You are here: / / JUSTICE CENTER DID NOT HAVE THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MAKE A NEGLECT FINDING...
,

JUSTICE CENTER DID NOT HAVE THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MAKE A NEGLECT FINDING AGAINST A FACILITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.

The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Peters, determined the controlling Social Services Law statutes did not give the Justice Center for the Protection of Persons with Special Needs (Justice Center) the authority to find make a “neglect” finding against a facility for people with developmental disabilities. When two staff members left a resident unsupervised the resident engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct. The resident had acted similarly in the past:

… [T]he issue before us “is one of pure statutory interpretation dependent only on accurate apprehension of legislative intent” … . In performing this function, we are “constitutionally bound to give effect to the expressed will of the Legislature and the plain and obvious meaning of a statute is always preferred to any curious, narrow or hidden sense that nothing but a strained interpretation of legislative intent would discern” … .

… While the Justice Center is indeed permitted to make a “concurrent finding” with respect to a facility or provider agency in conjunction with either a substantiated or unsubstantiated report, the scope of that “concurrent finding” is expressly circumscribed by the statute. By its terms, the only “concurrent finding” that may be made is “that a systemic problem caused or contributed to the occurrence of the incident” (Social Services Law § 493 [3] [b]). Had the Legislature intended to authorize the Justice Center to make a concurrent finding of neglect as against a facility or provider agency, it could have expressly said so. Likewise, if it was the intent of the Legislature to equate a finding “that a systemic problem caused or contributed to the occurrence of the incident” with a finding of “neglect,” it could have easily done so through use of the term “neglect.” It is axiomatic that “new language cannot be imported into a statute to give it a meaning not otherwise found therein” (McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 94 at 190), nor can a court “amend a statute by inserting words that are not there” … . Matter of Anonymous v Molik, 2016 NY Slip Op 04288, 3rd Dept 6-2-16

SOCIAL SERVICES LAW (JUSTICE CENTER DID NOT HAVE THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MAKE A NEGLECT FINDING AGAINST A FACILITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES)/DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES, PEOPLE WITH (JUSTICE CENTER DID NOT HAVE THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MAKE A NEGLECT FINDING AGAINST A FACILITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES)/NEGLECT (JUSTICE CENTER DID NOT HAVE THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MAKE A NEGLECT FINDING AGAINST A FACILITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES)

You might also like
Sales Rep Who Worked from Home Was an Employee
Court Should Have Held Lincoln Hearing to Learn Preferences of 12-Year-Old Child
Persons Who Deliver Gannett Newspapers Are Employees Entitled to Unemployment Insurance Benefits Notwithstanding the “Independent Contractor” Designation in the Operating Agreements
QUESTIONS OF FACT PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, RECENTLY MOPPED FLOOR WAS EXTREMELY WET, PLACEMENT OF CAUTION SIGNS DID NOT ELIMINATE NEGLIGENCE QUESTIONS (THIRD DEPT).
QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT WHETHER DECEDENT’S WIFE IS A BORROWER WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE REVERSE MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS PRECLUDES SUMMARY JUDGMENT, IF DECEDENT’S WIFE IS A BORROWER SHE MAY REMAIN IN THE MORTGAGED PREMISES, IF NOT, FORECLOSURE CAN PROCEED.
Interest Paid In Advance Should Not Be Deducted from the Face Amount of the Loan When Determining Interest Rate—Law of Usury Does Not Apply to Interest After the Maturity of the Note (Late Payments)
FATHER’S MOTION TO DISMISS MOTHER’S PETITION FOR CUSTODY MODIFICATION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED, FURTHER INQUIRY REQUIRED.
DEFENSE COUNSEL VOUCHED FOR THE CREDIBILITY OF THE VICTIM, DID NOT OBJECT WHEN THE PROSECUTOR VOUCHED FOR THE CREDIBILITY OF THE VICTIM, AND ALLOWED EVIDENCE OF DEFENDANT’S PRIOR CRIMES TO COME IN DESPITE A SANDOVAL RULING KEEPING IT OUT; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (THIRD DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER TOWN CREATED THE DANGEROUS CONDITION IN THIS TRIP AND... LONG HAUL TRUCKERS NOT EMPLOYEES.