Bill Text: NY A09729 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to transitional care.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-06-19 - substituted by s7374 [A09729 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-A09729-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 9729 I N A S S E M B L Y May 20, 2014 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JAFFEE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Mental Health AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to transitional care THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 13.37-a of the mental hygiene 2 law, as added by chapter 405 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (a) For purposes of this section, "transitional care" shall mean care 5 and maintenance of persons: 6 1. who were placed in foster care by a social services district pursu- 7 ant to article six of the social services law and who have become twen- 8 ty-one years of age, or who were placed in a residential educational 9 placement by a school district pursuant to article eighty-nine of the 10 education law and who are no longer eligible for free educational 11 services because they have completed the school year in which they 12 became twenty-one; 13 2. who were disabled and in need of residential care prior to becoming 14 age twenty-one or prior to becoming ineligible for free education 15 services and who have since remained continuously disabled and contin- 16 uously in need of residential care; 17 3. [who became twenty-one or became ineligible for free educational 18 services prior to July first, nineteen hundred ninety-six; 19 4.]with respect to whom the office has approved a plan of continued 20 out of home care for the person but has not yet identified a currently 21 available appropriate placement; AND 22 [5.] 4. whose residential needs can be met by the facility in which 23 the persons resided prior to becoming age twenty-one or becoming ineli- 24 gible for free educational services[; and]. 25 [6. who on July first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight are in receipt of 26 transitional care, or who have continuously remained in the foster care 27 or residential education placement where they had received transitional 28 care.] 29 S 2. Subdivision (a) of section 13.38 of the mental hygiene law, as 30 amended by chapter 405 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as 31 follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14850-02-4 A. 9729 2 1 (a) The office shall, in consultation with the department of social 2 services, the education department, the office of mental health, and the 3 council on children and families, develop a plan and implement 4 procedures to help assure that all persons who are at the age or time 5 to first qualify for transitional care, as described in section 13.37-a 6 of this article, and for whom the office has accepted planning respon- 7 sibilities, receive assistance in locating an appropriate and available 8 residential placement or plan of services, within the state and within 9 the system of care subject to the jurisdiction of the office, prior to 10 the age or time at which they would otherwise have qualified for transi- 11 tional care[, if such individuals had become twenty-one or become ineli- 12 gible for educational services prior to July first, nineteen hundred 13 ninety-six]. For purposes of this section, the age or time at which a 14 person would qualify for transitional care is twenty-one for persons in 15 foster care, and the end of the school year in which they become 16 twenty-one for persons in residential schools. 17 S 3. Subdivision (e) of section 13.38 of the mental hygiene law, as 18 amended by chapter 405 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 (e) Upon making a determination that a person who is receiving transi- 21 tional care can be appropriately cared for in an available adult care 22 facility or service licensed, certified or approved by the office, and 23 whose removal from a child care facility is not required on an expedited 24 basis, the office shall notify BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT 25 REQUESTED, the person and the person's guardian, if one has been 26 appointed, [or] AND, WHEN APPLICABLE, another individual who has been 27 involved in the care of the person and who [can] MAY represent the 28 person's interests, of the DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED NEW PLACEMENT, 29 THE availability of an administrative appeal to review the determi- 30 nation INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF THE APPEAL PROCEDURE, CONSISTENT WITH 31 THE NEW YORK STATE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT, CONTACT INFORMATION AS 32 IT RELATES TO MAKING AN OBJECTION, and of the need to request such an 33 appeal IN WRITING within thirty days of the notice. SUCH NOTIFICATION 34 SHALL BE PROVIDED TO THE PERSON AND THE PERSON'S GUARDIAN, IF ONE HAS 35 BEEN APPOINTED AND, WHEN APPLICABLE, ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS BEEN 36 INVOLVED IN THE CARE OF THE PERSON AND WHO MAY REPRESENT THE PERSON'S 37 INTERESTS NO LATER THAN FORTY-FIVE DAYS PRIOR TO THE DATE OF THE 38 OFFICE'S INTENDED CHANGE IN PLACEMENT. If the person, guardian or other 39 individual requests an administrative appeal within the time required, 40 the office shall WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF RECEIPT OF THE WRITTEN REQUEST FOR 41 APPEAL, schedule a hearing [and the] PROVIDING NO LESS THAN TEN DAYS 42 NOTICE TO THE OBJECTING PARTY. THE commissioner or his or her designee 43 shall issue a WRITTEN determination TO THE INVOLVED INDIVIDUALS within 44 thirty days of the adjournment of the hearing, on whether the adult 45 placement identified by the office is appropriate to the needs of the 46 person and is available or will become available on an identified date 47 certain. THE WRITTEN DETERMINATION SHALL BE THE FINAL ADMINISTRATIVE 48 REMEDY AVAILABLE AND SHALL BE SUBJECT TO REVIEW IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE 49 PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE SEVENTY-EIGHT OF THE CIVIL PRACTICE LAW AND RULES. 50 If the person, guardian or other individual does not request a hearing 51 within the time required, or if the hearing results in a determination 52 that the proposed adult services or placement is appropriate to the 53 needs of the person and is available or will be available on an identi- 54 fied date certain, the office shall discontinue transitional care fund- 55 ing for the person as of a date certain. 56 S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.