Section 428.1 General statement.
(a) Local social services districts must provide a thorough family
assessment and an account of all family and children's services delivered to children and
their families through case records maintained in the form and manner and at such times as
required by OCFS for the following:
(1) all children placed in local social
services district custody, or considered for such placement, which includes all children
placed by a court directly in the custody of a relative or other suitable person pursuant
to Article 10 of the Family Court Act;
(2) all children in receipt of ma ndated and
nonmandated preventive services (as defined in section 409-a of the Social Services Law);
` (3) all children legally freed for adoption; and
(4) all children named in an indicated report
of child abuse or maltreatment (as defined under section 432.1 of this Title).
(b) Such records must:
(1) contain information that is relevant,
useful, factual and objective;
(2) contribute to the district's understanding
of a child's or family's need for involvement with the child welfare system;
(3) contain family assessments, including
safety assessments, evaluations of risk of future abuse and maltreatment in child
protective cases, and assessments of the problems, strengths and needs of the child and
the family receiving or applying for family and children's services, to promote valid
decision making and planning and to support major decisions affecting the safety,
permanency and well-being of children by careful, comprehensive and timely reviews and
evaluations of all relevant material;
(4) contain service goals or desired outcomes
for each child and/or parent who receives one or more direct family and children's
services from the district, or for whom the district purchases such services; and, for
each child in foster care, the child's permanency planning goal; and
(5) demonstrate district compliance with OCFS's
standards for family and children's services.