Certain provisions relating to the guardianship and custody of children by persons who are not the parents of such children

§ 657. Certain provisions relating to the guardianship and custody of children by persons who are not the parents of such children. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, a person possessing a lawful order of guardianship or custody of a minor child, who is not the parent of such child, may enroll such child in public school in the applicable school district where he or she and such child reside. Upon application for enrollment of a minor child by a guardian or custodian who is not the parent of such child, a public school shall enroll such child for such time as the child resides with the guardian or custodian in the applicable school district, upon verification that the guardian or custodian possess a lawful order of guardianship or custody for such child and that the guardian or custodian and the child properly reside in the same household within the school district.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, persons possessing a lawful order of custody of a child who are not a parent of such child shall have the same right to enroll and receive coverage for such child in their employer based health insurance plan and to assert the same legal rights under such employer based health insurance plans as persons who possess lawful orders of guardianship of the person for a child pursuant to rule twelve hundred ten of the civil practice laws and rules, article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act, or part 4 of this article.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, persons possessing a lawful order of guardianship or custody of a child shall have the right and responsibility to make decisions, including issuing any necessary consents, regarding the child's protection, education, care and control, health and medical needs, and the physical custody of the person of the child. Provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit the ability of a child to consent to his or her own medical care as may be otherwise provided by law.