Bill Text: NY A02089 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides for a sex offender registry check for youth organization volunteers who have direct contact with youths under the age of 18.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to correction [A02089 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A02089-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2089

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 14, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. AUBRY -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Correction

        AN ACT to amend the social services law, in  relation  to  sex  offender
          registry checks for youth organization volunteers

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

     1    Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new  section
     2  378-b to read as follows:
     3    §  378-b.  Sex  offender registry checks for youth organization volun-
     4  teers.  1. As used in this section:
     5    (a) "Youth organization" means any  public or private  agency,  organ-
     6  ization,  association or group organized and functioning, in whole or in
     7  part, for the purpose of    providing  youth  with  the  opportunity  to
     8  participate  in  supervised  activities,  including  but  not limited to
     9  sporting, recreational, educational or  religious  activities.  As  used
    10  herein, "youth organization" shall include only those organizations that
    11  use  volunteers  to  supervise  youth and exclude institutions which are
    12  sanctioned by the state  education  department  to  provide  educational
    13  instruction to youth.
    14    (b) "Youth" means a person under the age of eighteen.
    15    2. (a) Before any person is permitted to volunteer his or her services
    16  with  a  youth organization where such person is expected to have direct
    17  contact with youth, such youth organization must, by use of the  special
    18  telephone  number described in section one hundred sixty-eight-p  of the
    19  correction law, request that an inquiry be made  of  the  statewide  sex
    20  offender  registry operated by the division of criminal justice services
    21  to determine whether the prospective volunteer is listed in the registry
    22  as a person who must register as a sex offender or  a  sexually  violent
    23  predator under article six-C of the correction law.
    24    (b) No later than January first, two thousand twenty-two, youth organ-
    25  izations shall cause to be conducted the statewide sex offender registry

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00413-01-1
        A. 2089                             2

     1  inquiry  described  in  paragraph (a) of this subdivision for all active
     2  volunteers of such organization where such volunteer has direct  contact
     3  with  youth.  Any  subsequent  statewide sex offender registry inquiries
     4  initiated  by such youth organization shall be made at the discretion of
     5  the youth organization.
     6    3. A youth organization, prior to initiating the statewide sex  offen-
     7  der  registry inquiry described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision
     8  two of this section, shall inform the volunteer  or  person  seeking  to
     9  volunteer  his  or her services that such inquiry will be performed. The
    10  youth organization shall provide the volunteer or prospective  volunteer
    11  the  opportunity to cease such volunteer services before such inquiry is
    12  initiated.
    13    4. A youth organization  is  prohibited  from  permitting  any  person
    14  determined  to be listed in the statewide sex offender registry pursuant
    15  to paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision two of this section  to  volun-
    16  teer his or her services with such organization where such person has or
    17  is expected to have direct contact with youth.
    18    5.  The  provisions  of  article  six-C  of  the  correction law which
    19  restrict the use and dissemination  of  information  obtained  from  the
    20  statewide sex offender registry shall apply to youth organizations.
    21    6.  A willful violation of any of the provisions of this section shall
    22  subject such organization to a  civil  penalty  of  not  more  than  one
    23  hundred  dollars  provided,  however,  that  for  a second or subsequent
    24  violation the commissioner of the office of children and family services
    25  may impose a civil penalty of not more than two hundred dollars.
    26    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.