Policy Directives are how the Office of Children and Family Services communicate down the local Department of Social Services offices in each county. Changes in policy, laws and procedures trickle down in this fashion.
Administrative Directives (ADM) are external policy statements designed to advise local service districts and voluntary agencies of policy and procedure which must be followed and require specific action.
Informational Letters (INF) are external policy statements that clarify or amplify existing procedures. They may provide general educational information, transmit a new brochure, distribute a revised list of contacts, or announce newly enacted Federal or State legislation.
These are shared with local districts and appropriate voluntary agencies.
Local Commissioners Memorandums (LCM) are external policy releases that transmit information to the local social service districts commissioners on specific topics. An LCM generally affects all local social services districts statewide. Information transmitted by an LCM may include notification of funding, statewide audit results, or instructions pertaining to existing program or administrative procedures.
Adoption and Foster Care Policy Directives
Below is a selection of recent NYS Office of Children and Families Services policy directives of particular interest to foster and adoptive families. The full catalog of policy directives issued from 1999 through 2015 can be accessed on the OCFS website.
- 16-OCFS INF-02 – Release of Social Security Numbers by LDSS’s for Income Tax Purposes
- 15-OCFS ADM-01– Definition of Siblings and Expansion of Relative Notification Requirements
- 15-OCFS ADM-02 – Continuation of the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGap) to a Successor Guardian
- 15-OCFS ADM-11 – Maximum State Aid Rates Foster Care and Residential Programs, 7/1/15-3/31/16
- 15-OCFS ADM-19 – Planning for Successful Adulthood, APPLA’s Youth Age 16 and Over
- 15-OCFS ADM-22 – Planning for Youth in Foster Care Age 14 and over
- 15-OCFS-ADM-21 – Supporting Normative Experiences, Applying a Reasonable Prudent Parenting Standard
- 15-OCFS INF-01 – Re-homing of Children
- 15-OCFS INF-03 – Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113- 183)
- 12-OCFS INF-06 – Termination of Parental Rights Effect on Continuing Contact of Birth Parent and Child
- 12-OCFS-ADM-03 – New Requirement Regarding Educational Stability of Foster Children
- 11-OCFS-ADM-01 – Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
- 11-OCFS-ADM-03 – Kinship Guardian Assistance Program
- 11-OCFS-INF-05 – Clarification of Adoption Study Criteria Related to Length of Marriage and Sexual Orientation
- 10-OCFS-INF-07 – Flexibility in Sleeping Arrangement Requirements for Siblings Placements
- 10-OCFS-ADM-09 – Requirements for Incorporating Youth Voice into the Annual Renewal of Foster Homes
- 10-OCFS-ADM-11 – Payment of Adoption Subsidies Prior to Finalization of the Adoption
- 10-OCFS-ADM-16 – Notice of Placement Change to Attorneys for Children
- 09-OCFS-ADM-14 – Changes in Adoption Subsidy: Medicaid, Eligibility, and Review and Approval of Agreements
- 09-OCFS-ADM-11 – Adoption Subsidy and Education Requirements for Adopted Children
- 08-OCFS ADM-03 – Notification to Foster Parent of Foster Care Level of Care Payment