N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 18 § 432.13

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 432.13 - Family assessment response

(a) General.

(1) Description of family assessment response. Pursuant to Social Services Law section 427-a, the local commissioner of a social services district may establish, with OCFS approval, a differential response program, family assessment response, as an alternative means of responding to certain child protective service reports that allege abuse and maltreatment. In family assessment response, there is an ongoing assessment of the safety of children without a determination of whether the report of alleged abuse or maltreatment should be indicated or unfounded. Reports are addressed by engaging the family in a comprehensive assessment of child safety, risk of subsequent harm, and family strengths and needs. The family assessment response approach seeks to minimize future risk of abuse or maltreatment of a child or children by engaging the family in the development and implementation of solution-focused plans to address identified needs in order to support the family's ability to care for its children.

(2) A family assessment response program established by a social services district shall be part of that district's child protective service.

(3) Responsibilities for a family assessment response. When a report alleging maltreatment of a child is assigned to the family assessment response track, the child protective service must fulfill the following responsibilities:

(i) first establish that children in the family named in the report are safe; and

(ii) provide ongoing assessment of safety and risk, including completion of an initial safety assessment; and

(iii) engage the family in an assessment of: the concerns reported to the State Central Register, any family-identified needs and concerns that may impact the safety or risk of children, and the family's strengths and resources that could be engaged to address the identified concerns; and

(iv) when appropriate, partner with the family to assist the family in obtaining goods and services that will help the family meet its identified needs regarding care of the children, thereby reducing future risk of abuse or maltreatment of a child or children.

(4) Reports assigned to the family assessment response track are not subject to the requirements of child protective services specified in Title 6 of the Social Services Law and in sections 409-e and 409-f of the Social Services Law, except as specified in Social Services Law sections 422, 426 and 427-a.

(b)Authorization and application to implement family assessment response.

(1) Application and OCFS approval. The commissioner of a social services district that seeks to implement a family assessment response program must submit an application to OCFS that describes, in a manner prescribed by OCFS, its plans for family assessment response. The application must be approved by OCFS before the social services district can implement family assessment response.

(i) Each social services district that has received OCFS approval to implement a family assessment response program must comply with any requirements for family assessment response that may be established by statute, these regulations, or by OCFS.

(ii) OCFS may revoke its approval for family assessment response for any social services district that does not comply with family assessment response requirements established by statute, these regulations, or by OCFS, but only after having first consulted with the district in an effort to assist them to resolve the compliance issues.

(iii) If OCFS revokes its approval for a social services district to provide family assessment response, the district may at any time, after having resolved the issues that resulted in its previous revocation, submit a new application to OCFS requesting to implement family assessment response.

(2) Family assessment response is optional. The decision by a social services district to apply to establish and implement a family assessment response program is voluntary and optional. The commissioner of a social services district that has established a family assessment response program may terminate that program at any time. The commissioner must immediately notify OCFS of a decision to terminate family assessment response. A social services district that has terminated its family assessment response program may, at any time, submit a new application to OCFS to implement family assessment response.

(3) Applicability. The provisions of this section apply only to those social services districts that have received approval from OCFS to implement family assessment response.

(4) Determination of the size and scope of a family assessment response program. A social services district applying to implement family assessment response must determine the projected size and scope of its family assessment response program, including targeted goals for the number of child protective service reports that it will assign to the family assessment response track, the number of staff members who will work in its family assessment response program, and the criteria it will use to classify and assign reports to the family assessment response track. After implementing a family assessment response program, a district may reassess and revise these determinations.

(i) A social services district's plans for the size and scope of its family assessment response program that are submitted in its family assessment response application, as well as subsequent changes to those plans, are subject to the approval of OCFS.

(ii) Criteria for screening reports. Districts must establish criteria, which are subject to the approval of OCFS, for the categories of allegations in child protective service reports that the district will or will not accept for potential assignment to the family assessment response track. The criteria must comply with the provisions of subdivision 3 of section 427-a of the Social Services Law, as well as with any additional standards that may be established by OCFS. Changes in a district's criteria are subject to the approval of OCFS.

(a) In order to establish a robust family assessment response program, a district should develop screening criteria for the family assessment response track that include a broad spectrum of cases representing a significant percentage of its child protective service reports.

(b) Child protective service reports regarding a child fatality must be investigated pursuant to section 20 (5) of the Social Services Law and sections 422-b, 423 (6) and 424 (5)(a) of the Social Services Law, and must not be assigned to the family assessment response track.

(iii) Written protocol. The social services district must develop and adhere to a written screening protocol for determining initial track assignments. The protocol must protect the safety of children while effectively matching the child protective service to the family's needs. The initial screening protocol must include:

(a) the designation of the types of reports that, upon receipt, the social services district will and will not consider for potential assignment to the family assessment response track;

(b) the designation of the staff responsible for determining the initial track assignments for new child protective service reports; and

(c) a description of whether and how the social services district will screen reports that are received during on-call hours for potential assignment to the family assessment response track.

(c)Determining the appropriate child protective service track.

(1) Intake procedures. The intake procedures for child protective service reports described in section 432.2(b)(2) of this Part apply to family assessment response cases.

(2) Initial track assignment. When it receives a child protective service report from the State Central Register, a social services district with a family assessment response program, using its written protocol, must identify whether the report is eligible to be assigned to the family assessment response track, make an initial determination about whether to assign the report to the investigative track or the family assessment response track, and enter the initial track assignment into CONNECTIONS.

(3) Inform the family of family assessment response option. Following the preliminary assignment of a child protective service report to the family assessment response track, child protective service staff must, pursuant to subparagraph (e)(1)(ii) of this section, provide each parent, guardian or other person legally responsible for the child or children who will be participating in the family assessment response with information that describes and compares the family assessment response track to the investigative track in order to enable the family to make an informed decision about whether to accept participation in the family assessment response track.

(4) Final determination of track assignment. Not later than seven days after receipt of a report alleging abuse or maltreatment that has been assigned to the family assessment response track, the child protective service must determine whether the case should continue as a family assessment response. The initial track assignment of a report may be changed until it becomes permanent, but no later than seven days following receipt of the report, at the same time that the initial safety assessment must be completed pursuant to subdivision (d) of this section.

(i) The child protective service must document in the initial safety assessment the reasons for its choice of track assignment for any report that is permanently assigned to family assessment response or that is initially assigned to family assessment response, but subsequently assigned to the investigative track within seven days of receipt of the report.

(ii) All information entered into the record before the track assignment becomes permanent remains in the record, irrespective of whether the track assignment is changed.

(iii) The decision about track assignment supports the safety of children while effectively matching the child protective service to the family's needs. The determination of the appropriate track assignment must be based on the following factors:

(a) Finding that children are safe. In order for a child protective service report to be assigned to the family assessment response track, the initial (seven day) safety assessment, conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) of this section, must include a determination that each child named in the child protective service report or known to be living in the household is safe in the home.

(b) Compliance with State- and locally-designated screening criteria. If a child protective service report is initially assigned to the family assessment response track, and the child protective service determines during its initial safety assessment that conditions in the family's circumstances that were not included in allegations in the report place the case outside of state-mandated or locally determined screening criteria for family assessment response, the child protective service must re-assign the report to the investigative track.

(c) Record review. During the initial safety assessment, the child protective service must review State Central Register records as well as its own child protective records pertaining to all prior reports involving members of the family, as specified in section 432.2(b)(3)(i) of this Part, and assess whether information in those case records indicates that the family assessment response approach would not be an appropriate response to the current child protective service report.

(d) Agreement by parents, guardians, and other legally responsible persons.

(1) Participation in family assessment response is voluntary on the part of the family named in the child protective service report. Their agreement to participate in a family assessment response and to cooperate in assessment activities with child protective service staff is necessary in order for the child protective service to confirm the assignment of a report to the family assessment response track. Child protective service workers must provide information about family assessment response to parents, guardians, or other persons legally responsible, pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subdivision and subparagraphs (e)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section, to inform their decisions about whether to choose to participate in a family assessment response.

(2) If a parent declines assignment of the report to the family assessment response track, the report must be addressed through the investigation track; except that, if one or more persons who are subjects of the report wish to participate in a family assessment response, and the child protective service believes that the family can benefit from a family assessment response despite the refusal to cooperate by a parent, the child protective service may assign the report to the family assessment response track.

(5) Changing the track assignment after seven days.

(i) Seven days after a child protective services receives a report, the assignment of the report in CONNECTIONS to the family assessment response track or the investigation track cannot be changed.

(ii) If more than seven days have passed since the assignment of a report to the family assessment response track, in the following instances the open family assessment response case must be closed and a new case opened, to be assigned to the investigative track:

(a) If while conducting a family assessment response, the child protective service has reasonable cause to suspect child abuse, or the family is not cooperating with the family assessment response assessment and there is reasonable cause to suspect maltreatment of a child, the case is no longer eligible for inclusion in the family assessment response track. The child protective service must make a new report to the State Central Register, which must be assigned to the investigation track, and the open case that was assigned to the family assessment response track must be closed.

(b) If a child protective service that is conducting a family assessment response receives a new report alleging child abuse or maltreatment from the State Central Register that contains allegations that do not meet the State's or local district's criteria for inclusion in family assessment response, the child protective service must assign the new report to the investigative track and close the open case that was assigned to the family assessment response track. Allegations from the family assessment response report should be added to the new investigative track report, as appropriate.

(iii) Information in the case record for a family assessment response case that is relevant to a subsequent investigation case may be included in the case record for the investigation track case, pursuant to Social Services Law section 427-a (5)(e)(iii).

(d)Initial safety assessment.

Whenever a child protective service receives a report of child abuse and maltreatment that it assigns preliminarily to the family assessment response track, the child protective service must commence an initial safety assessment within 24 hours of receipt of the report to determine whether children named in the child protective service report are safe in their homes. The initial safety assessment must be completed no later than seven days following receipt of the report, at which time the assignment of the report to the family assessment response track or the investigative track becomes permanent. In order to confirm the assignment of a child protective service report to the family assessment response track, the initial safety assessment must contain a finding that no child in the home is in immediate or impending danger of serious harm.

(1) Initiation within 24 hours. The child protective service must initiate a safety assessment no more than 24 hours after receiving a report, by conducting a face-to-face interview or making a telephone contact with one or more of the following persons who are in a position to provide information on the safety of the child or children:

(i) Source. Whenever possible, child protective service staff should contact the source of the report prior to the first meeting with the family. The source can confirm and possibly expand upon the details of the report or provide impressions of family functioning, strengths, and resources.

(ii) Subject(s) and members of the family. Whenever possible, initial contact with the subject(s) of the report should be by telephone. Child protective services staff should inform the subject(s) about the existence of concerns, initiate the safety assessment and begin engaging the family in the family assessment response process. During the initial contact, the family assessment response worker and the family schedule the first face-to-face meeting.

(iii) Other persons. Child protective workers should interview any other persons who are in a position to provide information about whether any child is in immediate danger of serious harm.

(2) Completing the initial (seven day) safety assessment. The initial safety assessment should be completed using the following guidelines:

(i) The child protective service conducts the initial safety assessment by assessing, with the family, the physical health and well-being of all of the children in the family, the safety of the children's living conditions and the existence of any other safety factors in the home. All children named in the report or living in the home must be seen and all children who are developmentally capable should be engaged in the assessment process. The child protective service worker applies the safety criteria designated by OCFS to determine if one or more safety factors place a child in immediate or impending danger, and makes a decision regarding the child's safety status.

(ii) The child protective service may obtain information from collateral contacts including, but not limited to, hospitals, family medical providers, schools, police, social services agencies and other agencies providing services to the family, relatives, extended family members, neighbors and other persons who may provide information on the status of the child's safety should that information be needed to determine the presence of safety factors within the family. Family assessment response staff should ask the parents/caretaker for their recommendations regarding collaterals that can supply this information and should not routinely make collateral contacts without first asking the family.

(3) Documenting the safety assessment. Whenever a report alleging maltreatment of a child is initially assigned to the family assessment response track during the seven days following receipt of the report, the child protective service must enter the initial safety assessment into CONNECTIONS no later than seven days after receipt of the report, in a manner specified by OCFS. The initial safety assessment must specify the track to which the report is assigned following completion of the safety assessment and document the reasons for assigning the report to the family assessment response track or the investigation track, as specified in paragraph (c)(4) of this section.

(4) Ongoing assessment of safety. After completing the initial safety assessment, the child protective service remains responsible for continually monitoring the presence or emergence of safety threats throughout their work with the family, until the family assessment response case is closed.

(e)Conducting the family assessment response.

(1) Use of the family assessment response approach. Immediately upon preliminary assignment of a report to the family assessment response track, the child protective service should apply family assessment response principles in its work with the family and continue to do so until the case is either reassigned to the investigative track, within seven days of receipt of the report, or the case is closed.

(2) Activities implementing the family assessment response. The child protective service's activities in conducting family assessment response must, at a minimum, include the following:

(i) Provide written notification to parents. No later than seven days after receipt of a child protective report that the has been assigned to the family assessment response track, the child protective service must provide written notification to every parent, guardian or other person legally responsible for the child or children named in the report. Written notice is not provided to any other persons.

(a) The child protective service may determine the form of the written notification it provides, but it should be written in plain language.

(b) The notification must inform the person that a report was made to the State Central Register and explain that it is the intent of the social services district to meet the needs of the family without engaging in an investigation by assigning the report to the family assessment response track, and that the child protective service workers who will be assisting the family are mandated reporters and are required to report suspected abuse or maltreatment.

(c) The child protective service must verbally inform the parent, guardian or other person legally responsible about the areas of concern that triggered the report and explain that they must explore those concerns and assess the safety of any child named in the report or living in the household.

(d) If, while a case assigned to family assessment response is open, a subsequent report is received that is consolidated with the open case, the requirement to provide written notification is waived; the child protective service must provide verbal notification of the new report to every parent, guardian or other person legally responsible for the child or children named in the report.

(ii) Provide information about family assessment response. The child protective service must provide the family with information about family assessment response to aid them in making an informed decision about whether to accept assignment of the report to the family assessment response track. Such information should include but is not limited to:

(a) a description of family assessment response that explains how it differs from an investigative response, including that there is no determination made in family assessment response cases. This information must be given to the family verbally; families must also be given written information about family assessment response, such as a brochure;

(b) an explanation of the importance of partnership and cooperation in the family assessment response, including the essential role of meetings between child protective service workers and the family, so that CPS workers and the family are able to jointly assess the children's safety and well-being as well as the family's strengths, risks, and needs;

(c) information regarding the confidentiality of records in family assessment response; and

(d) an explanation that the choice to accept assignment of the report to the family assessment track is voluntary and that the family may choose either family assessment response or assignment to the investigative track.

(iii) Engage the family. Family assessment response workers must work in partnership with the families participating in a family assessment response. Workers should be transparent with families regarding all actions that they take regarding the case. To the extent feasible, child protective service workers should include all family members in discussions, including children who are old enough to express opinions, as well as any other persons who the family would like to include, such as members of the extended family.

(iv) Complete the family led assessment guide (FLAG). Family assessment response staff must engage the family in an examination of the issues of concern to the child protective service as well as the family's strengths, concerns, and needs. The assessment must be conducted using a Family Led Assessment Guide (FLAG), as specified by OCFS. The family-led assessment should be initiated as soon as possible after receipt of the child protective service report, but no more than 30 days following receipt of the report. The assessment should be conducted in accordance with the principles and practices of family assessment response. Child protective workers must document at least one completed FLAG in CONNECTIONS, as well as any revised versions of the FLAG.

(v) Provide on-going risk assessment. Family assessment response workers must engage with the family in on-going joint evaluation and assessment of the family's progress including periodic assessments of risk to the child or children.

(vi) Focus on solutions. When the FLAG identifies challenges to the family's ability to support the well-being or meet the needs of their child or children, family assessment response workers must offer to work jointly with the family to develop and implement solutions to address their needs.

(vii) Offer needed services. Where appropriate, family assessment response workers must offer assistance to the family in implementing solutions to their identified needs that will be supportive of family functioning, meet the children's needs and reduce risk to children in the family. Assistance may include providing information on services and supports available in their community, building supportive networks with extended family and community resources, advocating for the family with schools, landlords and others, referring the family to government and privately funded programs, contacting service providers, and paying for goods or services.

(a) No "application for services" or signatures, as required in section 404.1(c)(8) of this Title, are necessary in order to provide services in cases assigned to the family assessment response track.

(b) Districts may use child protective, wraparound, or other funding sources to pay for goods and services provided through family assessment response.

(c) The acceptance of services or goods by families who are receiving family assessment response is voluntary.

(viii) Notifying the family of case closing. No more than seven days after closing a family assessment response case record, the child protective service must notify the family, including all subject(s) of the report, that the case has been closed. The notification may be in a form determined by the child protective service, but must be provided in writing and, if feasible, also verbally. The notice must inform the family and subject(s) that the family assessment response report is sealed and that the records will be maintained for 10 years after the report was received at the State Central Register. Notices must also inform the subject(s) of the report about the applicable confidentiality provisions and of their right to access the records for the family assessment response.

(3) Closing cases. Family assessment response is a short term child protective service.

(i) The case should be closed if the family is assessed as providing adequate care for their children, the children are safe, and the family has no requests for services or supports.

(ii) The decision to close a family assessment response case must be made in conjunction with the family, whenever possible.

(iii) When needs have been identified, the family should be given information about available community resources to meet those needs. To the extent possible, a family assessment response caseworker should be present with identified service providers and appropriate family members at their first meeting to introduce them to facilitate a "warm handoff."

(iv) If the family assessment response caseworker believes the family has unmet needs but the family declines additional services, and there is no current maltreatment or immediate danger of serious harm, the case must be closed.

(v) Timeframes. The following timeframes apply to closing a family assessment response case:

(a) a family assessment response case should usually be closed within 60 days;

(b) addressing family needs may necessitate keeping a family assessment response case open for up to 90 days. A case that remains open for more than 60 days should be kept open only for the specific purpose of assisting a family to meet specific needs;

(c) if a family requires more assistance in meeting its needs than can be provided within 90 days, the child protective service will assess the family's eligibility for preventive services in accordance with section 430.9 of this Title and, if the family is eligible and consents, open a preventive services case;

(d) in extraordinary circumstances, a family assessment response case may be kept open for more than 90 days. When such an instance occurs:

(1) a family assessment response worker and supervisor must document in progress notes the reason for keeping the case open, including specific goals and steps to achieve those goals; and

(2) a family assessment response worker must make contact with the family no less than once every two weeks during the period past 90 days, and must document each contact.

(4) Case work contacts. The number of casework contacts must be commensurate with the requirements for completing the family assessment response assessments and for meeting the needs of the family. There are no specific contact requirements for family assessment response except when the family assessment response case is open for more than 90 days, as specified in clause (3)(v)(d) of this subdivision.

(5) Documentation. Activities conducted as part of a family assessment response case must be documented in CONNECTIONS, in the form and manner prescribed by OCFS. Family assessment response workers must document, at a minimum, the following information in the family assessment response case record:

(i) essential data relating to the identification of each child and family member;

(ii) activities undertaken to initiate a safety assessment within 24 hours;

(iii) findings of the initial safety assessment, including the reasons for assigning the report to the family assessment response track;

(iv) information from at least one Family Led Assessment Guide (FLAG), based on discussions with the family, as well as any revisions of the FLAG;

(v) services that were offered to the family and services that were accepted and provided, directly and through contract or other means;

(vi) findings of periodic risk assessments;

(vii) evaluations and assessments of progress;

(viii) ongoing plans for supportive services after the case is closed, if applicable; and

(ix) factors allowing for the closing of the case.

(6) Changing the case status from family assessment response track to investigative track.

(i) Reporting suspected abuse. If a family assessment response worker has reasonable cause to suspect that there is child abuse occurring in a family that is part of a family assessment response, the worker must make a report to the State Central Register. The new child protective service report containing allegations of child abuse must be assigned to the investigative track and the family assessment response case must be closed.

(ii) Closing a case due to lack of cooperation. If a report has been assigned to the family assessment response track following an initial safety assessment and the family later refuses to cooperate with the family assessment response workers in completing the full assessment of strengths and needs and/or in developing or implementing a plan to address family problems or issues and the family assessment response worker has reasonable cause to suspect maltreatment of a child, the child protective service must make a report of suspected maltreatment to the State Central Register. The resulting child protective service report must be assigned to the investigative track and the family assessment response case must be closed.

(f)Administration and organization.

(1) Staffing.

(i) Sufficient staff. Each family assessment response unit must designate sufficient qualified staff, whose primary function is to address child protective service reports using the family assessment response approach, to fulfill the purposes of section 427-a of the Social Services Law.

(ii) Education and training requirements.

(a) Every family assessment response worker, including supervisors, must meet the minimum education and training requirements for a child protective service worker specified in section 432.2(e)(5) of this Part.

(b) Every family assessment response worker must complete training in family assessment response, in the form and manner specified by OCFS.

(iii) Other employment requirements for family assessment response. All family assessment response staff are subject to the requirements (employment history, employment and personal references, criminal background attestation, State Central Register database check) for applicants for child protective service staff, pursuant to section 432.2(e)(6) of this Part.

(iv) Supervision of family assessment response.

(a) A child protective service supervisor must review assessments and decisions made by a family assessment response caseworker, including, at a minimum, a review of the progress notes, the initial safety assessment, the complete Family Led Assessment Guide, and the information related to the decision to close the case.

(b) A child protective service supervisor must approve the assignment of a child protective service report to the family assessment response track and the decision to close a case assigned to the family assessment response track.

(v) Case assignment.

(a) Local districts applying to implement family assessment response and those requesting to expand or change their approved family assessment response program shall develop a plan that describes their program organization, staffing plan, and case assignment process, including how they will support effective practices in providing family assessment response. The plan shall include:

(1) a description of the policy and process for assigning reports to the family assessment response track, including whether family assessment response cases are assigned to child protective services staff who are dedicated exclusively to family assessment response or to staff who provide both family assessment response and investigations;

(2) the number of staff and supervisors that will be assigned to family assessment response cases exclusively, including staff of any community-based agency that will perform family assessment response activities pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subdivision;

(3) the number of staff and supervisors that may be assigned to cases in both the family assessment response track and the investigative track; and

(4) if the local district has determined that any child protective service worker may be assigned to cases in both tracks, a description of the measures that will be taken to maintain the integrity of both approaches, including a description of the measures that will be taken to support such staff.

(b) If a local district currently providing family assessment response assigns staff to cases in both the family assessment response track and the investigative track, that district shall, upon the request of OCFS, provide OCFS with a written description of its plans to support both approaches, as described in clause (a) of this subparagraph.

(2) Quality assurance.

(i) The social services district shall be responsible for assessing and evaluating the implementation of its family assessment response program, including the provision of services to families served by family assessment response, in order to assure the quality of its service.

(ii) The social services district must comply with any requirements for quality assurance established by OCFS.

(3) Contracting for family assessment response services. A child protective service may allow a community-based agency currently used by the local district for preventive services to perform the activities in subdivision (e) of this section that are necessary for assessment and service provision in a family assessment response case. A local social services district that wishes to contract its family assessment response activities to a community-based agency must first receive approval of its arrangement by OCFS. The arrangement between the social services district and the community-based agency must:

(i) adhere to all provisions of this section;

(ii) require that staff at the community-based agency who are assigned to family assessment response meet the minimum education and training requirements for family assessment response workers, as specified in subparagraph (1)(ii) of this subdivision;

(iii) require that the community-based agency inform the social services district if such community-based agency determines that a report must be investigated as a case of suspected child abuse or maltreatment. The community-based agency is to be directed to have a staff member make a report to the State Central Register, if no person has yet done so. The social services district shall be responsible for conducting the ensuing child protective service investigation; and

(iv) provide that the local child protective service retains responsibility for the following activities:

(a) conducting the initial safety assessment;

(b) making the decision about whether to assign a child protective service report to the family assessment response track or to the investigative track; and

(c) approving the closing of a family assessment response case.

(4) Annual report. The local district must provide OCFS with such information about family assessment response as is requested by OCFS to be used in the preparation of an annual report on child protective services by OCFS.

(g)Confidentiality of family assessment response records.

(1) The records of a family assessment response report are legally sealed. They will be maintained at the State Central Register for ten years from the date the report was made.

(2) All reports assigned to, and records created as part of, family assessment response, including reports made or written as well as any other information obtained or photographs taken concerning such reports or records, are confidential, as required by Social Services Law section 427-a(5)(d), and shall only be made available to:

(i) staff of OCFS and persons designated by OCFS, which shall include:

(a) local or regional child fatality review team members, provided that the child fatality review team is preparing a fatality report pursuant to section 20 or 422-b of the Social Services Law;

(b) all members of a local or regional multidisciplinary investigative team established pursuant to section 423 (6) of the Social Services Law, when investigating a subsequent report of suspected child abuse or maltreatment involving a member of a family that was part of a family assessment response, provided that only the information from the family assessment response record that is relevant to the subsequent report be entered into the record of the subsequent report, which is to be provided to the multidisciplinary review team or agency; and

(c) citizen review panels established pursuant to section 371-b of the Social Services Law, provided that any information obtained shall not be re-disclosed and shall only be used for the purposes set forth in section 371-b of the Social Services Law;

(ii) community-based agencies that have contracts with the social services district to carry out activities for the district under family assessment response;

(iii) providers of services under family assessment response;

(iv) any social services district investigating a subsequent report of abuse or maltreatment involving the same subject or the same child or children named in the report;

(v) the subject of the report. Reports or records must not be provided to any other persons named in the report;

(vi) a court, but only:

(a) while the family assessment response case is open; and

(b) pursuant to a court order or judicial subpoena, issued only after the subject of the report and all parties to the present proceeding have been given notice and an opportunity to be heard, based on a judicial finding that such reports, records, and any information concerning such reports and records, are necessary for the determination of an issue before the court.

(3) When presented with a court order or judicial subpoena, a social services district must submit family assessment response reports, records, and information to the court for inspection and for such directions as may be necessary to protect confidentiality, including but not limited to redaction of portions of the reports, records, and information and to determine any further limits on re-disclosure.

(4) A court shall not have access to sealed family assessment response records, reports, or other information after the conclusion of services provided under family assessment response, except when provided that information pursuant to subparagraphs (5)(iii) and (iv) of this section.

(5) Persons who are given access to legally sealed family assessment response reports must not re-disclose such records, reports, and information except as follows:

(i) OCFS, its designees, and social services districts may disclose aggregate, non-client identifiable information;

(ii) social services districts, community-based agencies that have contracts to carry out activities for family assessment response, and providers of services under family assessment response may exchange such reports, records, and information as necessary to carry out activities and services related to the same person or persons addressed in the records of a family assessment response case;

(iii) a child protective service may unseal a family assessment response report, record, or information when it is relevant to a subsequent report of suspected child abuse and maltreatment;

(a) the child protective service may use relevant information from the unsealed report or record for purposes of investigation and family court action concerning the subsequent report and may include such relevant information in the record of the investigation of the subsequent report;

(b) if the social services districts initiates a proceeding under article ten of the Family Court Act in connection with a subsequent report of suspected abuse or maltreatment and there is information in the report or record of a previous family assessment response case that is relevant to the proceeding, the social services district must include such information in the record of the investigation of the subsequent child protective service report and make that information available to the family court and the other parties for use in the proceeding. The family court may consider the information from the family assessment response case that is relevant to such proceeding in making any determination in the proceeding. Such information shall then be subject to all the laws and regulations regarding confidentiality that apply to the record of the subsequent report;

(iv) a subject of a family assessment response report may, at his or her discretion, present information from a legally sealed family assessment response report, in whole or in part, in any proceeding under article ten of the Family Court Act in which the subject is a respondent, or in any proceeding involving the custody of, or visitation with, the subject's children, or in any other relevant proceeding. The court may consider any such information provided by the subject in making a determination. However, the court is not authorized to order the subject to produce such report, records, or information, in whole or in part.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 18 § 432.13

Adopted, New York State Register October 22, 2014/Volume XXXVI, Issue 42, eff. 10/22/2014