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Friday, August 24, 2018

Allegany County Legislature prepares to implement Raise the Age law

The Allegany County Legislature will act on this measure when it meets August 27 at 2 p.m. in Belmont -

ESTABLISHING THE ROLE OF AN ANCHOR COUNTY; APPROVING A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES AND THE COUNTY OF ALLEGANY THROUGH THE ALLEGANY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES; APPROVING AN AMENDMENT OF AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF ALLEGANY AND MULTIPLE AGENCIES FOR FOSTER CARE SERVICES FOR THE

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES            

Offered by:  Human Services and Ways & Means Committees
 

WHEREAS, in order to successfully implement the Raise the Age (RTA) legislation enacted by Part WWW of Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2017, it is necessary to have sufficient residential foster care beds and associated after-care services established to provide appropriate services to juvenile delinquents who are placed into foster care by a Family Court as a result of the RTA laws for committing an act on or after the youth’s 16th birthday, and


WHEREAS, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) issued a request for applications and has selected voluntary agencies to support the establishment of such beds and associated after-care services to serve RTA youth placed from local departments of social services including the Allegany County Department of Social Services, and 

WHEREAS, the selected agencies are required to operate the resulting RTA foster care facilities in accordance with a prescribed enhanced services model; OCFS and the New York State Division of the Budget have agreed to support start-up funding for minor construction, equipment purchases, and personnel hiring and training, and to provide a certain level of initial funding regardless of the facilities’ utilization rates, and 

WHEREAS, under the applicable State statutory provisions, local departments of social services, instead of OCFS, contract with and reimburse voluntary agencies for foster care services, and 

WHEREAS, State Finance Law (SFL) section 50-m authorizes 100 percent state reimbursement to eligible counties for the incremental costs associated with the RTA laws, and 

WHEREAS, the voluntary agencies’ start-up and initial operating costs associated with the establishment and maintenance of sufficient RTA foster care beds and associated after care costs will not be covered through the ordinary reimbursement mechanisms whereby the applicable local department of social services pays the Maximum State Aid Rate (MSAR) for occupied beds, thereby necessitating a special reimbursement mechanism through the use of specific local departments of social services acting as Anchor Counties to pass through the State funding to cover such costs, and 

WHEREAS, the Allegany County Department of Social Services has agreed to act as a designated Anchor County for the purposes of assisting the state in making such payments to the voluntary agencies, Hillside Family of Agencies/Snell Farms and Villa of Hope, and 

WHEREAS, Resolution No. 127-18 approved agreements between the County of Allegany and multiple agencies, including Hillside Family Agencies/Snell Farms and Villa of Hope, for foster care services for a period of July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, and 

WHEREAS, the agreement language approved by Resolution No. 127-18 was subsequently amended by OCFS to include the role of Allegany County Department of Social Services as an Anchor County for the purposes of assisting the state in making such payments to the voluntary agencies, Hillside Family of Agencies/Snell Farms and Villa of Hope, and 

WHEREAS, a Memorandum of Understanding is necessary to establish the roles of OCFS and the Allegany County Department of Social Services as a designated Anchor County for the purpose of establishing and maintaining such RTA foster care beds and associated after-care services, now, therefore, be it 

            RESOLVED: 

            1.         That the Memorandum of Understanding between the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and the County of Allegany for Allegany County Department of Social Services to be an Anchor County for the purchase of foster care services is hereby approved. 

            2.         That the Chairman of this Board is authorized to execute the Memorandum of Understanding upon the review and approval of such agreement by the County Attorney. 

3.         That the amendment to the agreements authorized by Resolution No. 127-18 to include the role of Allegany County Department of Social Services as an Anchor County for the purposes of assisting the state in making such payments to the voluntary agencies, Hillside Family of Agencies/Snell Farms and Villa of Hope, is hereby approved. 

4.         That the Commissioner of Social Services is authorized to execute the modifications to the agreements previously authorized by Resolution No. 127-18 upon the review and approval of such agreement by the County Attorney.