§ 532-e. Powers and duties of the office of children and family
services. The office of children and family services shall: 1. visit,
inspect and make periodic reports on the operation and adequacy of
approved runaway programs and transitional independent living support
programs;

2. certify residential facilities providing care to runaway and/or
homeless youth, provided, however, that no certification shall be issued
or renewed until it can be demonstrated that a program operated pursuant
to this article has consistent with appropriate collective bargaining
agreements and applicable provisions of the civil service law, developed
and implemented a procedure for reviewing and evaluating the backgrounds
of and the information supplied by any person applying to be an
employee, volunteer or consultant, which shall include but not be
limited to the following requirements: that the applicants set forth his
or her employment history, provide personal and employment references
and sign a sworn statement indicating whether the applicant, to the best
of his or her knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime in this
state or any other jurisdiction;

3. maintain a register of approved runaway programs, transitional
independent living support programs and runaway and homeless youth
service coordinators;

4. submit to the governor and legislature an annual report detailing
the numbers and characteristics of runaway and otherwise homeless youth
throughout the state and their problems and service needs;

5. develop and promulgate in consultation with county youth bureaus
and organizations or programs which have had past experience dealing
with runaway and homeless youth, regulations concerning the coordination
and integration of services available for runaway and otherwise homeless
youth and prohibiting the disclosure or transferal of any records
containing the identity of individual youth receiving services pursuant
to this section, without the written consent of the youth;

6. develop and promulgate regulations in consultation with the office
of temporary and disability assistance concerning the provision of
services by transitional independent living support programs consistent
with the provisions of this article;

7. require all employees of approved programs providing care to
runaway and/or homeless youth to complete training as set forth in
regulations promulgated by the office. Such training shall require all
employees of such residential facilities to receive instruction as
specified by the office in the regulations, except where an employee has
already received training which would satisfy such requirements, and
shall, at a minimum, include instruction in issues pertaining to
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth with particular emphasis
on:

(a) appropriate terminology;

(b) particular challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
runaway and homeless youth, including why lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth are disproportionately homeless;

(c) how to address homophobia or transphobia from other youth at the
shelter;

(d) confidentiality in the cases of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth; and

(e) how to address the families of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth; and

8. in conjunction with the commissioner of education, develop and
annually review a plan to ensure coordination and access to education
for homeless children, in accordance with the provisions of section
thirty-two hundred nine of the education law, and monitor compliance of
residential programs for runaway and homeless youth with such plan.