§ 756-a. Extension of placement. (a) In any case in which the child
has been placed pursuant to paragraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of section
seven hundred fifty-six of this part, the child, the person with whom
the child has been placed or the commissioner of social services may
petition the court to extend such placement, as provided for in this
section. Such petition shall be filed at least fifteen days prior to the
expiration of the initial placement and at least thirty days prior to
the expiration of the period of any additional placement authorized
pursuant to this section, except for good cause shown, but in no event
shall such petition be filed after the original expiration date.

(b) The court shall conduct a permanency hearing concerning the need
for continuing the placement. The child, the person with whom the child
has been placed and the commissioner of social services shall be
notified of such hearing and shall have the right to be heard thereat.

(c) The provisions of section seven hundred forty-five shall apply at
such permanency hearing. If the petition is filed within thirty days
prior to the expiration of the period of placement, the court shall
first determine at such permanency hearing whether good cause has been
shown. If good cause is not shown, the court shall dismiss the petition.

(d) (i) At the conclusion of the first permanency hearing the court
may, in its discretion, order one extension of the placement for not
more than six months;

(ii) At the conclusion of the second permanency hearing, the court
may, in its discretion, order one extension of placement for not more
than four months unless:

(A) The attorney for the child, at the request of the child, seeks an
additional length of stay for the child in such program. If a request is
made pursuant to this subparagraph, the court shall determine whether to
grant such request based on the best interest of the child; or

(B) The court finds that extenuating circumstances exists that
necessitate the child be placed out of the home.

(d-1) If the court orders an extension of placement pursuant to
paragraph (d) of this section, the court must consider and determine in
its order:

(i) where appropriate, that reasonable efforts were made to make it
possible for the child to safely return to his or her home, or if the
permanency plan for the child is adoption, guardianship or some other
permanent living arrangement other than reunification with the parent or
parents of the child, reasonable efforts are being made to make and
finalize such alternate permanent placement including consideration of
appropriate in-state and out-of-state placements;

(ii) in the case of a child who has attained the age of fourteen, (A)
the services needed, if any, to assist the child to make the transition
from foster care to successful adulthood; and (B)(1) that the permanency
plan developed for the child, and any revision or addition to the plan
shall be developed in consultation with the child and, at the option of
the child, with up to two additional members of the child's permanency
planning team who are selected by the child and who are not a foster
parent of, or case worker, case planner or case manager for, the child,
except that the local commissioner of social services with custody of
the child may reject an individual so selected by the child if such
commissioner has good cause to believe that the individual would not act
in the best interests of the child, and (2) that one individual so
selected by the child may be designated to be the child's advisor and,
as necessary, advocate with respect to the application of the reasonable
and prudent parent standard;

(iii) in the case of a child placed outside New York state, whether
the out-of-state placement continues to be appropriate and in the best
interests of the child;

(iv) whether and when the child: (A) will be returned to the parent;
(B) should be placed for adoption with the social services official
filing a petition for termination of parental rights; (C) should be
referred for legal guardianship; (D) should be placed permanently with a
fit and willing relative; or (E) should be placed in another planned
permanent living arrangement with a significant connection to an adult
willing to be a permanency resource for the child if the child is age
sixteen or older and (1) the social services official has documented to
the court: (I) intensive, ongoing, and, as of the date of the hearing,
unsuccessful efforts made by the social services district to return the
child home or secure a placement for the child with a fit and willing
relative including adult siblings, a legal guardian, or an adoptive
parent, including through efforts that utilize search technology
including social media to find biological family members for children,
(II) the steps the social services district is taking to ensure that (A)
the child's foster family home or child care facility is following the
reasonable and prudent parent standard in accordance with guidance
provided by the United States department of health and human services,
and (B) the child has regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age or
developmentally appropriate activities including by consulting with the
child in an age-appropriate manner about the opportunities of the child
to participate in activities; and (2) the social services district has
documented to the court and the court has determined that there are
compelling reasons for determining that it continues to not be in the
best interest of the child to return home, be referred for termination
of parental rights and placed for adoption, placed with a fit and
willing relative, or placed with a legal guardian; and (3) the court has
made a determination explaining why, as of the date of the hearing,
another planned living arrangement with a significant connection to an
adult willing to be a permanency resource for the child is the best
permanency plan for the child; and

(v) where the child will not be returned home, consideration of
appropriate in-state and out-of-state placements.

(e) At the permanency hearing, the court shall consult with the
respondent in an age-appropriate manner regarding the permanency plan;
provided, however, that if the respondent is age sixteen or older and
the requested permanency plan for the respondent is placement in another
planned permanent living arrangement with a significant connection to an
adult willing to be a permanency resource for the respondent, the court
must ask the respondent about the desired permanency outcome for the
respondent.

(f) Pending final determination of a petition to extend such placement
filed in accordance with the provisions of this section, the court may,
on its own motion or at the request of the petitioner or respondent,
enter one or more temporary orders extending a period of placement. The
court may order additional temporary extensions only as authorized in
this section.

(g) Successive extensions of placement under this section may be
granted, only as authorized in this section, provided, however no
placement may be made or continued beyond the child's eighteenth
birthday without his or her consent and in no event past his or her
twenty-first birthday.

(h) Where the respondent remains placed in a qualified residential
treatment program, as defined in section four hundred nine-h of the
social services law, the commissioner of the local social services
district with legal custody of the respondent shall submit evidence at
the permanency hearing with respect to the respondent:

(i) demonstrating that ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs
of the respondent continues to support the determination that the needs
of the respondent cannot be met through placement in a foster family
home, that the placement in a qualified residential treatment program
provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the
respondent in the least restrictive environment, and that the placement
is consistent with the short-term and long-term goals of the respondent,
as specified in the respondent's permanency plan;

(ii) documenting the specific treatment or service needs that will be
met for the respondent in the placement and the length of time the
respondent is expected to need the treatment or services; and

(iii) documenting the efforts made by the local social services
district with legal custody of the respondent to prepare the respondent
to return home, or to be placed with a fit and willing relative, legal
guardian or adoptive parent, or in a foster family home.

(i) A youth who was formerly a respondent pursuant to this article
shall be eligible to file a motion pursuant to article ten-B of this act
and may be subsequently placed into foster care, in a supervised setting
as defined in subdivision twenty-two of section three hundred
seventy-one of the social services law or placement in a foster family
home, which shall include a kinship placement or a placement with
fictive kin.

* (j) Where placement will end prior to a subsequent permanency
hearing due to the respondent's age and/or failure to consent to
continuation of placement, court orders made pursuant to this section
shall be enforceable against the social services district and/or social
services official, as defined in section two of the social services law,
and/or the authorized agency, as defined by subdivision ten of section
three hundred seventy-one of the social services law, with whom such
respondent was placed after such respondent was discharged from care.

(i) The court shall maintain jurisdiction over a case for purposes of
hearing a motion for contempt against the agency with whom the
respondent was placed pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-three of
the judiciary law. Such a motion may be brought by such respondent who
was formerly placed pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-six of this
part or this section. In addition to any other defense, it shall be an
affirmative defense to a motion filed in accordance with this paragraph
that compliance with the court order was not possible due solely to the
youth's refusal to consent to continuation of foster care placement
where such refusal is documented in a signed, notarized letter executed
by the youth after consultation with their attorney for the child.

(ii) (A) The court shall maintain jurisdiction over a motion described
in paragraph (i) of this subdivision if such motion is filed before the
respondent attains the age of twenty-two, or after such respondent
attains the age of twenty-two and upon a showing of good cause, which
may include, but shall not be limited to, a failure to obtain stable
housing. The court's jurisdiction over any such motion shall continue
until such motion and any related appeals are finally resolved.

(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, "stable housing" shall mean
housing where the youth respondent shall be reasonably expected to
reside for at least twelve months; provided, however, that a homeless
shelter, temporary accommodations with family or friends, a single-room
occupancy hotel, or any other congregate living arrangement which houses
more than ten unrelated persons, or remaining in a foster care setting
pursuant to a local social services district policy or practice after
the respondent attains the age of twenty-one, shall not be considered
stable housing; provided, however, that discharge into a congregate
living arrangement licensed by the office of mental health or the office
for people with developmental disabilities, in accordance with a youth's
permanency plan or discharge plan, to receive residential services which
are reasonably expected to continue for at least twelve months,
including a congregate living arrangement which houses more than ten
unrelated persons, shall constitute stable housing.

* NB Effective January 20, 2025