Bill Text: NY A01436 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to reporting of youth placed in foster care settings and recruitment of foster parents; requires information including the total number of youth placed in foster care, the reasons why such youth were placed and the efforts the state has taken to recruit and retain foster parents.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 66-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-12-15 - approval memo.31 [A01436 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A01436-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1436--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 15, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  EPSTEIN,  L. ROSENTHAL, DE LA ROSA, SIMOTAS,
          TAYLOR, GOTTFRIED, ENGLEBRIGHT, ARROYO, AUBRY, DICKENS, WEPRIN,  CRUZ,
          MOSLEY,  CRESPO, D'URSO, ORTIZ, ABBATE, HYNDMAN, BLAKE, RIVERA, ROZIC,
          STERN, COOK, KIM, CYMBROWITZ, D. ROSENTHAL,  FALL,  SEAWRIGHT,  REYES,
          RODRIGUEZ,   GLICK,  FRONTUS,  QUART,  JEAN-PIERRE,  GRIFFIN,  HUNTER,
          FERNANDEZ, RAMOS, RICHARDSON, OTIS, LIFTON, DINOWITZ, CARROLL, ABINAN-
          TI, BARRON, O'DONNELL, SIMON, FAHY, WRIGHT, STECK, VANEL,  M. G. MILL-
          ER,  NIOU,  SAYEGH, MAGNARELLI, ROMEO, PICHARDO, RAYNOR -- Multi-Spon-
          sored by -- M.   of A. DenDEKKER,  LENTOL,  NOLAN  --  read  once  and
          referred  to  the  Committee  on  Children  and  Families -- committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee -- again reported from said  committee  with  amend-
          ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the social services law, in relation to reporting of
          unaccompanied alien children by authorized agencies

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  This  act shall be known as and may be cited as the "SCAR
     2  Act" or the "Separation of Children Accountability Reporting Act".
     3    § 2. The social services law is amended by adding a new section  372-a
     4  to read as follows:
     5    §  372-a. Reporting of unaccompanied alien children. 1. The department
     6  shall collect, aggregate and report the number  of  unaccompanied  alien
     7  children  that  are placed by the federal office of refugee resettlement
     8  in the care of an authorized agency, as defined in  paragraphs  (a)  and
     9  (b)  of  subdivision  ten  of  section three hundred seventy-one of this
    10  title, to the governor, the temporary president of the  senate  and  the
    11  speaker  of the assembly.  The report shall include the following infor-
    12  mation:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01765-09-9
        A. 1436--B                          2

     1    a. the number of unaccompanied alien children newly accepted into  the
     2  authorized  agency's  care  under  a contract, grant, or other agreement
     3  with the federal government at the time of the report;
     4    b. the number of unaccompanied alien children placed in the authorized
     5  agency's  care  under  a  contract, grant, or other agreement between an
     6  authorized agency and the federal government since the last report;
     7    c. the number of unaccompanied  alien  children  discharged  from  the
     8  authorized  agency's  care  that  were placed under a contract, grant or
     9  other agreement between an authorized agency and the federal  government
    10  at the time of the report;
    11    d.  the  number  of  unaccompanied  alien children discharged from the
    12  authorized agency's care that were placed under a  contract,  grant,  or
    13  other  agreement between an authorized agency and the federal government
    14  since the last report;
    15    e. the number of unaccompanied alien children in the authorized  agen-
    16  cy's  care who were removed from the care or custody of their parents by
    17  an official, agent or agency of the federal government while entering or
    18  attempting to enter the United States or after having entered the United
    19  States at the time of the report and since the last report;
    20    f. the number of unaccompanied alien children previously removed  from
    21  the  custody of their parents and placed in the authorized agency's care
    22  that have been restored to the custody of their parents at the  time  of
    23  the report and since the last report;
    24    g.  the  number  of unaccompanied alien children placed by the federal
    25  government that were discharged to a sponsor in the state at the time of
    26  the report and since the last report;
    27    h. the countries of origin for the unaccompanied alien children placed
    28  in the care of an authorized agency; and
    29    i. the number of unaccompanied alien children placed  into  particular
    30  types  of  care, including, but not limited to, family foster care homes
    31  and congregate care residential programs.
    32    2. The commissioner shall compile such information required by  subdi-
    33  vision  one  of  this  section  utilizing  the  department's  bureau  of
    34  research, evaluation and performance analytics.
    35    3. Such information shall be reported  semi-annually  on  a  statewide
    36  aggregated  basis  and  shall  be published on the department's website.
    37  However, such information shall be provided no later  than  thirty  days
    38  upon  request  by  the  governor, temporary president and speaker of the
    39  assembly, in the event of an emergency.
    40    4. Reports to the governor and legislature shall not reveal  identify-
    41  ing  information about specific children, cases, individuals, or author-
    42  ized agencies.  The commissioner shall ensure  that  all  reporting  and
    43  data  collection requirements comply with federal laws, regulations, and
    44  policies.
    45    5. For purposes of this section, the term "alien" is  defined  as  any
    46  person  not a citizen or national of the United States, the term "child"
    47  shall have the same meaning as defined in section three  hundred  seven-
    48  ty-one  of  this  title,  and the term "unaccompanied" with regard to an
    49  alien child is defined consistent with federal  law  and  shall  include
    50  children  who were accompanied when they crossed the border and children
    51  who were not accompanied when they crossed the border but were  rendered
    52  unaccompanied  by  removal  from  the care or custody of their parent or
    53  guardian.
    54    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    55  it shall have become a law.