S 7978: Provides additional support to children with complex needs under the jurisdiction of the state; requires data collection regarding children under the jurisdiction of the state.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7978 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE May 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BROUK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law and the state finance law, in relation to providing additional support to children with complex needs under the jurisdiction of the state The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 483-b of the social services law, as amended by 2 chapter 235 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 483-b. Powers and duties of council. 1. Definitions. As used in this 4 section, the terms "care", "services", "programs", and "services 5 programs" shall mean and include care, maintenance, services and 6 programs provided to children of the state and their families by or 7 under the jurisdiction of a member agency, and the term "boarding" shall 8 mean remaining in a hospital setting after having been determined to no 9 longer need a hospital level of care, and awaiting discharge. 10 2. General powers. The council shall have the following powers: 11 (a) to identify problems and deficiencies in residential care and 12 community-based services programs and, on a selective basis, to plan and 13 make recommendations to the governor for the remedy of such problems and 14 deficiencies and for the development of programs of care and services 15 for children and their families; 16 (b) to make recommendations to improve coordination of program and 17 fiscal resources of state-local, public-voluntary care and services to 18 children and their families; 19 (c) to coordinate program and management research of member agencies 20 for the purpose of monitoring, evaluating or redirecting existing care 21 and services programs or developing new programs, and to conduct, spon- 22 sor, or direct member agencies to undertake such research or other 23 activities; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11182-03-5 
 S. 7978 2 1 (d) to review and resolve differences, if any, concerning rules and 2 regulations of each member agency insofar as such rules and regulations 3 impact on services programs provided by other member agencies; 4 (e) to promulgate, amend and rescind rules and regulations relating to 5 the administration and performance of the powers and duties of the coun- 6 cil pursuant to this article; 7 (f) to review significant state and locally operated and supported 8 care and services, plans and proposals for new services for children and 9 families to determine whether such services are planned, created and 10 delivered in a coordinated, effective and comprehensive manner; 11 (g) to perform all other things necessary and convenient to carry out 12 the functions, powers and duties of the council and to effectuate the 13 purposes of this article; [and] 14 (h) to accept and expend funds appropriated pursuant to section nine- 15 ty-nine-ss of the state finance law any grants, awards, or other funds 16 or appropriations as may be available to the council to effectuate the 17 purposes of this article, subject to the approval of the director of the 18 budget; and 19 (i) to establish and maintain a confidential online data portal to 20 help facilitate the coordination of residential and non-residential 21 services to children and adolescents within the council's interagency 22 resolution powers. 23 3. Interagency resolution powers. (a) The council shall convene member 24 agencies to meet [on a regular basis] as needed and in response to 25 requests for assistance that are received to discuss and resolve 26 disputes, including but not limited to disputes between member agencies, 27 relating to their functions, powers and duties over the provision of 28 services to particular children and their families or to categories of 29 children or child and family problems when all the internal statutory 30 and administrative grievance or appeal procedures applicable to a member 31 agency have failed to finally resolve such dispute. 32 (b) The council shall direct member agencies to provide an evaluation, 33 including a diagnostic study, of a particular child and [his or her] 34 such child's family when there is a dispute as to the appropriate agency 35 or program in which the child should be placed or from which the child 36 and [his or her] such child's family should receive services[, and, 37 following]. Such evaluation and diagnostic study shall be completed 38 within seventy-two hours of the interagency resolution unit receiving a 39 request for assistance. Following such evaluation and diagnostic study, 40 the council, within five business days, shall [order] effectuate place- 41 ment of or provide services for a child with a member agency, or with a 42 social services official, or order a member agency to provide or require 43 the provision of services to the child and [his or her] such child's 44 family in a manner consistent with the legal authority of the member 45 agency or social services official, as applicable. 46 (c) The council shall direct member agencies to take appropriate 47 direct action or to exercise their supervisory powers over local offi- 48 cials and agencies, in the resolution of such disputes. 49 (d) The duty of the council to resolve disputes involving particular 50 children [may] shall be performed on a selective basis within the 51 discretion of the council. Exercise of jurisdiction over such disputes 52 by the council or appeals to the council therefor shall not be required 53 as a condition precedent to the initiation of a proceeding pursuant to 54 article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. 55 (e) A dispute relative to which member agency shall have the responsi- 56 bility for determining and recommending adult services pursuant to 
 S. 7978 3 1 sections 7.37 and 13.37 of the mental hygiene law, section three hundred 2 ninety-eight-c of the social services law, or subdivision ten of section 3 forty-four hundred three of the education law shall be resolved in 4 accordance with this subdivision. 5 4. Submission of information to the council. (a) Notwithstanding any 6 other provision of state law to the contrary, the council may request 7 any member agency to submit to the council and such member agency shall 8 submit, to the extent permitted by federal law, all information in the 9 form and manner and at such times as the council may require that it is 10 appropriate to the purposes and operation of the council. 11 (b) The council shall protect the confidentiality of individual iden- 12 tifying information submitted to or provided by the council, and prevent 13 access thereto, by, or the distribution thereof to, persons not author- 14 ized by law. 15 5. Data collection and online data portal. (a) The council shall 16 collect data regarding: 17 (i) the total number of children and adolescents who are boarding, 18 including a breakdown by geographic location and whether they are in the 19 care or custody of a state agency or local district of social services; 20 and 21 (ii) the total number of children and adolescents who are in the care 22 or custody of a state agency or local social services district and are 23 awaiting appropriate residential programs or services. 24 (b) The council shall also collect the following data regarding the 25 individuals included in paragraph (a) of this subdivision: 26 (i) the average wait time for discharge to an appropriate level of 27 care or placement; 28 (ii) the level of care required; 29 (iii) the primary behavioral health diagnosis and any relevant co-mor- 30 bidities; 31 (iv) the primary reason for boarding, and/or awaiting an appropriate 32 residential program or service; 33 (v) whether the children and adolescents are in the care or custody of 34 the office of children and family services; in the care or custody of a 35 local social services district; and/or are eligible for services under 36 the office of mental health, the office for people with developmental 37 disabilities, or the state or local department of education; 38 (vi) if the children and adolescents are eligible for services from 39 the office for people with developmental disabilities, the date that 40 they became eligible and the date on which they applied for services; 41 (vii) information regarding the children and adolescents' insurance 42 coverage; and 43 (viii) demographic data, including ages, race, ethnicity, preferred 44 spoken languages, and gender. 45 (c) The council shall establish and maintain a confidential online 46 data portal to help state agencies, local agencies, voluntary agencies, 47 and payors facilitate the coordination of residential and non-residen- 48 tial services to children and adolescents within the council's intera- 49 gency resolution powers. The portal shall only be accessible by the 50 council and its members, local agencies, voluntary agencies, and payors. 51 (d) The portal shall include information regarding children and 52 adolescents who are boarding or who are in the care and custody of a 53 state agency or local social services district and are awaiting: 54 (i) discharge to an appropriate residential program or service; or 55 (ii) community-based services. 
 S. 7978 4 1 (e) The portal shall be regularly updated to include the following 2 information on the availability of beds in state-licensed residential 3 therapeutic programs, including residential treatment facilities, resi- 4 dential treatment centers, inpatient psychiatric units, and residential 5 programs operated or licensed by the office for people with develop- 6 mental disabilities: 7 (i) the total number of beds in these programs; 8 (ii) the total number of available beds, broken down by location, 9 licensing authority, age range, and any specializations or additional 10 admissions criteria; 11 (iii) average daily bed availability, broken down by licensing author- 12 ity and age range; and 13 (iv) the average length of stay, broken down by licensing authority, 14 age range, and any specialization. 15 6. Reporting. (a) Every six months, the council shall report on the 16 data collected under subdivision five of this section, and the status of 17 children and adolescents who are boarding, awaiting residential disposi- 18 tion or in the care or custody of a state agency or local social 19 services district and awaiting discharge to an appropriate residential 20 program or service. Such report shall be delivered to the governor and 21 the legislature and shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the coun- 22 cil's webpage. 23 (b) On an annual basis, the council shall publish a report that summa- 24 rizes the cases reviewed by the interagency resolution unit, including 25 the length of time in review and the final resolution. Such report shall 26 be delivered to the governor and the legislature and shall be posted in 27 a conspicuous place on the council's webpage. 28 § 2. Subdivision 7 of section 483-d of the social services law, as 29 added by chapter 392 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows: 30 7. Additional review and recommendations; report. The out-of-state 31 placement committee may develop additional recommendations regarding a 32 common system concerning placement of children in out-of-state programs 33 and facilities, with the purpose of averting insofar as practicable 34 future placement of children in such out-of-state programs and facili- 35 ties, of returning children from such out-of-state programs and facili- 36 ties, of building or rebuilding the infrastructure of in-state programs 37 and facilities so that it shall be capable of serving the needs of such 38 children, of redesigning the system to eliminate barriers and institute 39 flexibility in funding services so that children may be provided for in 40 the most appropriate and least restrictive environments, including the 41 child's home, of enabling public funding for such services to follow the 42 child, and of requiring appropriate levels of accountability concerning 43 the placement of children at all levels of public decision-making. 44 The committee shall provide an annual progress report concerning the 45 development of the items and policies described in this section and 46 progress on their implementation, along with such recommendations as the 47 committee shall deem appropriate and in keeping with the spirit and 48 intent of this section. Such report shall be submitted to the governor 49 and the legislature no later than thirty days following the submission 50 of the executive budget. Such report shall be posted in a conspicuous 51 place on the council's webpage. 52 § 3. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 3 of section 99-ss of the 53 state finance law, as amended by section 2 of part F of chapter 57 of 54 the laws of 2025, are amended and a new paragraph (e) is added to read 55 as follows: 
 S. 7978 5 1 (c) reimbursement to the general fund for expenditures incurred in the 2 medical assistance program, including, but not limited to, reimbursement 3 pursuant to a savings allocation plan established in accordance with 4 section ninety-two of part H of chapter fifty-nine of the laws of two 5 thousand eleven, as amended; [and] 6 (d) transfer to the capital projects fund, or any other capital 7 projects fund of the state to support the delivery of health care 8 services[.]; and 9 (e) transfer twenty-five million dollars to the council on children 10 and families to carry out the mandates of section four hundred eighty- 11 three-b of the social services law, including but not limited to, estab- 12 lishment and maintenance of an online data portal, hiring of staff for 13 the interagency dispute resolution unit, enhancing access to diagnostic 14 and evaluation services related to requests for assistance, multi-system 15 care coordination, and providing for the cost of services and/or resi- 16 dential care for a child during a period of time while disputes over the 17 party financially responsible for such care are being determined. 18 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 19 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that subdivisions 5 and 6 20 of section 483-b of the social services law as added by section one of 21 this act shall take effect January 1, 2026.