Bill Text: NY A10510 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Establishes a six-month moratorium on aging out of foster care allowing such children and their foster parents or caregivers to continue receiving the benefits they were eligible for prior to such child aging out and also allows children who are eligible to return to foster care upon court approval to return to foster care without such court approval and waives requirements that such children participate in vocational and educational programs; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-17 - print number 10510b [A10510 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10510-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                        10510--B

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 22, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Barrett,
          Jaffee, Hevesi) -- 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  amendments,  ordered  reprinted  as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to establish a temporary moratorium on aging out of foster care
          and allowing certain children to return to foster care; and  providing
          for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

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

     1    Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation  to  the
     2  contrary,  the  state shall place a moratorium on the aging out of chil-
     3  dren in the foster care system. Such moratorium shall continue  for  six
     4  months  after  the  governor  has  declared  that the state of emergency
     5  relating to the novel coronavirus  (COVID-19)  has  ended.  During  such
     6  moratorium:
     7    1. children who reach the age of twenty-one while in foster care shall
     8  not  be  removed from foster care and shall have the option to remain in
     9  foster care, and no youth who is over  the  age  of  eighteen  shall  be
    10  discharged from foster care without the express consent of the youth and
    11  the  youth's  attorney, and the foster child and foster parents or other
    12  caregivers shall continue to receive any benefits such child, parents or
    13  caregivers were entitled to receive prior to such  child  reaching  such
    14  age,  including,  but not limited to, the provision of housing and mone-
    15  tary benefits, for the duration of such moratorium.
    16    2. any former foster youth who requests to return to foster  care,  as
    17  provided for in Article 10-B of the Family Court Act, shall be permitted
    18  to  return  to  placement upon request without obtaining court approval,
    19  and any requirement  for  participation  in  vocational  or  educational
    20  programs shall be waived for the duration of the moratorium provided for
    21  in this legislation.
    22    §  2.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
    23  deemed repealed one hundred eighty days after the governor has  declared

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16495-04-0
        A. 10510--B                         2

     1  that the state of emergency relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
     2  has  ended;  and  provided,  further,  that  the  commissioner of social
     3  services shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon  the
     4  occurrence of the expiration of the state disaster emergency declared by
     5  executive  order number 202 and any further amendments or modifications,
     6  and as may be further extended pursuant to section 28 of  the  executive
     7  law,  in  order  that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely
     8  effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New
     9  York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of  the
    10  legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law.