N.Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 17

§ 17. Powers and duties of the commissioner. The commissioner shall\n (a) determine the policies and principles upon which public\nassistance, services and care shall be provided within the state both by\nthe state itself and by the local governmental units within the limits\nhereinafter prescribed in this chapter;\n (b) make known his policies and principles to local social services\nofficials and to public and private institutions and welfare agencies\nsubject to his regulatory and advisory powers;\n (c) in consultation with the civil service commission, establish\nminimum qualifications for positions in local social services\ndepartments and classify such positions according to differing\ncapabilities, skills, responsibilities and education suitable to the\nvarious phases of welfare administration, not inconsistent with the\nstandards and guidelines of a duly authorized federal agency, having due\nregard for recruitment of personnel and the requirements and varying\ntypes of communities within the state. Notwithstanding any inconsistent\nprovision of law, rule or regulation, when (i) a position is vacant and\nnot filled for a continuous period of three months, and (ii) provided\nthat no person meeting all the prescribed minimum qualifications is\navailable therefore, the local social services commissioner may, if in\naccordance with federal standards, waive those qualifications which he\ndeems least essential for such position and make a provisional\nappointment of a person otherwise qualified therefor;\n (d) submit an annual report to the governor and the legislature prior\nto the fifteenth day of December of each year. Such annual report shall\ninclude the following: the affairs of the department and the status of\nwelfare programs in the state with recommendations for the improvement\nand development of welfare programs; a report on the department's fair\nhearing system, as required by section twenty-two of this article; a\nwritten evaluation report on the delivery of child welfare services in\nthe state, as required by subdivision five of section four hundred seven\nof this chapter; a report of the operations of the state central\nregister of child abuse and maltreatment and the various local child\nprotective services, as required by section four hundred twenty-six of\nthis chapter; a report on the number and status and the findings of\ninvestigations of deaths of children pursuant to subdivision five of\nsection twenty of this chapter; a report on the progress of the\ndevelopment and operation of the child care review system, as required\nby subdivision nine of section four hundred forty-two of this chapter;\ncommencing before December fifteenth, nineteen hundred eighty-four and\nterminating on December fifteenth, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, a\nprogress report on the planning and implementation of the teenage\nservices act as required by the provisions of section four hundred\nnine-m of title four-B of this chapter; an analysis of the information\ncontained in the registry of community facilities, as required by\nparagraph (b) of subdivision two of section four hundred sixty-three-a\nof this chapter; and a report on the operation of the child support\nenforcement program, as required by chapter six hundred eighty-five of\nthe laws of nineteen hundred seventy-five;\n * (d-1) submit to the governor and the legislature one year after the\neffective date of this subdivision a report of the efforts of each local\nsocial services district to identify, prevent, and address their\nhomeless population, including but not limited to projects funded by\nfederal, state, municipal, or private dollars;\n * NB Repealed January 1, 2017\n (e) work cooperatively with the commissioner of the office of mental\nhealth and the commissioner of the office of mental retardation and\ndevelopmental disabilities to assist the commissioner of education in\nfurnishing integrated employment services to individuals with severe\ndisabilities, including the development of an integrated employment\nimplementation plan pursuant to article twenty-one of the education law;\n (f) in conjunction with the commissioner of education, develop and\nannually review a plan to ensure coordination and access to education\nfor homeless children, in accordance with the provisions of section\nthirty-two hundred nine of the education law, and monitor compliance of\nlocal social services districts with such plan;\n (g) require participation of all employees of a child protective\nservice in a training course which has been developed by the office for\nthe prevention of domestic violence in conjunction with the office of\nchildren and family services whose purpose is to develop an\nunderstanding of the dynamics of domestic violence and its connection to\nchild abuse and neglect. Such course shall:\n (i) pay special attention to the need to screen for domestic violence;\n (ii) place emphasis on the psychological harm experienced by children\nwhose environment is impacted by familial violence and accordingly\nexplore avenues to keep such children with the non-abusive parent rather\nthan placing them in foster care further traumatizing both the victim\nand the children;\n (iii) provide instruction regarding the scope of legal remedies for\nthe abused parent;\n (iv) identify obstacles that prevent individuals from leaving their\nbatterers and examine safety options and services available for the\nvictim;\n (v) provide information pertaining to the unique barriers facing\ncertain immigrant women and the options available under the federal\nViolence Against Women Act;\n (vi) analyze procedures available to sanction and educate the abusing\npartner; and\n (vii) emphasize the need for the system to hold the abusing partner\nresponsible by appropriate referrals to law enforcement.\n (h) make available on its website all award allocations for request\nfor proposals issued by the office of children and family services upon\nrelease of such awards. Such information shall also include all\norganizations requesting funding and the amounts requested for each\nrequest for proposal. The office of children and family services may\nalso include any other information related to each program that it deems\nappropriate.\n (i) exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be\nimposed by law.\n