Section 13.38. Additional duties of the office with respect to persons receiving transitional care

(a) The office shall, in consultation with the  department  of  social
  services, the education department, the office of mental health, and the
  council  on    children   and   families, develop   a plan and implement
  procedures to help assure that all persons who are  at  the  age or time
  to first qualify for transitional care, as described in section  13.37-a
  of  this  article,  and    for  whom  the  office  has accepted planning
  responsibilities, receive assistance  in  locating  an  appropriate  and
  available   residential  placement or plan of services, within the state
  and within the system of care subject   to    the  jurisdiction  of  the
  office,  prior  to  the  age  or time at which they would otherwise have
  qualified  for  transitional  care,  if  such  individuals  had   become
  twenty-one  or  become ineligible for educational services prior to July
  first, nineteen hundred ninety-six.  For purposes of this  section,  the
  age  or  time  at  which a person would qualify for transitional care is
  twenty-one for persons in foster  care,  and the   end   of  the  school
  year in which they become twenty-one for persons in residential schools.
    (b)  The office shall, in consultation with the  department of  social
  services, the education department, the office of mental  health,    and
  the  council  on  children  and  families,  develop a plan and implement
  procedures to help assure that  all  persons  in    transitional    care
  receive  assistance  in locating  appropriate  and available  placements
  within the adult care systems supervised or funded by the office, and to
  monitor  the  health  and   safety   of persons   receiving transitional
  funding pursuant to section 13.37-a of this article. In connection  with
  the plans and procedures, the office shall establish standards governing
  the quality   of   care   provided to such persons  by  the  residential
  programs, including standards relating to the development and monitoring
  of    written  individual    services  plans  for  each such person, the
  involvement of  the  individual  and,  unless  the  individual  objects,
  parents,  guardians  or  other  persons  interested  in the care of such
  persons in the development of   written individual services  plans,  and
  the  investigation  of  complaints  relating  to  the quality of care or
  services provided to such persons.   In appropriate  circumstances,  the
  office  shall  work  with  the  individual  and,  unless  the individual
  objects,  the  parents,  guardians  or  other  family  members  to  help
  determine  what  services  would  be  necessary  to enable the family to
  provide care for the person at their home or in an independent community
  setting, and shall provide or assist in arranging for those services  to
  the extent funds  are available  for  that purpose.
    (c) The office shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the
  department  of  social  services  to  facilitate access by the office to
  child care facilities providing transitional care to young adults as may
  be necessary for the office to meet its responsibilities for  monitoring
  the care of the young adults.
    (d)  The office shall enter into memorandums of understanding with the
  department of social services and  the  state  education  department  to
  address any requirements of those departments relating to the removal of
  any  person  receiving  transitional  care from a child care facility or
  residential school whose continuation in such  facility  or  school  may
  adversely  affect  the health, safety or welfare of children residing in
  the facility or school. The memorandum shall set  forth  the  procedures
  the  office will follow in offering a placement or services in the adult
  care system, if necessary and appropriate, on an expedited basis, or any
  other  procedures  for  assuring  alternative  care  and  services   are
  available to the young adult, and the manner in which the department  of

  social  services  or  state education department will be informed of the
  progress of those efforts.
    (e)  Upon  making  a  determination  that  a  person  who is receiving
  transitional care can be appropriately cared for in an  available  adult
  care facility or service licensed, certified or approved by the  office,
  and  whose  removal  from  a  child  care facility is not required on an
  expedited basis, the office shall notify the  person  and  the  person's
  guardian,  if one has been appointed, or another individual who has been
  involved in the care of the person and who can  represent  the  person's
  interests,  of the availability of an administrative  appeal  to  review
  the determination, and of the need to  request  such  an  appeal  within
  thirty days of the notice.  If the person, guardian or  other individual
  requests  an  administrative appeal within the time required, the office
  shall schedule a hearing and the commissioner or  his  or  her  designee
  shall issue a determination within thirty days of the adjournment of the
  hearing,  on  whether  the  adult  placement identified by the office is
  appropriate to the needs of the person and is available or  will  become
  available  on  an  identified  date  certain. If the person, guardian or
  other individual does not request a hearing within the time required, or
  if the hearing results  in  a  determination  that  the  proposed  adult
  services  or  placement is appropriate to the needs of the person and is
  available or will be available on an identified date certain, the office
  shall discontinue transitional care funding for the person as of a  date
  certain.
    (f)  In  any  case  where an individual receiving transitional care is
  about to be transferred from one facility to another,   a transfer  plan
  shall be prepared by the sending facility and forwarded to the receiving
  facility,  the  individual  and,  unless  the  individual  objects,  the
  parents, guardian or other family members prior  to  the  transfer.  The
  transfer  plan  shall  include any information necessary to facilitate a
  safe transfer, such as specific problems, a schedule  for  administering
  medications and behavior unique to the individual.
    (g)  The   office  may make payments necessary to maintain individuals
  described in subdivision (a) of this section in a child care facility or
  residential school on an emergency basis where circumstances temporarily
  prevent the transfer of individuals to adult services or placements.