STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4245
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SCARBOROUGH, CLARK, ROSENTHAL, JAFFEE, PAULIN,
COOK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CAMARA, SCHIMEL, TITONE -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to standards for
workloads for child protective services caseworkers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 20-a of the social services law, as added by chap-
2 ter 107 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 20-a. Local personnel; limitations on department's power. Notwith-
4 standing any inconsistent provision of this chapter, the board, the
5 commissioner or the department, acting singly or in unison, shall not
6 have the power, directly or indirectly to prescribe the number of
7 persons to be employed in any social services district providing the
8 district complies with the minimum federal standards relating thereto.
9 Provided, however, that the office of children and family services shall
10 have the authority to promulgate regulations that set workload standards
11 for child protective services, foster care, preventive services and
12 adoption services, which standards are based on the New York state work-
13 load study. The office shall set workload standards for child protective
14 services by October first, two thousand eighteen. No county shall be
15 required to increase its child protective workforce by more than twen-
16 ty-five percent in any given state fiscal year, provided that every
17 social services district shall come into compliance with the established
18 workload standards by January first, two thousand twenty-two.
19 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 423 of the social
20 services law, as amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, is amended
21 to read as follows:
22 (c) The child protective service shall have a sufficient staff, as
23 required by caseload standards established by the office of children and
24 family services, of sufficient qualifications to fulfill the purposes of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08036-01-5
A. 4245 2
1 this title and be organized in such a way as to maximize the continuity
2 of responsibility, care and service of individual workers toward indi-
3 vidual children and families. A social services district shall have
4 flexibility in assigning staff to the child protective service provided
5 that each staff assigned to such service has the staff qualifications
6 and has received the training required by the [department] regulations
7 promulgated by the office of children and family services pursuant to
8 subdivisions four and five of section four hundred twenty-one of this
9 title.
10 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however, that
11 the amendments to paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 423 of the
12 social services law made by section two of this act shall take effect
13 October 1, 2018.
