Assisting a child to secure an adoptive home (through counseling with biological parent(s) unwilling or unable to care for a child to surrender such child for adoption or instituting legal procedures to separate the child from his/her parent(s) under appropriate circumstances and arranging for and providing legal services to accomplish this purpose; the recruitment, study and evaluation of interested prospective adoptive parents; training for prospective and approved adoptive parents, evaluation of placement need, pre-placement planning, selection and placement of available children; counseling for families after placement; supervision of child in adoptive homes until legal adoption is completed; post-adoption services including counseling of the child, adoptive parents, and biological parents for up to three years following legal adoption.

FOSTER CARE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

Assessing the need for, arranging for and providing for placement of and services to individuals under the age of 18 (under 21 in cases of children in foster care prior to age 18) in a foster home or appropriate group care facility as a result of either a judicial determination to the effect that continuation of care in a child's own home would be contrary to the safety or welfare of such child, or at the request of the parent or legal guardian. A foster care home or facility used for care of children shall be certified, approved, or licensed by the State in which it is situated or have been approved by the agency of such State responsible for licensing or certifying homes or facilities of this type as meeting required standards.

PREVENTIVE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

Supportive and rehabilitative services provided to children and their families in accordance with the provision of Part 423 of the Department's regulations and Section 409-a of Social Service Law for the purpose of: averting an impairment or disruption of a family which will or could result in placement of a child in foster care; enabling a child who has been placed in foster care to return to his/her family at an earlier time than would otherwise be possible; or reducing the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from foster care would return to such care.

PROTECTIVE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

Activities on behalf of children under the age of 18, who are named in a report of abuse and/or maltreatment. The following activities may be considered protective services for children:

1. Receipt of child abuse and/or maltreatment reports and investigation thereof, including the obtaining of information from collateral contacts such as hospitals, school and police;

2. Identification and diagnosis of current or past abuse and/or maltreatment;

3. Assessing whether the child is safe from immediate danger and determining the risk of future abuse and maltreatment through an examination of the risk elements, the family's perspective and family strengths;

4. Making determinations as to whether there is credible evidence of child abuse and/or maltreatment;

5. Counseling, therapy and training courses for parents or guardian of the child, including parent aide services;

6. Counseling and therapy for children at risk of physical or emotional harm;

7. Arranging for emergency shelter for children who are suspected of being abused and/or maltreated;

8. Arranging for financial assistance, where appropriate;

9. Assisting the family court or the criminal court during all stages of a court proceeding;

10. Arranging for the provision of appropriate rehabilitative services including, but not limited to, preventive services and foster care for children;

11. Providing directly or arranging for, either through purchase or referral, the provision of day care or homemaker services without regard to financial criteria. Programmatic need for such services must have been established as a result of the investigation of a report of child abuse and/or maltreatment received by the New York State Child Abuse and Maltreatment Register and such services must terminate as a protective service for children when the case is closed with the register;

12. Monitoring the rehabilitative or safety controlling services being provided by someone other than the child protective service worker.

13. Case management services.

14. Case planning services.

15. Casework contacts. The purpose of casework contacts shall also be to continually reassess the parents ability to provide a minimum standard of care to the child(ren) as well as to track the progress the family is making toward reducing the risk of future abuse or maltreatment through the achievement of proposed outcomes set forth in the family and children's services plan.

SERVICES TO VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Emergency shelter and supportive services provided to: persons who are 16 years of age or older; married persons; or, parents of a minor child who is the victim of an act which constitutes a violation of the Penal Law and such act has been committed by a family or household member which includes: persons related by blood or marriage; persons legally married to one another; persons formerly married; persons who have a child in common; unrelated persons who are continually or at regular intervals living in the same household or who have in the past continually lived in the same household; or unrelated persons who have had intimate or continuous social contact with one another and who have access to one anothers household.

The following services, when provided directly by a licensed residential program for victims of domestic violence pursuant to Department regulations Part 452 and Part 453, 454, or 455, or an approved non-residential program for victims of domestic violence pursuant to Department regulations Part 462, are considered domestic violence services:

Arranging and providing emergency shelter at a licensed residential program for victims of domestic violence;

Telephone Hotline assistance which means the provision of immediate crisis intervention counseling and information and referral services through a telephone hotline.

Information and referral services which means providing information about and referral to community services and programs including referral to domestic violence residential services.

Advocacy services which means providing liaison services or intervening on behalf of a victim in order to assist victims in accessing legal remedies and protections and law enforcement personnel, obtain public assistance applications, medical care, social services, employment, and housing.

Counseling which means providing individual and/or group counseling which stresses self-sufficiency and addresses the needs identified by victims, assists victims to seek services on their own behalf, informs victims of the options available to ensure their safety, informs victims of the nature of family violence and its effects on children, informs victims of the legal, financial and housing options available to them, and assists victims to improve their problem solving skills.

Community education/outreach activities which means providing educational activities to the community regarding the need for the benefits of domestic violence services, the dynamics of domestic violence, and the prevention of domestic violence by making presentations, distributing written materials and using the media.

Children's services which means: (1) making appropriate arrangements to provide for the education of school-aged children; (2) assisting victims in arranging child care to enable the victim to seek needed services; and (3) offering and providing appropriate counseling to the children of domestic violence victims.

Support groups which means the provision of peer support to interested victims by conducting meetings during which groups of victims discuss their experiences with family violence.

Follow up services which means ensuring that prior to a victim exiting a domestic violence residential program, efforts are made by the residential program to involve the victim in discussions on available community resources which may assist the victim in carrying out their intended future plans upon departure from the residential program.

Medical services which means the residential program has an established linkage with a fully accredited medical institution or clinic or with qualified medical personnel for the referral of victims who are residents of a domestic violence residential program for preliminary health examinations and follow-up visits.

Transportation which means arranging for transportation to the residential program in an emergency and providing transportation or assisting victims to obtain available public or private transportation or assisting in order for victims to secure legal, medical, housing, employment or public assistance services.

Translation services which means interpreting any oral or written information for non-English speaking victims of domestic violence.

PROTECTIVE SERVICES FOR ADULTS

Services to individuals 18 years of age or older who are unable to protect their own interests, harmed or threatened with harm through action or inaction by another individual, or through their own action due to lack of awareness, incompetence or poor health which results in a physical or mental injury, neglect or maltreatment, failure to receive adequate food, shelter or clothing, deprivation of entitlements due them, or wasting of their resources.

Such services are limited to:

(a) Identifying such adults who need assistance or who have no one willing and able to assist them responsibly;

(b) Providing prompt response and investigation upon request of adults at risk or other persons acting on their behalf;

(c) Assessing the individual's situation and service needs;

(d) Providing counseling to such adults, their families, other responsible persons or to fiduciaries, such as representative payees, on handling the affairs of such adults;

(e) Arranging for appropriate alternate living arrangements in the community or in an institution; providing room and board as an integral but subordinate part of the provision of PSA for a period not to exceed 30 days;

(f) Assisting in location of social services, medical care and other resources in the community, including arrangement for day care in a protective setting;

(g) Arranging for guardianship, commitment or other protective placements as needed;

(h) Providing advocacy and assistance in arranging for legal services to assure receipt of rights and entitlements due to adults high at risk;

(i) Functioning as a guardian, representative payee or protective payee, where it is determined such services are needed and there is no one else available or capable of acting in this capacity;

(j) Providing homemaker and housekeeper/chore services when provided as an integral but subordinate part in the provision of PSA to meet the goal of protection for adults who demonstrate specified functional deficits. The provision of such services to be limited to six months when provided without regard to financial criteria. When such services are available through other public or private community resources, these should be utilized. The provision of these services beyond six (6) months may be authorized on a case-by-case basis under the following conditions:

(1) Guardianship or other financial management proceedings have been started within the first 60 days of the provision of PSA services; and

(2) The local district must accept the responsibility to function as a guardian, representative payee or protective payee on behalf of a PSA client if no other resources are available within 45 days of a determination by either:

(i) A court that a guardian is required:

(ii) An office of the Federal Social Security Administration or the Railroad Retirement System that a representative payee is required; or

(iii) The social services district that a protective payee is required.

Under these conditions the provision of homemaker and housekeeper/chore services without regard to financial criteria may be continued beyond six months until the conservatorship or other financial management proceedings are completed, except in no case shall such services be authorized to continue for a period of more than three months subject to one reauthorization not to exceed an additional three months.

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