Section 41.44. Community residential services for the mentally ill

(a)   The   commissioner   of  mental  health  is  authorized,  within
  appropriations made therefor, to  establish  a  continuum  of  community
  residential services for the mentally ill.
    (b)  The  commissioner shall establish standards for the operation and
  funding of community residential services, including but not limited to:
    1. criteria for admission to and continued residence in each  type  of
  community residence;
    2. periodic evaluation of services provided by community residences;
    3. staffing patterns for each type of community residence; and
    4.  guidelines  for  determining state aid to community residences, as
  described in subdivision (c) of this section.
    (c) Within amounts  available  therefor  and  subject  to  regulations
  established  by  him  and  notwithstanding  any other provisions of this
  article, the commissioner may provide state aid to local governments and
  to voluntary agencies in an amount not to exceed one hundred percent  of
  net  operating  costs  of community residences for the mentally ill. The
  commissioner shall establish guidelines for determining  the  amount  of
  state  aid  provided  pursuant  to this section. The guidelines shall be
  designed to  enable  the  effective  and  efficient  operation  of  such
  residences  and  shall include, but need not be limited to standards for
  determining  anticipated  revenue,  for  retention  and  use  of  income
  exceeding  the  anticipated amount and for determining reasonable levels
  of uncollectible income. Such state aid to voluntary agencies shall  not
  be  granted  unless  there  has  been  prior  approval  of  the proposed
  community residence by the local governmental unit.
    (d) The commissioner shall establish standards for the  operation  and
  funding  of  residential  care  centers  for  adults,  including but not
  limited to:
    1. criteria for admission to and continued  residence  in  residential
  care centers for adults, including curfews, restrictions against on-site
  use  of  alcohol and controlled substances and criminal involvement. For
  residential care centers for adults licensed or established after  April
  first,  nineteen  hundred eighty-eight criteria for admission shall also
  include but not be limited to, in the case of centers on the grounds  of
  existing  state  operated  psychiatric hospitals, the availability of at
  least twenty-five percent of the placements for  community  clients.  In
  the  case  of  community  based  residential  care centers for adults, a
  minimum of fifty percent of the placements  within  a  region  shall  be
  reserved  for  community  clients.  For  the  purposes of this section a
  community client is any person who, immediately prior  to  admission  to
  the  residential  care  center for adults, was not a resident of a state
  operated psychiatric hospital for more than thirty consecutive days,  or
  if  such  person  was  residing  in  the  community immediately prior to
  admission to the residential care center for adults, was not a  resident
  of  a  state  operated  psychiatric  hospital within the previous thirty
  days;
    2. provision of on-site  services  by  residential  care  centers  for
  adults  which  shall  include  but  not  be limited to, case management,
  medication management, and development of a recommended service plan for
  each resident for necessary social, vocational and clinical services;
    3. periodic review of services provided by  residential  care  centers
  for adults;
    4.  staffing  patterns  for  residential care centers for adults which
  shall be sufficient to provide on-site supervision twenty-four hours per
  day at each facility; and
    5. guidelines for determining state aid to  residential  care  centers
  for adults as described in subdivisions (e) and (f) of this section.

    (e)  Within  amounts  available therefor and notwithstanding any other
  provisions of this article, the commissioner may provide  state  aid  to
  local  governments  and  to  voluntary  agencies  for  the  operation of
  residential care centers for adults in accordance with paragraph one  of
  this  subdivision,  and  may  provide  state  aid  to local governments,
  voluntary agencies, and other individuals or organizations certified  to
  operate   residential  care  centers  for  adults,  in  accordance  with
  paragraph two of this subdivision.
    1. The commissioner may provide state aid in an amount not  to  exceed
  one  hundred  percent of net operating costs of residential care centers
  for adults. The commissioner shall establish guidelines for  determining
  the amount of state aid provided pursuant to this paragraph.
    2.  The commissioner may provide state aid through the payment of fees
  for reimbursable services. For purposes of this paragraph,  reimbursable
  services   include,  but  are  not  limited  to,  room  and  board.  The
  commissioner shall establish standards for programs  funded  under  this
  section and shall by rule or regulation annually establish fees for each
  reimbursable  service,  subject  to  the approval of the director of the
  budget. Fees may be varied for geographic  reasons  or  for  other  good
  cause shown.
    (f)  Within  amounts  available therefor, the commissioner may provide
  state aid to local governments and voluntary agencies for capital  costs
  for  residential  care  centers  for  adults  at the rate of up to fifty
  percent of such capital costs; provided, however, that no such state aid
  shall be granted unless the recipient enters into an agreement in a form
  acceptable to the commissioner guaranteeing that  the  residential  care
  center for adults will be operated by the recipient or made available at
  no  cost  to another provider of services or the office of mental health
  for no less than twenty years, and grants the state  such  security  and
  real property interests as the commissioner may require.
    (g)  No  psychiatric  center shall have more than one residential care
  center for adults on its  grounds  unless  the  commissioner  of  mental
  health   submits   a   report   to  the  legislature  and  the  governor
  demonstrating the appropriateness of such  additional  residential  care
  center  for adults.  After October first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven,
  the commissioner shall not convert inpatient buildings on the grounds of
  a psychiatric center to a residential care center for adults unless such
  buildings are vacant, nor cause such buildings to be vacated solely  for
  the purposes of establishing a residential care center for adults.