428.2 Definitions.
(a) Case initiation date or day 1 for family case for the purpose of
this Part shall mean the earliest of:
(1) the initial date of application for foster
care services, mandated or nonmandated preventive services for children, or adoption
services;
(2) the date that a report to the statewide
central register of child abuse and maltreatment is determined to be indicated;
(3) the date of placement of a child in foster
care pursuant to Article 3 or 7 of the Family Court Act or the date of removal of a child
from his or her home which led to placement in foster care either pursuant to Article 10
of the Family Court Act or section 383-c, 384 or 384-a of the Social Services Law or
placement by a court in the direct custody of a relative or other suitable person pursuant
to Article 10 of the Family Court Act ; or
(4) the date of a court-ordered preventive
services or commitment of care, custody and/or guardianship of a child to a local social
services district commissioner for placement with an authorized agency or foster parent.
(b) Case manager is defined for the purpose of this Part as the
employee of the social services district with responsibility to authorize the provision of
services; to approve the client eligibility determination according to sections 423.3(b),
430.9, 430.10, and 432.1(o) of this Title; and to approve by signature or electronic
equivalent the family assessments and service plans as defined in this Part.
(c) The case planner is the caseworker with the primary responsibility
for providing or coordinating and evaluating the provision of services to the family as
defined in subdivision (e) of this section. Case planning includes referring the child and
his or her family to providers of services as needed, and delineating the roles of the
various services providers. The case planner also must require collaboration among all the
case workers assigned to the case so that a single family assessment and service plan is
developed. Case planning responsibility also includes documenting client progress and
adherence to the service plan by recording in the uniform case record that such services
are provided, as required by this Part and sections 430.9 through 430.12 of this Title,
and making casework contacts or arranging for casework contacts as required under sections
423.2(b)(3), 431.16 and 432.2 and 441.21 of this Title.
(d) The child protective services monitor is the employee of the child
protective service who is monitoring services being provided by someone other than a child
protective service employee to the children and family named in an indicated case of child
abuse or maltreatment.
(e) Family for the purpose of this Part, means:
(1) the child who is at risk of or in foster
care, or named in an indicated child protective ser- vices report, his or her parents,
legal guardians, or other caretakers and his or her siblings;
(2) a woman who is pregnant as specified in
sections 430.9(c)(6) and 430.10(c)(6) of this Title;
(3) a minor parent/child unit as defined in
section 426.2 of this Title; or
(4) a child who does not live with his or her
parents and needs services to prevent return to foster care, a foster child whose
parent(s)' rights have been terminated or whose parent(s) have surrendered the child for
adoption, a child who needs services and whose parents or legal guardians are unavailable
or a child who is an unaccompanied refugee minor with or without his or her parents or
legal guardian.
(f) Family and children's services mean the assistance, care and
services provided to a child and his or her family in accordance with the service plans
developed and maintained as required by this Part. Such assistance and/or services
include, but are not limited to those services set forth in section 429.4(a) of this
Title.
(g) Program choice(s) for the purposes of this Part are defined as:
(1) Preventive (nonmandated). Services designed
to prevent possible future placement in foster care or services which may enable a child
to return home sooner than anticipated when the following conditions exist:
(i) preventive services
are needed by this child/family and would be beneficial in preventing possible future
placement in foster care; or
(ii) the child is
currently in placement, the child and/or family is in need of additional supportive
services which are not eligible as mandated preventive services, and the provision of
these services may enable the child to be returned home sooner than anticipated.
(2) Preventive (mandated). Services designed to
avert imminent foster care placement or re-placement, or to enable a child to return home
earlier than an- ticipated, or to facilitate a timely discharge when the following
conditions exist:
(i) the child is at
serios risk of foster care placement or re- placement, or the court has ordered preventive
services and these services are necessary to keep this child at home with his or her
family; or
(ii) the child is
presently in foster care placement but is expected to be discharged within six months, the
services to be provided are directly related to one or more of the reasons the child is
currently in foster care and the provision of these services will ena- ble the child to
return to his or her parents sooner than would otherwise be possible.
(3) Placement. A child is currently in foster
care placement or in need of out-of-home placement, or a child is currently in foster care
placement and has been legally freed for adoption.
(4) Protective. A child is named in an open
indicated child protective services case.
(5) Non-LDSS Custody-Relative/Resource
Placement. A child is placed in the home of a relative or non-related resourse person with
or without a court order and the local social services district is providing supervision
and/or services to enable the child to return home or to enable the child to remain safely
with the relative or resource person. The local social services district does not have
custody of the placed child.
(h) Risk assessment is a process of information gathering and analysis
that examines the inter-relatedness of risk elements affecting family functioning and
documents them in the form, manner and time prescribed by OCFS.
(i) Safety assessment is a process of information gathering and
analysis of selected safety factors and circumstances that may suggest there is an
immediate threat to a child which, if not controlled or alleviated, will be likely to
cause serious harm to the child and documents them in the form, manner and time prescribed
by OCFS.
(j) Controlling interventions are activities or arrangements which
protect a child from unsafe situations, behaviors or conditions which are associated with
immediate danger of serious harm, and without which the unsafe situations, behaviors or
conditions would still be present or would in all likelihood immediately return.
(k) Community optional preventative services are programs designed to
serve families, children or youth where the children or youth are not at serious risk of
foster care, but may be at general risk of future foster care by virtue of one or more
identified characteristics of a population.
(l) For the purposes of this Part, OCFS refers to the New York State
Office of Children and Family Services.
(m) Permanency hearing report is a report as defined in section 1087 of the Family Court Act prepared in accordance with section 1089 of the Family Court Act, and in the form and manner as required by OCFS.