in
accordance with guidelines developed and determined by the department, except
that any district which had guidelines for the review of persons who are
subjects of indicated reports of child abuse or maltreatment in use prior to
January 1, 1986 may continue to use the district guidelines in making the
required determination. Whenever a person who is the subject of an indicated
report of child abuse or maltreatment is approved to be a provider of respite
care and services, the district must maintain a written record, as a part of
the application for the person, of the specific reason(s) why such person was
determined to be appropriate and acceptable as an approved provider of respite
care and services.
(iii) If a
denial of an applicant to be a provider of respite care and services is based
in whole or in part on the existence of an indicated report of child abuse or
maltreatment, the district must provide a written statement to such applicant
indicating that such denial was based in whole or in part on the existence of
the indicated report and the reasons for the denial. The written statement must
also include, in the form prescribed by the department, written notification to
the person who is the subject of the indicated report that:
(a) he or she has a right, pursuant to
section
424-a of
the Social Services Law, to request a hearing before the department regarding
the record maintained in the State Central Register of Child Abuse and
Maltreatment;
(b) a request for
such a hearing must be made within 90 days of the receipt of the notice
indicating that the denial was based in whole or in part on the existence of
the indicated report; and
(c) the
sole issue at any such hearing will be whether the person who is the subject of
the indicated report has been shown by a fair preponderance of the evidence to
have committed the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to
the indicated report.
(iv) If in a hearing held pursuant to a
request made in accordance with subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph and
section
424-a of
the Social Services Law the department fails to show by a fair preponderance of
the evidence that the person who is the subject of the indicated report of
child abuse or maltreatment committed the act or acts upon which the indicated
report is based, the department will notify the social services district which
made the inquiry to the department that, pursuant to the hearing decision, the
district's decision to deny approval of the person as a provider of respite
care and services should be reconsidered. Upon receiving such notification, the
district must review its decision without considering the indicated
report;
(6) an inquiry
to the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs whether a
prospective provider of respite care and services or any person 18 years of age
or older residing in a prospective provider's home is listed on the Vulnerable
Persons' Central Register. If the person about whom the agency has made an
inquiry is found to be listed on the Vulnerable Persons' Central Register, the
district must determine whether to approve such person as a provider of respite
care and services. Whenever a person who is listed on the Vulnerable Persons'
Central Register is approved to be a provider of respite care and services, the
district must maintain a written record, as part of the application for the
person, of the specific reason(s) why such person was determined to be
appropriate and acceptable as an approved provider of respite care and
services; and
(7) where respite
care and services are to be provided by an individual provider in the
provider's own home, an assessment of the suitability of the home conducted
according to standards developed by the social services district in order to
assure that the home:
(i) is free of fire or
safety hazards;
(ii) is clean and
sanitary; and
(iii) has adequate
space and furnishings to care for a child receiving respite care and
services.
(c) A social services district may delegate to a voluntary authorized agency or to a preventive services agency the authority to approve individual providers of respite care and services for families.
(d) Contingent approval.
(1) Notwithstanding the requirements of
subdivisions (a), (b) and (c) of this section, contingent approval of an
individual provider of respite care and services for families may be given by a
social services district when the following conditions have been met:
(i) an interview has been held with the
provider by the social services district;
(ii) a visit has been made to the home of the
provider when the respite care and services are to be provided at that
location;
(iii) a completed State
Central Register clearance form has been obtained and submitted to the
department pursuant to section
424-a of
the Social Services Law and paragraph (b)(5) of this section; and
(iv) a completed Vulnerable Persons' Central
Register clearance has been obtained and submitted to the Justice Center for
the Protection of People with Special Needs pursuant to section
495 of the
Social Services Law and paragraph (b)(6) of this section.
(2) Contingent approval is limited to one
seven-day period.
(e) The social services district, voluntary authorized agency or preventive services agency must maintain a record for each approved individual provider of respite care and services for families. This record must include, but need not be limited to:
(1) the date the provider is
approved;
(2) the result of the
review and assessment of the provider, including a summary of the provider's
compliance with the local standards developed pursuant to the requirements of
this section;
(3) documentation
that the training requirements contained in section
435.7 of this Part have been
met;
(4) the dates on which respite
care and services are provided, including the names of the child(ren) and
family or families for whom the services have been authorized; and
(5) a summary of any situations or incidents
that reflect upon the competence and skill, whether positively or negatively,
of the provider.
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