112 - Children in care; responsibility for education.
§ 112. Children in care; responsibility for education. 1. The department shall establish and enforce standards of instruction, personnel qualifications and other requirements for education services or programs, as determined by rules of the regents and regulations of the commissioner, with respect to the individual requirements of children who are in full-time residential care in facilities or homes operated or supervised by any state department or agency or political subdivision. The department shall cooperate with the office of children and family services, the department of mental hygiene and local departments of social services with respect to educational and vocational training programs for children placed with, committed to or under the supervision of such agencies. The department shall promulgate regulations requiring the cooperation of local school districts in facilitating the prompt enrollment of children who are released or conditionally released from residential facilities operated by or under contract with the office of children and family services, the department of mental hygiene and local departments of social services and in implementing plans for release or conditional release submitted to the family court pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision seven of section 353.3 of the family court act and the educational components of permanency hearing reports submitted pursuant to section one thousand eighty-nine of the family court act. Such regulations regarding the educational components of permanency hearing reports submitted pursuant to section one thousand eighty-nine of the family court act shall be developed in conjunction with the office of children and family services. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to apply to responsibility for the provision or payment of care, maintenance or other services subject to the provisions of the executive law, mental hygiene law, social services law or any other law. 2. The commissioner shall prepare a report and submit it to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate by December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-six and on December thirty-first of each successive year. Such report shall contain, for each facility operated by or under contract with the office of children and family services that provides educational programs, an assessment of each facility's compliance with the rules of the board of regents, the regulations of the commissioner, and this chapter. Such report shall include, but not be limited to: the number of youth receiving services under article eighty-nine of this chapter; the office's activities undertaken as required by subdivisions one, two, four and eight of section forty-four hundred three of this chapter; the number of youth receiving bilingual education services; the number of youth eligible to receive limited English proficient services; interviews with facility residents conducted during site visits; library services; the ratio of teachers to students; the curriculum; the length of stay of each youth and the number of hours of instruction provided; instructional technology utilized; the educational services provided following the release and conditional release of the youth, including, but not limited to, the implementation of requirements for the enrollment of such youth in school contained in plans for release and conditional release submitted to the family court pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision seven of section 353.3 of the family court act and in the educational components of permanency hearing reports submitted pursuant to section one thousand eighty-nine of the family court act and the compliance by local school districts with the regulations promulgated pursuant to subdivision one of this section; and any recommendations to ensure compliance with the rules of regents, regulations of the commissioner, and this chapter.3. The department shall conduct site visits every four years, with at least one day's notice, of each facility operated by the office of children and family services that provides educational programs to ensure compliance with rules of the board of regents, regulations of the commissioner, and this chapter. Such site visits shall include personal interviews with facility residents. * 4. The commissioner shall establish procedures for administrative appeals to resolve interagency disputes between school districts and state departments or agencies or political subdivisions over responsibility for provision of, or payment for, special education programs or services to children with disabilities in full-time residential care in facilities or homes operated or supervised by such state departments or agencies or political subdivisions. During the pendency of any such appeal, the state department or agency responsible for developing the student's individualized education program, or the school district responsible for developing the student's individualized education program where there is no state department or agency so responsible, shall provide and pay for the special education programs and services on the student's individualized education program and may seek reimbursement in the appeal. The commissioner shall be authorized to make all orders that in the commissioner's judgment are proper or necessary to give effect to the decision in the appeal. Upon a determination that a public agency has failed to provide or pay for such special education programs and services, the commissioner shall certify the amount of such costs to the state comptroller and the state comptroller to deduct such amount from any state funds that become due to such public agency. * NB Repealed June 30, 2012