NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9353
SPONSOR: Rules TITLE OF BILL: An act making an appropriation for payment of state
aid to municipalities
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill would appropriate
$533,500,000 to the Office of Children and Family Services for
reimbursement of local social services district expenditures related to
the provision and administration of various family and children's
services.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill contains a single item of
appropriation of $533,500,000 to the Office of Children and Family
Services for the purpose of reimbursing local social services districts
for administrative and programmatic expenditures for foster care, inde-
pendent living services, certain residential programs for youth, preven-
tive services, aftercare services, and adoption services excluding
adoption subsidies.
JUSTIFICATION: This legislation would appropriate the sum of
$533,500,000 to the Office of Children and Family Services from the
general fund / aid to localities, local assistance account - 001 for
reimbursement to local social services districts for expenditures
related to family and children's services programs.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: An appropriation
of $533,500,000 would be authorized in the Office of Children and Family
Services upon enactment of this legislation.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Effective immediately and retroactive to April 1,
2001.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 5742 A. 9353
2001-2002 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
July 30, 2001
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT making an appropriation for payment of state aid to munici-
palities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The sum of five hundred thirty-three million five hundred
2 thousand dollars ($533,500,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary,
3 is hereby appropriated to the office of children and family services
4 from the general fund / aid to localities, local assistance account -
5 001, not otherwise appropriated, for payment of state aid heretofore
6 accrued or hereafter to accrue to municipalities. Subject to the
7 approval of the director of the budget, the money hereby appropriated
8 shall be available to the office net of disallowances, refunds,
9 reimbursements, and credits. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision
10 of law, in lieu of payments authorized by the social services law, or
11 payments of federal funds otherwise due to the local social services
12 districts for programs provided under the federal social security act or
13 the federal food stamp act, funds herein appropriated, in amounts certi-
14 fied by the state comptroller or the state commissioner of health as due
15 from local social services districts each month as their share of
16 payments made pursuant to section 367-b of the social services law may
17 be set aside by the state comptroller in an interest-bearing account
18 with such interest accruing to the credit of the locality in order to
19 ensure the orderly and prompt payment of providers under section 367-b
20 of the social services law pursuant to an estimate provided by the
21 commissioner of health of each local social services district's share of
22 payments made pursuant to section 367-b of the social services law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13627-01-1
S. 5742 2 A. 9353
1 Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the funds appropri-
2 ated herein shall be available for reimbursement of local social
3 services district expenditures for the provision and administration of
4 the following family and children's services: foster care services
5 including expenditures for care, maintenance, supervision, tuition and
6 independent living services; supervision of foster children placed in
7 federally funded job corps programs; care, maintenance, supervision,
8 tuition, and independent living services for adjudicated juvenile delin-
9 quents and persons in need of supervision placed in residential programs
10 operated by authorized agencies and in out-of-state residential
11 programs; preventive services provided pursuant to section 409-a of the
12 social services law; aftercare services; and adoption services and
13 administration other than adoption subsidies. Of the amount appropriated
14 herein, state reimbursement to each local social services district to
15 cover the costs of those district expenditures for all such family and
16 children's services identified herein that are otherwise reimbursable
17 shall be limited to the district's allocation, herein referred to as the
18 district's family and children's services block grant allocation. Such
19 allocation shall be based on the district's pro rata share of their SFY
20 2000-2001 family and children's services block grant allocation and
21 shall be subject to the approval of the director of the budget. The
22 state shall not be responsible for reimbursing local social services
23 districts for any portion of any federal or state sanctions or disallow-
24 ances taken under federal or state law for such family and children's
25 services when such sanctions or disallowances result from the failure of
26 the local social services districts to comply with federal or state
27 funding requirements including, but not limited to, failure to document
28 eligibility for federal or state funds in the case record; provided,
29 however if the office determines that any federal disallowance for
30 services provided January 1, 1999 and May 31, 1999 results solely from
31 the late enactment of the state legislation implementing the federal
32 adoption and safe families act, the state shall be solely responsible
33 for the full amount of the disallowance or sanction; provided, further,
34 however, this provision shall be deemed to apply both prospectively and
35 retroactively regardless of whether such sanctions or disallowances for
36 services provided or claims made prior to or after April 1, 2001;
37 provided further, however, that the office of children and family
38 services shall suspend taking state sanctions against local social
39 services district for violations of the provisions of section 153-d of
40 the social services law for services provided from January 1, 1994 and
41 thereafter and shall discontinue collecting data from its computer
42 systems and reporting on each local social services district's compli-
43 ance with such section during the suspension period. Nothing herein
44 shall preclude the office from continuing during the suspension period
45 to conduct the monitoring activities authorized under other sections of
46 the social services law. Funds appropriated herein may be used as the
47 state share for federal title IV-B subpart 2 funds to the extent that
48 such match is determined jointly by the office and the director of the
49 budget to be not otherwise available and to the extent permitted by
50 federal law and regulations. The office, with the approval of the
51 director of the budget, may reduce a district's block grant allocation
52 by the state share decrease related to federal retroactive reimbursement
53 for family and children's services. The office, with the approval of
54 the director of the budget, may reduce a district's block grant allo-
55 cation by the state share of disallowances or sanctions taken against
56 the district pursuant to social services law or federal law.
S. 5742 3 A. 9353
1 Such moneys shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the state
2 comptroller on vouchers certified or approved in the manner provided by
3 law.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
5 have been in full force and effect on and after April 1, 2001.
