N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 14, § 81.1 – Background and intent.

(a) This Part is intended to promote the application of the most effective methods by which the mentally retarded may be helped to achieve maximum self-sufficiency while assuring their safety and general well-being.
(b) The Mental Hygiene Law requires the certification of any residential facility operated by an individual, association, corporation, or public or private agency to provide examination, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation or training to people with subaverage intellectual functioning which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior. A number of terms are in common usage to designate such facilities, among them being residential facility for the mentally retarded, home for children, training center, and school for exceptional children. In an effort to make more comfortable their utilization by the mentally retarded, some schools for the mentally retarded have made use of less distinctive titles, some of which convey no indication of their purpose.
1. (1) While affectionate attention and concern are necessary to the mentally retarded for them to thrive, those settings which purposefully replicate community or family living and provide only domestic care and comfort but no specialized programs are not considered eligible for certification under this Part.
2. (2) While both mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed children may benefit by a number of similar methods of care and treatment, and in consideration of the significant degree of specificity which is equally important, the department intends this Part to apply to facilities which provide services specifically for the mentally retarded. Any exceptions will be clearly specified upon the operating certificate, based upon appropriate modifications in the program acceptable to the department.
(c) This Part prescribes standards for certification. Certification of itself does not confer eligibility to receive financial support from any governmental source.
(d) It is the intent of this Part to foster increased responsibility of schools for the mentally retarded to evaluate and review their own services. This Part does not stipulate any specific modalities of care, staff training and experience or numbers, or admission criteria. They require, however, that the school prepare an adequate plan for services which addresses these issues and establishes organization policies and procedures which will facilitate implementation of the plan.