Requires that every court, and every public board, commission, institution, or officer having powers or charged with duties in relation to abandoned, delinquent, destitute, neglected or dependent children who shall receive, accept or commit any child shall provide and keep a record showing if such child has a developmental disability; requires a study of the number of children in foster care who have a developmental disability.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8846--A
IN ASSEMBLY
January 18, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI, CRUZ, SIMON, GUNTHER, OTIS, DARLING,
MAHER, LUNSFORD -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. MANKTELOW -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring main-
tained records for certain children to include whether they have a
developmental disability; and conducting a study on the number of
children in foster care who have a developmental disability
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 372 of the social services law,
2 paragraph (j) as amended by chapter 555 of the laws of 1978, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 1. Every court, and every public board, commission, institution, or
5 officer having powers or charged with duties in relation to abandoned,
6 delinquent, destitute, neglected or dependent children who shall
7 receive, accept or commit any child shall provide and keep a record
8 showing:
9 (a) the full and true name of the child[,];
10 (b) his or her sex and date and place of birth, if ascertainable, or
11 his or her apparent age[,];
12 (c) the full and true names and places of birth of his or her parents,
13 and their actual residence if living, or their latest known residence,
14 if deceased or whereabouts unknown and the name and actual residence of
15 any other person having custody of the child, as nearly as the same can
16 reasonably be ascertained[,];
17 (d) the religious faith of the parents and of the child[,];
18 (e) the name and address of any person, agency, institution or other
19 organization to which the child is committed, placed out, boarded out,
20 or otherwise given into care, custody or control[,];
21 (f) the religious faith and occupation of the head or heads of the
22 family with whom the child is placed out or boarded out and their
23 relationship, if any, to the child[,];
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05107-04-4
A. 8846--A 2
1 (g) if any such child shall die, the date and cause of death and place
2 of burial[,];
3 (h) any further disposition or change in care, custody or control of
4 the child[,];
5 (i) the date or dates of reception and of any subsequent disposition
6 or change in care, custody or control and, in case of adoption, the name
7 and title of the judge or surrogate making the order of adoption, the
8 date of such order and the date and place of filing of such order[,];
9 (j) the reasons for any act performed in reference to such child here-
10 in required to be recorded, together with such further information as
11 the department may require; and shall make to the department upon blanks
12 provided by the department reports of each such child placed out, or
13 boarded out, containing the information herein required to be kept; and
14 shall furnish such information to any authorized agency to which any
15 such child shall be committed or otherwise given into custody; and
16 (k) if any such child shall have a developmental disability as defined
17 pursuant to subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene
18 law, and, if so, the type of such developmental disability.
19 § 2. The commissioner of the office of children and family services,
20 in consultation with the commissioner of the office for people with
21 developmental disabilities, shall conduct a study to determine the
22 number of children who have been placed in foster care and who have been
23 diagnosed with a developmental disability. Such study shall include, but
24 shall not be limited to, the following:
25 (a) assessing the demographics of the children in foster care with a
26 developmental disability, including, but not limited to, their county of
27 residence, age, race and gender identity, and determining whether the
28 placement of such individuals in foster care was voluntary or court
29 ordered;
30 (b) evaluating the current guidelines and regulations used to oversee
31 the placement and treatment of children with a developmental disability;
32 and
33 (c) analyzing the extent to which such age-appropriate children are
34 prepared for a transition from foster care to an independent living
35 situation.
36 § 3. For purposes of this act, "developmental disability" shall have
37 the same meaning as set forth in subdivision 22 of section 1.03 of the
38 mental hygiene law.
39 § 4. The commissioner of the office of children and family services
40 and the commissioner of the office for people with developmental disa-
41 bilities may acquire directly from the head of any department, agency,
42 or instrumentality of the state, available non-identifiable information
43 which the offices consider useful in the discharge of their duties. All
44 departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the state shall cooper-
45 ate with the offices with respect to such information and shall furnish
46 all information requested by the offices to the extent permitted by law.
47 Information collected shall not reveal the name, social security number
48 or any other information which may be used to identify the children or
49 the family of the children.
50 § 5. The commissioner of the office of children and family services
51 and the commissioner of the office for people with developmental disa-
52 bilities shall submit a report of the findings of the study, with any
53 personal and identifying information redacted, conducted pursuant to
54 section one of this act, to the governor, the temporary president of the
55 senate, the speaker of the assembly and the minority leaders of the
56 senate and assembly no later than one year following the effective date
A. 8846--A 3
1 of this act. The report shall also include recommendations on how to
2 consistently maintain a record of the number of children who have been
3 placed in foster care who have been diagnosed with a developmental disa-
4 bility, recommendations to improve the placement and treatment of chil-
5 dren in foster care and recommendations to further develop existing
6 guidelines and regulations to prepare age-appropriate children who have
7 a developmental disability for a transition to an independent living
8 situation.
9 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
