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OCFS encourages municipalities to target their use of STSJP funds toward system reforms and programs that effectively serve youth who are at a high risk of detention or residential placement.
Two or more municipalities may submit a joint application to establish and operate services under STSJP. Agreements must include provisions for the proportionate cost for each municipality, manner of employment of personnel, and designation of the fiscal officer from one municipality to be responsible for the funding made available for this program.
STSJP Funding
After OCFS approval is granted, municipalities may receive up to 62 percent state reimbursement of the cost of the approved STSJP services and expenditures, up to the municipality’s allocation cap.
Local detention allocations may be shifted to STSJP until June 30th of the program year, unless otherwise approved by OCFS, to enhance a Municipality’s STSJP programming. Any detention funding shifted to STSJP may be reimbursed at the 62 percent state reimbursement rate for eligible STSJP expenditures.
Municipalities do not need prior approval to include a requested detention allocation shift in the submitted STSJP plan to OCFS.
Preventive Service Exclusions
While it is true that some services eligible for STSJP funding may also be eligible for 62 percent state reimbursement as a preventive service, not all services that may be funded through STSJP can be deemed a preventive service. Specifically:
- Services to divert JOs, AOs and YOs from out of home placement cannot be claimed as a preventive service.
- Services that are meant to prevent youth’s involvement in the criminal or juvenile justice system but are not meant to prevent a child from immediately entering or returning to foster care or enable a child to return home sooner from foster care cannot be claimed as a preventive service (See Social Services Law § 409-a).
STSJP-RTA Funding
The Raise the Age legislation provides eligible municipalities with access to 100 percent state reimbursement for RTA-related expenditures if they meet certain criteria (See State Finance Law § 54-m). As there is a distinct appropriation for funding RTA-related expenditures, local allocations for various services impacted by RTA (such as detention, foster care, STSJP, etc.) will be unchanged by RTA.
Note: We are using STSJP-RTA as a distinction from current or typical STSJP funds as STSJP-RTA will not be claimed against a county’s STSJP allocation. Local governments should carefully examine ways to structure new or modify existing programs in relation to how they will serve RTA youth.
Additionally, the enacted budget for State Fiscal Year 2019 (Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2018) included one specific appropriation attendant to RTA expenditures. Such appropriation requires that in order for local governments to receive RTA-related reimbursements, the expenditures must be included in the locality’s comprehensive Raise the Age Plan that has been approved by the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Division of Budget (DOB).
Municipalities looking to create new or expand existing STSJP programs to serve Raise the Age (RTA) youth, and request 100 percent state reimbursement for this programming, must include those costs in their comprehensive RTA plan, as with other expenditures attendant to RTA. These new or expanded STSJP programs (e.g., costs) should be denoted as STSJP-RTA and will be reviewed in the context of the entirety of the municipality’s comprehensive RTA plan to determine if the municipality is eligible for 100 percent state reimbursement. STSJP-RTA expenditures will not be claimed against a county’s base STSJP allocation.
STSJP-RTA programs must also be included in the municipality’s STSJP Annual Plan. The STSJP-RTA programs, and associated funding, in both the RTA Plan and the STSJP Annual Plan must align. If the STSJP and RTA plans are not aligned, OCFS will not be able to approve the STSJP-RTA services in the STSJP plan.