Bill Text: NY A10521 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the office of children and family services, in consultation with the office for the prevention of domestic violence, to establish a statewide supervised visitation initiative including culturally sensitive services that provide language access for those who need it and that are affordable for those with limited means to pay; requires the submission of regular assessments and reports.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-31 - referred to children and families [A10521 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A10521-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10521

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 31, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES  -- (at request of M. of A. Hevesi,
          Lavine) -- read once and referred to the  Committee  on  Children  and
          Families

        AN  ACT  to amend the social services law, in relation to the establish-
          ment of a statewide supervised visitation initiative

          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  398-f to read as follows:
     3    § 398-f. Supervised visitation.  1. The legislature finds and declares
     4  that professionally supervised visitation programs are  often  necessary
     5  in  order  to keep families safe, to foster healthy family relationships
     6  and to further the best interests of children in family  offense,  child
     7  protective, and custody and visitation proceedings in supreme and family
     8  courts.  Recognizing  that a large number of counties have no supervised
     9  visitation programs at all and, of those that have  such  programs,  the
    10  need  far  exceeds the availability of the programs, it is the intent of
    11  this section to provide state support for the establishment of at  least
    12  one  program in every county that does not have one and, for those coun-
    13  ties and cities that have programs, to expand their reach  to  meet  the
    14  need. Such programs may be essential in cases involving family violence,
    15  as  well  as  in cases in which supervision is vital to meet the special
    16  needs of the parent and/or child.
    17    2. Within grant funds appropriated by the state for this purpose,  the
    18  office  of children and family services, in consultation with the office
    19  for the prevention of domestic violence,  shall  establish  a  statewide
    20  supervised visitation initiative that shall include culturally sensitive
    21  services that provide language access for those who need it and that are
    22  affordable  for  those with limited means to pay. The office of children
    23  and family services shall require each  county  and  New  York  City  to
    24  submit  annual  assessments of the local needs for supervised visitation
    25  services, as well as plans  for  meeting  the  assessed  needs  and  for
    26  collecting  data  regarding usage and effectiveness of the programs. The
    27  submissions shall specify the services to  be  provided,  the  estimated

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14556-03-4
        A. 10521                            2

     1  number  of children and families to be served by the programs, the esti-
     2  mated number of fee waivers and the estimated cost of the programs.  The
     3  submissions may include plans to contract with private non-profit organ-
     4  izations for services and may include multi-county programs if geograph-
     5  ically accessible for families utilizing the programs. The plan for such
     6  programs  shall  be included in the district-wide child welfare services
     7  plan pursuant to section four hundred nine-d of this article.
     8    3. Such programs shall be made available to comply  with  supreme  and
     9  family  court temporary orders requiring such supervision as a condition
    10  of access to children and shall include provisions for  waiver  of  fees
    11  for  users  of such programs who cannot afford to pay. Where directed by
    12  the court, the programs shall provide reports to the court at the end of
    13  the visitation period and as the court otherwise directs.
    14    4. The office of children and family services shall  promulgate  regu-
    15  lations necessary to implement this section and shall submit a report to
    16  the  legislature  and governor one year after the effective date of this
    17  section and annually thereafter. The report shall provide data regarding
    18  the programs in each county, shall evaluate  the  effectiveness  of  the
    19  statewide  initiative in meeting local needs and shall include recommen-
    20  dations for enhancing the initiative.
    21    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    22  it shall have become a law.