§ 402. Children forbidden in public homes. No public welfare
official shall send a child to be cared for in a public home, and no
commissioner of public welfare and no superintendent of a public home
shall receive a child in a public home, except that a child under the
age of two years may be cared for with his mother in a public home.
Such child shall not remain in the public home after he becomes two
years of age. Provided, however, that when so authorized by the
department a child may be sent to a general hospital connected with a
public home or to a separate institution located in the grounds of a
public home used only for special or temporary care of children.
Provided, further, that the provisions of this section shall not be
deemed to prohibit the placement of a child or minor in a public
institution for children, as defined in section three hundred
seventy-one of this chapter.