BILL NUMBER: S8046

SPONSOR: MANNION
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to a study of the number of children in foster care
who have an intellectual or developmental disability

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of the bill is to study the placement in foster care of
children who have an intellectual or developmental disability.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill requires the office of children and family
services, in consultation with the commissioner of mental health and the
commissioner of developmental disabilities, to conduct a study to deter-
mine the number of children who have been placed in foster care and who
have been diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability.
The study shall include an assessment of the demographics of such chil-
dren, and evaluation of the current guidelines and regulations used to
              

oversee the placement and treatment of such children, and an analysis of
the extent to which such children are prepared for a transition from
foster care to an independent living situation.

Section 2 defines the terms "intellectual disability" and "developmental
disability."

Section 3 authorizes the office of children and family services, the
commissioner of mental health and the commissioner of developmental
disabilities to acquire directly from the head of any department, agen-
cy, or instrumentality of the state, available information which the
departments consider useful in the discharge of their duties, and
requires all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the state
to furnish all information requested by the departments to the extent
permitted by law.

Section 4 requires that the office of children and family services, the
commissioner of mental health and the commissioner of developmental
disabilities to submit a report of the findings of the study to the
governor and legislative leaders of the senate and assembly no later
than one year following the effective date of this act. The report shall
also include recommendations on how to consistently maintain a record of
the number of children who have been placed in foster care who have been
diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability, recommenda-
tions to improve the placement and treatment of children in foster care,
and recommendations to further develop existing guidelines and regu-
lations to prepare children who have an intellectual or developmental
disability for a transition to an independent living situation.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) in
the United States are typically overrepresented in the child welfare
system, particularly among voluntarily placed youth (Hill, 2017).
Nationally, anywhere from 30% to 50% of the youth involved in child
protective service have some type of disability (e.g., I/DD, emotional
behavioral; Helton et al., 2019; Slayter, 2016).
Unfortunately, in New York State currently there is no mechanism to
identify which children and youth involved with the child welfare system
are diagnosed with a disability.

Understanding the breadth and depth of the problem of persons with IDD
in foster care is critical for several reasons: First, individuals with
I/DD are more likely than their counterparts to remain in foster care
placements until they age out as adults (Schmidt et al., 2013).  There-
fore, it is critical for effective future planning for the youth and for
the service systems in NY (e.g., OPWDD, OMH) to have an accurate under-
standing of the numbers of individuals who will need connections to
services and service systems, including residential placement options.

Second, because these children and youth with I/DD may be placed in
voluntary placement (Hill, 2017) as the only means for families to
obtain needed supports for their children; thus, these children are more
likely to need of continued services that specifically meet their unique
needs. This group of youth are more likely to experience trauma,
disruptions, live in congregate care (Schmidt et al., 2013), and age out
of the foster care system. Additionally, individuals with I/DD are high-
ly susceptible to abuse. This includes sexual abuse (Finkelhoffer et.
al., 2014) and particularly transactional sexual abuse with individuals
with I/DD transitioning from child welfare settings (Carellas et al.,
2021).

Third, because the foster care system was not designed to include treat-
ment programs or care for individuals with I/DD the families and the
congregate care programs which serve individuals with I/DD in the foster
care system are not very likely to have the resources and training need-
ed to effectively support these individuals. For example, for individ-
uals with I/DD to have the greatest quality of life possible there is a
need for programming specific to meet their needs; however, the exper-
tise for this type of service and the systems to support these needs are
often in other service systems, such as OPWDD and schools (Blakeslee et
al., 2020). Some of these services include effective person-centered
planning and self-determination instruction, programming for skill-based
instruction to promote independence and choice, and evidence-based
support for improving functional skills while decreasing interfering
behaviors.

Fourth, data collected between 2014-2016 through a grant funded by the
NY Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) demonstrated that
individuals with I/DD in NY are often unprepared for transition out of
foster care, have few if any community contacts in their home communi-
ties, and lack access to needed mental health treatment. These are all
issues that will interfere with successful transition out of foster care
and ensuring these individuals, who are already at a significant disad-
vantage, will achieve any meaningful quality of life. Planning for tran-
sition to adulthood in NY schools for individuals with IEPs starts at
age 14. The process can be significantly enhanced if there is clear
identification of the youth that are in foster care with I/DD and the
need for multiple systems to be at the table.

References: Blakeslee, J. E., Powers, L. E., Geenen, S., Schmidt, J.,
Nelson, M., Fullerton, A., ... & Bryant, M. (2020). Evaluating the My
Life self-determination model for older youth in foster care:  Estab-
lishing efficacy and exploring moderation of response to intervention.
Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105419.  Carrellas, A., Resko,
S. M., & Day, A. G. (2021). Sexual victimization and intellectual disa-
bilities among child welfare involved youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 115,
104986. Finkelhor, D., Shattuck, A., Turner, H. A.., & Hamby, S. L.
(2014). The lifetime prevalence of child sexual abuse and sexual assault
assessed in late adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55, 329-333.
Helton, J.  J., Lightfoot, E., Fu, Q. J., & Bruhn, C. M. (2019). Preva-
lence and severity of child impairment in a US sample of child maltreat-
ment investigations. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics,
40(4), 285-292. Hill, K. (2017).  Prevalence, experiences, and charac-
teristics of children and youth who enter foster care through voluntary
placement agreements. Children and Youth Services Review, 74, 62-70.
Schmidt, J., Cunningham, M., Dalton, L. D., Powers, L. E., Geenen, S., &
Orozco, C. G. (2013).  Assessing restrictiveness: A closer look at the
foster care placements and perceptions of youth with and without disa-
bilities aging out of care. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 7(5), 586-
609. Slayter, E.  (2016). Youth with disabilities in the United States
child welfare system. Children and Youth Services Review, 64, 155-165.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:  Immediately