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ACS shall establish and operate a program that permits youth in secure detention facilities to communicate through video conference or substantially similar technology with family, as defined by ACS, or legal guardians, except when the facility director determines that such communication is detrimental to the youth or not consistent with public safety. Video conferences shall be held primarily for the purpose of discharge planning, treatment, and rehabilitative conversations.
(L.L. 2017/173, 9/8/2017, eff. 3/11/2019)
ACS shall conduct an internal review of the effectiveness of the current system for maintaining health records created for individuals in juvenile detention facilities including whether maintaining such records electronically would improve the current system and submit to the council, by December 31, 2017, a report including recommendations for improvements to the health records maintenance system and a timeframe for implementation of such improvements.
(L.L. 2017/169, 9/8/2017, eff. 9/8/2017)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2017/169.
a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term "preventive services" means supportive and rehabilitative services provided, in accordance with title four of the social services law, to children and their families for the purposes of: averting an impairment or disruption of a family which will or could result in the placement of a child in foster care; enabling a child who has been placed in foster care to return to his family at an earlier time than would otherwise be possible; or reducing the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from foster care would return to such care.
b. Commencing 18 months after the effective date of the local law that added this section, ACS shall provide to all families receiving preventive services an annual survey regarding the family's experiences with each preventive services provider that provided the family services during the preceding calendar year. Such surveys may be administered online or through a mobile application. ACS shall not attribute survey responses to families without their consent. In addition to questions, such surveys shall provide space for such families to provide ACS with any additional information they wish to share.
c. Such survey shall include but not be limited to questions regarding the following: interactions with caseworkers, the type and quality of services, and suggestions for how services may be improved.
d. No later than six months following the first administration of the survey required pursuant to this section, and annually thereafter, ACS shall submit to the speaker of the council and post on its website aggregated data from such surveys and any steps ACS had taken in response to the information provided in such surveys.
e. Not later than six months after the effective date of the local law that added this section, ACS shall submit to the speaker of the council a report on its plan for the implementation of the survey required pursuant to this section.
f. No information that is otherwise required to be reported pursuant to this section shall be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state or local law relating to the privacy of information respecting families or children receiving preventive services or that would interfere with law enforcement investigations or otherwise conflict with the interests of law enforcement. If any category requested contains between 1 and 5 families or children receiving preventive services, or allows another category to be narrowed to between 1 and 5 families or children receiving preventive services, the number shall be replaced with a symbol.
(L.L. 2018/017, 12/31/2017, eff. 12/31/2017)
No later than June 1, 2018, and no later than 18 months after the end of each calendar year thereafter, ACS shall publish and make available on its website a report on the findings and recommendations of its child fatality reviews during the previous calendar year. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i) the number of fatalities of children known to ACS for the previous year;
(ii) the cause of death in such fatalities;
(iii) the age, gender, race and ethnicity of children with fatalities for the previous year;
(iv) any relevant trends identified and systemic recommendations, including opportunities for inter-agency collaboration; and
(v) a summary of any case practice findings and agency policy changes made in response to child fatalities in the previous 12 months.
(L.L. 2018/019, 12/31/2017, eff. 12/31/2017)
a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term "preventive services" means supportive and rehabilitative services provided, in accordance with title four of the social services law, to children and their families for the purposes of: averting an impairment or disruption of a family which will or could result in the placement of a child in foster care; enabling a child who has been placed in foster care to return to his family at an earlier time than would otherwise be possible; or reducing the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from foster care would return to such care.
b. ACS shall require all individuals providing preventive services to attend trainings, the content of which shall be determined by ACS, on an ongoing basis and no less than once per year. This requirement is in addition to any other training required by law or regulation for individuals providing preventive services.
(L.L. 2018/016, 12/31/2017, eff. 3/1/2018)
a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term "preventive services" means supportive and rehabilitative services provided, in accordance with title four of the social services law, to children and their families for the purposes of: averting an impairment or disruption of a family which will or could result in the placement of a child in foster care; enabling a child who has been placed in foster care to return to his family at an earlier time than would otherwise be possible; or reducing the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from foster care would return to such care.
b. Beginning with the calendar quarter ending March 31, 2018, and for every calendar quarter thereafter, ACS shall furnish to the speaker of the council and post on ACS' website, no later than 30 days after the end of each such calendar quarter, a report regarding preventive services rendered during such calendar quarter that includes, at a minimum, the following information:
1. The number of families and the number of children who received preventive services and the average length of enrollment, disaggregated by each program type, for all program types offered within the ACS continuum of preventive services;
2. The number of open slots available for preventive services, disaggregated by each program type, for all program types offered within the ACS continuum of preventive services;
3. The number of children who entered foster care and had been receiving preventive services at the time of removal, six months prior to removal, and 12 months prior to removal;
4. The number of families and the number of children who received preventive services after a previous final discharge from foster care to reunification;
5. The number of families who received ACS family services unit monitoring and preventive services; and
6. To the extent such data is available to ACS, the number of families who lived in homeless shelters operated by or under contract or similar agreement with the department of homeless services or department of social services/human resources administration while receiving preventive services.
c. No information that is otherwise required to be reported pursuant to this section shall be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state or local law relating to the privacy of information respecting families or children receiving preventive services or that would interfere with law enforcement investigations or otherwise conflict with the interests of law enforcement. If any category requested contains between 1 and 5 families or children receiving preventive services, or allows another category to be narrowed to between 1 and 5 families or children receiving preventive services, the number shall be replaced with a symbol.
(L.L. 2018/011, 12/31/2017, eff. 12/31/2017)
a. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Limited English proficient individual. The term "limited English proficient individual" means an individual who identifies as being, or is evidently, unable to communicate meaningfully in English.
Primary language. The term "primary language" means the language in which a limited English proficient individual chooses to communicate with others.
b. By January 1, 2019, ACS shall complete a study regarding its ability to provide access to language classes for any child between the ages of 3 years and 12 years who, pursuant to article 10 of the family court act, was removed from the custody of parents or guardians who are limited English proficient individuals and who has been in the custody of ACS for at least 6 months. Such study shall include, but need not be limited to:
1. The number of such children in the foster care system;
2. The languages spoken by such children;
3. The languages spoken by the individuals from whom such children were removed;
4. Strategies to assess the language needs of such children; and
5. Barriers to addressing such language needs.
c. The department shall report its findings from its language study to the speaker of the council and post a copy of the report on the ACS website by July 1, 2019.
d. As part of the study required pursuant to subdivision c of this section, ACS shall initiate a process to identify and track whether parents or guardians of children removed pursuant to article 10 of the family court act are limited English proficient individuals. If such process is not in place at the time the report required pursuant to subdivision c of this section is complete, such report will include an explanation of the barriers to initiating such process.
(L.L. 2018/037, 1/11/2018, eff. 7/10/2018)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2018/037.
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