§ 21-923 Reporting on length of stay of children and youth in ACS facilities.
AC § 21-923
a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: Age range. The term "age range" refers to a breakdown by the following categories: 6 years or less; 7 - 12 years; 13 - 17 years; and 18 - 20 years. Children's center. The term "children's center" means the Nicholas Scoppetta children's center or a successor center operated by ACS for the purpose of providing short-term care and maintenance therein for children or youth under ACS's care. Length of stay. The term "length of stay" refers to a breakdown by the following categories: 3 days or less; 4 - 7 days; 8 - 10 days; 11 - 20 days; 21 - 30 days; 31 - 60 days; 61 - 120 days; 121 - 180 days; and 181 or more days. Rapid intervention center. The term "rapid intervention center" means a facility that provides intensive, structured, clinically-focused, therapeutic programming designed to provide stabilization and short-term, intensive treatment interventions to youth in a residential setting so that they may be returned to their parents, foster parents, or least-restrictive level of care as promptly as possible. Temporary placement facility. The term "temporary placement facility" means a facility for children or youth under the care of ACS who await a longer-term placement. Youth reception center. The term "youth reception center" means a short-term, pre-placement facility for children or youth under the care of ACS who await placement with an appropriate foster care provider. b. No later than March 31, 2024, and quarterly thereafter, ACS shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and shall post conspicuously on the ACS website, a report containing the following information, disaggregated by age range and length of stay, for the children's center, youth reception centers, rapid intervention centers, and any other temporary placement facilities for the immediately preceding quarter: 1. The number of children or youth residing in such facility; and 2. The number of such children or youth who were placed in such facility for the first time. c. The report required pursuant to subdivision b shall be presented as a table where each row represents 1 of the following: (i) the children's center; (ii) youth reception centers; (iii) rapid intervention centers; and (iv) other temporary placement facilities. The columns in such table shall include the number of children or youth residing in the applicable facility, the number of such children or youth in each age range, the number of such children or youth in each category of length of stay, and the number of such children or youth placed in such facility for the first time. d. No report required by this section shall contain personally identifiable information. If a category contains between 1 and 5 children or youth, or contains a number that would allow the identity of a child or youth in another category that contains between 1 and 5 children or youth to be deduced, the number shall be replaced with a symbol. A category that contains zero shall be reported as zero, unless such reporting would violate any applicable provision of federal, state, or local law relating to the privacy of children's information. Reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be made in accordance with all applicable provisions of federal, state, and local laws relating to the privacy of information and confidentiality of records. (L.L. 2023/050, 4/16/2023, eff. 4/16/2023)
