Bill Text: NY S00222 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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 37-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-12-15 - approval memo.31 [S00222 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S00222-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         222--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. BENJAMIN, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, BROOKS,
          CARLUCCI, COMRIE, GAUGHRAN, GIANARIS,  GOUNARDES,  HARCKHAM,  HOYLMAN,
          JACKSON,  KAMINSKY,  KAPLAN,  KAVANAGH,  KENNEDY,  KRUEGER,  LIU, MAY,
          MAYER, METZGER, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE,  PARKER,  PERSAUD,  RAMOS,  RIVERA,
          SALAZAR,  SANDERS,  SAVINO,  SEPULVEDA,  SERRANO,  SKOUFIS,  STAVISKY,
          THOMAS -- read twice and ordered  printed,  and  when  printed  to  be
          committed  to  the  Committee  on  Children  and Families -- committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  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:
    13    a. the number of unaccompanied alien children newly accepted into  the
    14  authorized  agency's  care  under  a contract, grant, or other agreement
    15  with the federal government at the time of the report;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01765-08-9

        S. 222--B                           2

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