Bill Text: NY A02965 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to sharing reports of child abuse with agency charged with care, custody, or guardianship of child.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-6)
Status: (Passed) 2017-09-12 - signed chap.281 [A02965 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A02965-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2965 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, JAFFEE, SIMON, ZEBROWSKI, GALEF, OTIS, TITONE, SEAWRIGHT, GOTTFRIED, ROSENTHAL, COOK, BRABENEC, LAWRENCE, McDONOUGH, MURRAY, RAIA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BUCHWALD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to forwarding reports of abuse to the social services district charged with the care, custody, or guardianship of the child The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 424 of the social services law, as 2 amended by chapter 602 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 6. (a) upon receipt of such report, commence or cause the appropriate 5 society for the prevention of cruelty to children to commence, within 6 twenty-four hours, an appropriate investigation which shall include an 7 evaluation of the environment of the child named in the report and any 8 other children in the same home and a determination of the risk to such 9 children if they continue to remain in the existing home environment, as 10 well as a determination of the nature, extent and cause of any condition 11 enumerated in such report and the name, age and condition of other chil- 12 dren in the home, and, after seeing to the safety of the child or chil- 13 dren, forthwith notify the subjects of the report and other persons 14 named in the report in writing of the existence of the report and their 15 respective rights pursuant to this title in regard to amendment[.]; 16 (b) ascertain whether the child named in the report or any other child 17 in the same home is in the care, custody or guardianship of an author- 18 ized agency. Where such authorized agency is not the social services 19 district in which the home is located, the report shall be forwarded as 20 soon as possible to such authorized agency and any other social services 21 district charged with the care, custody or guardianship of the child or 22 other children in the home. Such authorized agency and local social EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07479-01-7A. 2965 2 1 services district shall also be notified as to whether such report is 2 indicated or unfounded in accordance with subdivision seven of this 3 section. Nothing in this subdivision shall require such social services 4 district to investigate or participate in the investigation of such 5 report; 6 (c) subject to rules and regulations of the division of criminal 7 justice services, a manager of the child protective services unit, or a 8 person with law enforcement background who is specifically designated by 9 the commissioner of the local social services district for this purpose, 10 shall have access to conviction records maintained by state law enforce- 11 ment agencies pertaining to persons of or over the age of eighteen years 12 who (1) are currently residing in the residence of any child who is 13 alleged to be or suspected of being abused, maltreated, or neglected or 14 (2) are named in any report of suspected or alleged child abuse, 15 maltreatment, or neglect; provided that nothing in this subdivision 16 shall be construed to contradict or modify section one thousand forty- 17 six of the family court act. Any criminal history record provided by the 18 division of criminal justice services, and any summary of the criminal 19 history record provided by the office of children and family services to 20 the child protective services unit of a local social services district 21 pursuant to this subdivision, shall be kept confidential and shall not 22 be made available for public inspection. Child protective services 23 units shall not indicate a report solely based upon the existence of a 24 conviction record; 25 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.