Bill Text: NY S00478 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Establishes the kinship legal network program in the office of children and family services to provide legal services to kinship caregivers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-03 - PRINT NUMBER 478A [S00478 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00478-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           478

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. SALAZAR, HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

        AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to expanding the right
          to  assistance  of counsel to include petitioner kinship caregivers in
          custody and guardianship proceedings and respondents  in  guardianship
          proceedings

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

     1    Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 262 of the family court act,  as
     2  added  by  chapter  682  of  the  laws of 1975, the opening paragraph as
     3  amended by section 3 of part A of chapter 3 of the laws of  2005,  para-
     4  graphs  (i) and (iv) as amended and paragraph (ix) as added by chapter 3
     5  of the laws of 2012, paragraph (ii) as amended by  chapter  693  of  the
     6  laws  of  1981, paragraph (iii) as amended by chapter 666 of the laws of
     7  1976, and paragraph (viii) as added by chapter 456 of the laws of  1978,
     8  is amended to read as follows:
     9    (a)  Each  of  the persons described below in this subdivision has the
    10  right to the assistance of counsel. When such person  first  appears  in
    11  court,  the  judge shall advise such person before proceeding that he or
    12  she has the right to be represented by counsel of his or her own  choos-
    13  ing,  of the right to have an adjournment to confer with counsel, and of
    14  the right to have counsel assigned by the court in any case where he  or
    15  she is financially unable to obtain the same:
    16    (i)  the  respondent  in  any proceeding under article ten or ten-A of
    17  this act and the petitioner in any proceeding under part eight of  arti-
    18  cle ten of this act;
    19    (ii) the petitioner and the respondent in any proceeding under article
    20  eight of this act;
    21    (iii)  the  respondent  in  any proceeding under part three or four of
    22  article six of this act;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00507-01-3
        S. 478                              2

     1    (iv) the parent or person legally responsible, foster parent, or other
     2  person having physical or legal custody of the child in  any  proceeding
     3  under  article  ten or ten-A of this act or section three hundred fifty-
     4  eight-a, three hundred eighty-four or three hundred eighty-four-b of the
     5  social  services  law,  and a non-custodial parent or grandparent served
     6  with notice pursuant to paragraph (e)  of  subdivision  two  of  section
     7  three hundred eighty-four-a of the social services law;
     8    (v) the parent of any child seeking custody or contesting the substan-
     9  tial  infringement  of his or her right to custody of such child, in any
    10  proceeding before the court in  which  the  court  has  jurisdiction  to
    11  determine such custody;
    12    (vi)  any person acting as a parent of a child, who is seeking custody
    13  or guardianship of such child under part three or four of article six of
    14  this act, and who is a kinship caregiver of such child. For the purposes
    15  of this paragraph the term  kinship  caregiver  shall  mean  any  person
    16  described  under  subdivision twenty-two of section three hundred seven-
    17  ty-one of the social services law;
    18    (vii) any person in any proceeding before the court in which an  order
    19  or  other  determination is being sought to hold such person in contempt
    20  of the court or in willful violation of a previous order of  the  court,
    21  except  for  a  contempt  which  may be punished summarily under section
    22  seven hundred fifty-five of the judiciary law;
    23    [(vii)] (viii) the parent of a child in any  adoption  proceeding  who
    24  opposes the adoption of such child[.];
    25    [(viii)]  (ix)  the respondent in any proceeding under article five of
    26  this act in relation to the establishment of paternity[.]; and
    27    [(ix)] (x) in a proceeding under article ten-C of this act:
    28    (1) a parent or caretaker as such terms are  defined  in  section  one
    29  thousand ninety-two of this act;
    30    (2)  an  interested adult as such term is defined in section one thou-
    31  sand ninety-two of this act provided that:
    32    (A) the child alleged to be destitute in the proceeding held  pursuant
    33  to  article  ten-C  of this act was removed from the care of such inter-
    34  ested adult;
    35    (B) the child alleged to be destitute in the proceeding held  pursuant
    36  to article ten-C of this act resides with the interested adult; or
    37    (C)  the child alleged to be destitute in the proceeding held pursuant
    38  to article ten-C of this act resided with such  interested  adult  imme-
    39  diately  prior to the filing of the petition under article ten-C of this
    40  act;
    41    (3) any interested adult as such term is defined in section one  thou-
    42  sand  ninety-two  of  this act or any person made a party to the article
    43  ten-C proceeding pursuant to subdivision (c)  of  section  one  thousand
    44  ninety-four  of  this  act  for  whom the court orders counsel appointed
    45  pursuant to subdivision (d) of section one thousand ninety-four of  this
    46  act.
    47    §  2.  Paragraph  1  of  subdivision (a) of section 1094 of the family
    48  court act, as amended by chapter 3 of the laws of 2012,  is  amended  to
    49  read as follows:
    50    (1)  appoint  an  attorney  to  represent the child in accordance with
    51  section two hundred forty-nine of this act, and appoint an  attorney  to
    52  represent  a  parent,  caretaker  or interested adult in accordance with
    53  paragraph [(ix)] (x) of subdivision (a) of section two hundred sixty-two
    54  of this act, if he or she is financially unable to obtain counsel;
    55    § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of April next  succeeding
    56  the date on which it shall have become a law.