§ 462. Responsibility for standards. 1. (a) The office of children and
family services shall promulgate regulations concerning standards of
care and treatment and fiscal, administrative, nutritional,
architectural and safety standards, consistent with the provisions of
section three hundred ninety-eight-a of this chapter, which shall apply
to all facilities exercising care or custody of children or providing
care or shelter to unmarried mothers.

(b) With respect to facilities exercising care or custody of children,
no license or operating certificate shall be provided or renewed unless
it can be demonstrated that such facilities comply with regulations for
the prevention and remediation of reportable incidents involving
children in such facilities, including procedures for:

(i) consistent with appropriate collective bargaining agreements and
applicable provisions of the civil service law, assisting the justice
center for the protection of people with special needs with its review
and evaluation of criminal background checks of prospective employees,
as set forth in subdivision five of section five hundred fifty-three of
the executive law;

(ii) establishing, for employees, relevant minimal experiential and
educational qualifications consistent with appropriate collective
bargaining agreements and applicable provisions of the civil service
law;

(iii) assuring adequate and appropriate supervision of employees,
volunteers and consultants;

(iv) demonstrating by a residential facility or program that
appropriate action is taken to assure the safety of the child who is
reported pursuant to article eleven of this chapter to the vulnerable
persons' central register as well as other children in care, immediately
upon notification that a report of a reportable incident has been made
with respect to a child in such facility or program;

(v) consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements,
assuring that an individual who has committed a category one offense, as
defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision five of section four hundred
ninety-three of this chapter, that is included on the vulnerable
persons' central register is not hired or otherwise used in any position
in which such individual would have regular and substantial contact with
a service recipient in any program operated, licensed or certified by
the office;

(vi) removing a child, consistent as applicable with any court order
placing the child, when it is determined that there is risk to such
child if he or she continues to remain within a facility or program;

(vii) appropriate preventive and remedial action to be taken including
legal actions, consistent with appropriate collective bargaining
agreements and applicable provisions of the civil service law.

(c) With respect to facilities exercising care or custody of children
such standards shall establish as a priority that:

(i) subject to the amounts appropriated therefor, administrators,
employees, volunteers and consultants receive training in at least the
following: child abuse prevention and identification, safety and
security procedures, the principles of child development, the
characteristics of children in care and techniques of group and child
management including crisis intervention, the laws, regulations and
procedures governing the protection of children from abuse and neglect,
and other appropriate topics, provided however, that the office may
exempt administrators and consultants of such facilities or programs
from such requirements upon demonstration of substantially equivalent
knowledge or experience; and

(ii) subject to the amounts appropriated therefor, children receive
instruction, consistent with their age, needs and circumstances as well
as the needs and circumstances within the facility or program, in
techniques and procedures which will enable such children to advocate
for and protect themselves from reportable incidents; and

(iii) the office, in consultation with the executive director of the
justice center for persons with special needs, shall take all reasonable
and necessary actions to assure that employees, volunteers and
consultants in residential care facilities and programs are kept
apprised on a current basis of all office policies and procedures
relating to the protection of children from reportable incidents, and
shall monitor and supervise the provision of training to such
administrators, employees, volunteers, children and consultants.

(d) Such regulations shall be developed in consultation with other
state departments and agencies responsible for human services programs
including, but not limited to, the department of education, the
department of health, the office of mental health, the office for people
with developmental disabilities, the office of alcoholism and substance
abuse services and the justice center for the protection of people with
special needs and shall, to the extent possible, be consistent with
those promulgated by other state agencies for such purposes.

(e) This subdivision shall not apply to facilities operated by or
certified or licensed to operate by another state agency.

(f) No residential institution for children as defined in subdivision
forty-four of section sixteen hundred seventy-six of the public
authorities law shall enter into a lease, sub-lease or other agreement
with the dormitory authority pursuant to subdivision forty of section
sixteen hundred eighty of the public authorities law unless and until:

(i) the office of children and family services, the director of the
division of the budget and any other state agency which licenses such
residential institutions for children first determines that the project
is necessary to address health and safety needs of children at the
institution, approve the project cost upon determination that such costs
are reasonable, necessary and cost effective based upon the application
of cost per square foot guidelines and any other standards applicable to
the type of program or to the clinically-required needs of a specialized
group of children to be served by the project; and

(ii) the office of children and family services or such other state
agency which licenses such residential institution for children approves
the plans and specifications of the residential facilities to be
replaced, reconstructed, rehabilitated, improved, renovated, or
otherwise provided for, furnished or equipped.

2. (a) The office shall establish regulations governing secure and
non-secure detention facilities subject to article nineteen-G of the
executive law and residential facilities operated as approved runaway
programs or transitional independent living support programs pursuant to
article nineteen-H of the executive law.

(b) The appropriate offices of the state department of mental hygiene
shall establish regulations governing all child care facilities subject
to articles thirty-one and thirty-two of the mental hygiene law.

(c) The department of mental hygiene and the office shall propose any
additional standards as are deemed necessary to adequately ensure the
care of children in facilities subject to the inspection and supervision
of the department, which care for a significant number of mentally
disabled children, juvenile delinquents or persons in need of
supervision. The final form of any such additional standards shall be
subject to the approval of the department of mental hygiene for such
standards related to the care of mentally disabled children, or the
office for such standards related to the care of juvenile delinquents
and persons in need of supervision.