2015 New York Laws
EDN - Education
Title 6 - SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND INSTRUCTION
Article 87 - (4301 - 4318) NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
4314 - Protection of pupils.

 4314. Protection of pupils. The department shall:
(a)  Promulgate regulations concerning standards for the protection of
  children in residential care from  reportable  incidents  in  accordance
  with  this  section  and  article  eleven  of  the  social services law,
  including procedures for:
(i) consistent with appropriate collective agreements  and  applicable
  provisions  of  the  civil service law, the review and evaluation of the
  backgrounds of and the information supplied by any person applying to be
  an employee, a volunteer or consultant, which shall include but  not  be
  limited  to the following requirements: that the applicant set forth his
  or her employment history, provide personal and  employment  references,
  and  relevant experiential and educational information, and sign a sworn
  statement indicating whether the applicant, to the best of  his  or  her
  knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other
  jurisdiction;
(ii)  establishing  for  employees,  relevant minimal experiential and
  educational  qualifications  consistent  with   appropriate   collective
  bargaining  agreements  and  applicable  provisions of the civil service
  law;
(iii) assuring adequate  and  appropriate  supervision  of  employees,
  volunteers and consultants;
(iv)   demonstrating   by  a  residential  facility  or  program  that
  appropriate action is taken to assure the safety of  the  child  who  is
  alleged  to  have been subjected to a reportable incident in a report to
  the vulnerable persons' central register in accordance with section four
  hundred ninety-two of the social services law as well as other  children
  in  care,  immediately  upon  notification  that  such  a  report  of an
  allegation of a reportable incident has been made;
(v) removing a child when it is determined that there is risk to  such
  child  if he or she continues to remain within a residential facility or
  program; and
(vi) appropriate preventive and remedial action to be taken  including
  legal   actions,   consistent  with  appropriate  collective  bargaining
  agreements and applicable provisions of the civil service law.
Such standards shall also establish as a priority  requirements  that:
  (1)  subject  to  the  amounts  appropriated  therefor,  administrators,
  employees, volunteers and consultants receive training in at  least  the
  following:    child  abuse  prevention  and  identification,  safety and
  security  procedures,  the  principles   of   child   development,   the
  characteristics  of  children  in care and techniques of group and child
  management including crisis  intervention,  the  laws,  regulations  and
  procedures   governing   the  protection  of  children  from  reportable
  incidents, and other appropriate  topics,  provided  however,  that  the
  department   may   exempt   administrators  and  consultants  from  such
  requirements upon demonstration of substantially equivalent knowledge or
  experience; and
(2) subject to the amounts  appropriated  therefor,  children  receive
  instruction,  consistent with their age, needs and circumstances as well
  as the needs and  circumstances  within  the  facility  or  program,  in
  techniques  and  procedures  which  will enable such children to protect
  themselves from reportable incidents.
The department, in consultation with the  executive  director  of  the
  justice  center  for  the protection of people with special needs, shall
  take all reasonable and necessary  actions  to  assure  that  employees,
  volunteers  and  consultants in residential facilities are kept apprised
  on a current basis of all department policies and procedures relating to
  the protection of children from reportable incidents and  shall  monitor
  and  supervise  the  provision of training to such employees, volunteers

  and consultants. Regulations and standards developed  pursuant  to  this
  section  shall,  to  the  extent  possible,  be  consistent  with  those
  promulgated by other state agencies for such purposes;
(vii)  consistent  with  applicable  collective bargaining agreements,
  assuring that an individual who has committed a category one offense, as
  defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision four  of  section  four  hundred
  ninety-three  of  the  social  services  law,  that  is  included on the
  vulnerable persons' central register is not hired or otherwise  used  in
  any position in which such individual would have regular and substantial
  contact  with  a service recipient in any program described in paragraph
  (e) of subdivision four of section  four  hundred  eighty-eight  of  the
  social services law.
(b)  Provide  for  the  development  and  implementation  of a plan of
  prevention and remediation with respect to  a  substantiated  report  of
  abuse  or  neglect.  Such  action  shall include: (i) within ten days of
  receipt of such a substantiated report, development  and  implementation
  of  a  plan  of prevention and remediation to be taken with respect to a
  custodian or the residential facility in order to assure  the  continued
  health  and  safety  of  children  and  to provide for the prevention of
  future acts constituting reportable incidents; and (ii) development  and
  implementation  of a plan of prevention and remediation, in the event an
  investigation  of  a  report  of  an  allegation  of  abuse  or  neglect
  determines  that  a  preponderance  of  the  evidence of such allegation
  exists and such substantiated allegation may be attributed in  whole  or
  in  part  to  noncompliance  by the residential facility or program with
  provisions of this chapter or regulations of the  department  applicable
  to  the  operation  of such residential facility or program. Any plan of
  prevention and remediation required to be  developed  pursuant  to  this
  subdivision  by  a  facility  supervised  by  the  department  shall  be
  submitted to and approved by the  department  in  accordance  with  time
  limits  established  by regulations of the department. Implementation of
  the plan  shall  be  monitored  by  the  department.  In  reviewing  the
  continued  qualifications  of  a  residential facility or program for an
  operating certificate, the department  shall  evaluate  such  facility's
  compliance  with  plans  of  prevention  and  remediation  developed and
  implemented pursuant to this subdivision.