2019 New York Laws
EXC - Executive
Article 19-G - Office of Children and Family Services
Title 2 - Facilities
503 - Detention.

§ 503. Detention.  1. The division shall establish regulations for the
operation of secure and non-secure detention facilities pursuant to this
article and section two hundred eighteen-a of the county law.
  2. To assure  that  adequate,  suitable  and  conveniently  accessible
accommodations  and  proper  care  will  be  available when required for
detention, the division may contract for or establish, operate, maintain
and certify secure and non-secure detention facilities  if  funds  shall
have  been  made available for the lease or purchase and maintenance and
operation of appropriate facilities.
  3. Each social services district may establish, operate  and  maintain
secure  and  non-secure detention facilities for the purposes defined in
section five hundred two of this article. Each such  detention  facility
shall  be  established,  operated and maintained in compliance with this
article and the regulations of the division for youth.
  4. The office of children and family services shall visit and  inspect
all  facilities  used  for  detention  and  make periodic reports of the
operation and adequacy of such facilities, and the need for provision of
such facilities to the county executive, if there  be  one,  the  county
legislature  and  the  family  court  judges of the county in which such
facilities are located, and the office of court administration.
  5. No detention facility shall receive or care for  children  detained
pursuant  to  the  family court act or the criminal procedure law unless
certified  by  the  division,  which  certification  shall   include   a
maximum-capacity  which shall not be exceeded. No certification shall be
issued or renewed unless such a facility has developed and implemented a
procedure, consistent with appropriate collective bargaining  agreements
and  applicable  provisions  of the civil service law, for reviewing and
evaluating the backgrounds of and the information supplied by any person
applying to be an employee, 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 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.
  (a) The division shall promulgate regulations governing procedures for
certification  of  detention  facilities and for renewal, suspension and
revocation of such certifications. Such regulations shall provide for  a
hearing prior to the suspension or revocation of a certification.
  (b)  The  office  of  children  and  family  services  may  suspend  a
certification for good  cause  shown.  Suspension  shall  mean  that  no
persons  coming  within  the provisions of article three or seven of the
family court act and no alleged or convicted juvenile  offender  may  be
received  for  care in a detention facility, but persons already in care
may remain in care. The office may impose such conditions in  the  event
of a suspension as it shall deem necessary and proper.
  (c)  Such  office  may  revoke  a  certification for good cause shown.
Revocation shall mean that no persons coming within  the  provisions  of
article  three  or  seven  of  the  family  court  act and no alleged or
convicted juvenile offender may be received for care nor remain  at  the
detention facility.
  6.  The  division  shall be responsible for bringing violations of law
pertaining  to  detention  of  juveniles  to  the  attention   of   each
appropriate  attorney for the child or counsel for the defendant who may
petition for habeas corpus for persons aggrieved thereby.
  7. The person in charge of each detention facility shall keep a record
of all time spent in such facility for each youth in care. The detention
facility shall deliver a certified transcript  of  such  record  to  the
office,  social services district, or other agency taking custody of the

youth pursuant to article three  or  seven  of  the  family  court  act,
before,  or  at  the  same time as the youth is delivered to the office,
district or other agency, as is appropriate.
  8.  The division shall list all facilities certified for the detention
of children and shall file a copy of that  list  periodically  with  the
clerk  of  the  family  court  in each county, the clerk of the criminal
court of the city of New York, the clerk of the supreme  court  in  each
county  within the city of New York and the clerk of the county court in
each county outside the city of New York.
  9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office of  children
and  family  services  in  consultation  with  the  state  commission of
correction  shall  jointly  regulate,  certify,  inspect  and  supervise
specialized secure detention facilities for adolescent offenders.