(a) The director of a residential treatment facility for children and youth may receive as a patient a person in need of care and treatment in such a facility who has been certified as needing such care by the pre-admission certification committee serving the facility and in accordance with priorities for admission established by such committee, as provided by this section. Subject to the provisions of this section, the provisions of this article shall apply to admission and retention of patients to residential treatment facilities for children and youth.

(b) Persons admitted as in-patients to hospitals operated by the office of mental health upon the application of the director of the division for youth pursuant to section five hundred nine of the executive law or 353.4 of the family court act who are not subject to a restrictive placement pursuant to section 353.5 of the family court act, may, if appropriate, and subject to the provisions of subdivision (d) of this section, be transferred to a residential treatment facility for children and youth. The director of the division for youth shall be notified of any such transfer. When appropriate, the director of the residential treatment facility may arrange the return of a patient so transferred to the hospital or the transfer of a patient to another hospital or, in accordance with subdivision four of section five hundred nine of the executive law, to the division for youth.

(c) The commissioner shall designate pre-admission certification committees for defined geographic areas to evaluate each person proposed for admission or transfer to a residential treatment facility for children and youth. When designating persons to serve on pre-admission certification committees, the commissioners shall assure that the interests of the people residing in the area to be served by each committee are represented. Such committees shall include a person designated by the office of mental health, a person designated by the state commissioner of social services and a person designated by the state commissioner of education. The commissioner of mental health shall consult with the conference of local mental hygiene directors and the commissioner of social services shall consult with county commissioners of social services in the area to be served by a committee prior to designating persons to serve on a committee. The commissioners may designate persons who are not state employees to serve on pre-admission certification committees. Membership of pre-admission certification committees shall be limited to persons licensed in accordance with the education law to practice medicine, nursing, psychology, or licensed clinical social work. In the event the persons originally designated to a committee by the commissioners do not include a physician, the commissioner shall designate a physician to serve as an additional member of the committee. Each pre-admission certification committee shall designate five persons representing local governments, voluntary agencies, parents and other interested persons who shall serve as an advisory board to the committee. Such board shall have the right to visit residential treatment facilities for children and youth served by the committee and shall have the right to review clinical records obtained by the pre-admission certification committee and shall be bound by the confidentiality requirements of section 33.13 of this chapter.

(d) All applications for admission or transfer of an individual to a residential treatment facility for children and youth shall be referred to a pre-admission certification committee for evaluation of the needs of the individual and certification of the individual's need for treatment in a residential treatment facility for children and youth. Applications shall include an assessment of the individual's psychiatric, medical and social needs prepared in accordance with a uniform assessment method specified by the regulations of the commissioner. The committee may at its discretion refer an applicant to a hospital or other facility operated or licensed by the office for an additional assessment. In the event of such an additional assessment of the individual's needs, the facility conducting the assessment shall attempt to receive all third party insurance or federal reimbursement available as payment for the assessment. The state shall pay the balance of the fees which may be charged by the provider in accordance with applicable provisions of law. In addition, if necessary, in accordance with section four thousand five of the education law, the pre-admission certification committee shall obtain an evaluation of the educational needs of the child by the committee on special education of the school district of residence. The pre-admission certification committee shall review all requests for evaluation and certification within thirty days of receipt of a complete application and any additional assessments it may require and, using a uniform assessment method specified by regulation of the commissioner, evaluate the psychiatric, medical and social needs of the proposed admittee and certify: (i) the individual's need for services in a residential treatment facility for children and youth and (ii) the immediacy of that need, given the availability of such services in the area and the needs of other children evaluated by the committee and certified as eligible for admission to a residential treatment facility for children and youth who have not yet been admitted to such a facility. A pre-admission certification committee shall not certify an individual for admission unless it finds that:

(1) Available ambulatory care resources and other residential placements do not meet the treatment needs of the individual;

(2) Proper treatment of the individual's psychiatric condition requires in-patient care and treatment under the direction of a physician; and

(3) Care and treatment in a residential treatment facility for children and youth can reasonably be expected to improve the individual's condition or prevent further regression so that services will no longer be needed, provided that a poor prognosis shall not in itself constitute grounds for a denial of certification if treatment can be expected to effect a change in prognosis. All decisions of the committee to recommend admission or priority of admission shall be based on the unanimous vote of those present. The decision of the committee shall be reported to the applicant. In the event a committee evaluates a child who is the subject of a proceeding currently pending in the family court, the committee shall report its decision to the family court. No residential treatment facility for children and youth shall admit a person who has not been certified as suitable for such admission by the appropriate pre-admission certification committee. Residential treatment facilities shall admit children in accordance with priorities for admission of children most immediately in need of such services established by the pre-admission certification committee serving the facility in accordance with standards established by the commissioner.

(e) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, no government agency shall make payments pursuant to title nineteen of the federal social security act or articles five and six of the social services law to a residential treatment facility for children and youth for service to a person whose need for care and treatment in such a facility was not certified pursuant to this section.

(f) No person shall be admitted to a residential treatment facility for children and youth who has a mental illness which presents a likelihood of serious harm to others; "likelihood of serious harm" shall mean a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested by recent homicidal or other violent behavior by which others are placed in reasonable fear of serious physical harm.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, pre-admission certification committees shall be entitled to review clinical records maintained by any person or entity which pertain to an individual on whose behalf an application is made for admission to a residential treatment facility for children and youth. Any clinical records received by a pre-admission certification committee and all assessments submitted to the committee shall be kept confidential in accordance with the provisions of section 33.13 of the mental hygiene law, provided, however, that the commissioner may have access to and receive copies of such records for the purpose of evaluating the operation and effectiveness of the committee. Confidentiality of clinical records of treatment of a person in a residential treatment facility for children and youth shall be maintained as required in section 33.13 of this chapter. That portion of the clinical record maintained by a residential treatment facility for children and youth operated by an authorized agency specifically related to medical care and treatment shall not be considered part of the record required to be maintained by such authorized agency pursuant to section three hundred seventy-two of the social services law and shall not be discoverable in a proceeding under section three hundred fifty-eight-a of the social services law or article ten-A of the family court act except upon order of the family court; provided, however, that all other information required by a local social services district or the office of children and family services for purposes of sections three hundred fifty-eight-a, four hundred nine-e and four hundred nine-f of the social services law and article ten-A of the family court act shall be furnished on request, and the confidentiality of such information shall be safeguarded as provided in section four hundred sixty-e of the social services law.