QUESTION: Who has the right to decide what placement I'll be in?ANSWER: When you are in the system, you are in the "custody" of the New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS). ACS has the responsibility for placing you in the "most homelike setting" they can find. The ACS has contracts with foster care agencies to license homes and run groups homes and residential treatment facilities (RTCs) for kids.
The ACS or your agency must give you a social worker or caseworker while you are in the system. They are supposed to work with other people at your agency (like a psychologist, psychiatrist, and education evaluator) to help you while you are in the system. Together, these people are called your "treatment team."
Your treatment team has to meet every six months to discuss how you are doing and what your treatment plan should be. (Your treatment plan is what services you should be getting and where you should be placed.) If you are over 10 years old, you have the right to attend and participate in this meeting (called your treatment plan review). This is your chance to find our what they are planning for you and to say whether or not you agree with it. They then decide whether you should be in a foster home, group home, or institution. ACS has to approve the placement.
QUESTION: Can my parents say where they want me to be placed?
ANSWER: Your parents do not have the right to say where they want you to be placed while you are in the system. When in care, you are not in your parents' custody - you are in the custody of the City and State of New York .
Unless your parents are deceased or their right were cut off by the courts (terminated), you parents are still your legal guardians. Even through they no longer have custody over you and can't say where you should be placed, they do have say over some "big" things in your life: for example, you can't change your name or your religion which in care without their permission, and they may have to give their permission for you to have certain medical procedures or to go on trips.
QUESTION: Under what conditions can I be put in a mental hospital? What about a Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) or a "campus"?
ANSWER: "Mental hospital" means the psychiatric ward of a regular hospital or a hospital only for people with psychiatric problems (Bellevue, Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center, etc.)
You can only be placed in a psychiatric ward if you are a "danger to yourself or others." That means that a psychiatrist has met with you and believes that you are going to hurt yourself or someone else. This is more than just talk, you have to actually be hurting someone or threatening to do it. So, if you say that you are going to kill someone (or yourself), the next step should be for a psychiatrist to meet with you to see how serious you are about hurting yourself or others. Then the psychiatrist may decide that you should be held and observed in psychiatric unit or hospital. If you do not want to go, it is considered an "involuntary commitment" and then two psychiatrists have to evaluate you and agree that you need to be in a hospital.
Going to a psychiatric hospital does not mean you are crazy. You may have gone through a lot and need special help in dealing with it. Many young people who are in the system go to psychiatric wards in hospitals at some point. Some go for just a few days, others spend months or longer. Most have schools or classes there, and you have the right to get an education while you are in a psychiatric hospital.
QUESTION: What is an RTC or RTF?
ANSWER: An RTC is a residential treatment center. It is also part of the foster care system, just like foster homes and group homes. An RTC is a campus with from 100 to 300 kids living in group homes or "cottages." Many are in Westchester County, Rockland County or on Long Island.
ACS can place you in a residential treatment center if your treatment team (social workers, caseworkers, or psychologists on your case) decide that you need a "higher level of care." This means that they think you need more supervision, more contact with a social worker, more therapy, or that the only way you will go to school is if you are on a campus. They are only supposed to place you in an RTC if you cannot get those services in your own community.
An RTF is a residential treatment facility. It is similar to an RTC in how it is set up, but it is for young people who have more serious mental/emotional needs than those living in RTCs. You can only be placed into an RTF if the State Office of Mental Health approves it. While at an RTF, you should see a psychiatrist regularly, especially if you are taking medication.
QUESTION: What can I do to get out of a psychiatric hospital, RTF, or RTC?
ANSWER: If you feel that you don't need to be in a psychiatric hospital, RTF, or RTC, first ask your social worker why you are there, what your treatment plan is, and what your "permanency planning goal" is. A treatment plan is the services - therapy, medication, education - you are supposed to get. Your permanency planning goal is where you will go after you leave the system: back home, to a relative, to be adopted, or to live on your own. How often, if at all, you visit your family has to do with your permanency planning goal and also can be part of your treatment plan.
You should ask your social worker what the agency expects from you in order to get out; for example, going to school, not getting into fights, or attending meetings with your social worker.
Once the hospital or agency thinks you are ready to leave, they either must send you home or move you to a foster home or group home. To do that, they have to send out referrals to other agencies, and usually won't discharge you unless you are accepted to another program.
If you disagree with the agency's plan for you, you should call your lawyer. Almost everyone in foster care has a lawyer. You should call him/her if you want help changing placements. If you don't know how to find your lawyer, call the Legal Rights Hotline (212-675-6181) and we will help you get in contact with your lawyer or find you a new one.
QUESTION: What is a diagnostic center?
ANSWER: A diagnostic center is a group home or part of an RTC where you go for up to 90 days. Its purpose is to evaluate you to see whether you should be at home, getting help, or be placed in a foster care placement.
Young people are placed in diagnostic centers through Family Court or by ACS. There are many reasons for you to be placed into a diagnostic center, ranging from truancy or learning disabilities, to family related problems or running away from home.
While you are at a diagnostic, there are supposed to do a full "psycho-evaluation" which means that your emotional, behavioral, and family circumstances are evaluated and should be discussed between the staff at the diagnostic center, the child, and the family. The diagnostic center then makes a recommendation for where you should be placed (group home, foster home, campus).
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office@nysccc.org7/10/02