Amd SS1017, 1055 & 1089, rpld S1055 sub (b) (i) sub (E), Fam Ct Act; amd S358-a, Soc Serv L
Relates to notice of indicated reports of child maltreatment and changes of placement in child protective and voluntary foster care placement and review proceedings.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7117
SPONSOR: Persaud TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the family court act and the social
services law, in relation to notice of indicated reports of child
maltreatment and changes of placement in child protective and voluntary
foster care placement and review proceedings; and to repeal certain
provisions of the family court act, in relation to technical changes
thereto
This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of her Family
Court Advisory and Rules Committee.
This measure would amend provisions of the Family Court Act and the
Social Services Law to ensure that parties to child protective and
voluntary foster care placement and review proceedings and the attorneys
for affected children are promptly informed of any changes in placement
and of any indicated reports of maltreatment that may warrant court
intervention.
Reflecting a pronounced legislative trend at both Federal and State
levels, the ongoing oversight responsibility of the Family Court with
respect to children in foster care has increased sharply in the past two
decades, culminating in passage of the Federal Adoption and Safe Fami-
lies Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-89), its state implementing legislation
(L.1999, c. 7), the landmark New York State permanency law (L.2005, c.
3) and, most recently, the Federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act
Public Law 113-183. Both the Federal and
State Adoption and Safe Families Acts emphasize that child safety is
paramount, compelling the conclusion that the court and parties must be
informed promptly of all events affecting child safety, especially indi-
cated reports of abuse or maltreatment. Recognizing that children in
foster care are at significant risk of becoming victims of human traf-
ficking, Public Law 113-183 reinforces that conclusion, in particular,
with respect to children who abscond.
Equally important, the Federal ASFA measures success in terms of
outcomes, i.e., the States' ability to reach Federally-established
targets for timely achievement of permanency for children. The second
"Child and Family Service Review (CFSR)," conducted by the Adminis-
tration for Children and Families of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services (HEN) in 2008, concluded that New York State
again ranked among the lowest scores in the nation and demonstrated how
far the State needs to progress in order to achieve Federal targets.*
Legislative action is thus compelled in order to ensure that Family
Courts can exercise their important monitoring functions on the basis of
complete, timely information. The 2005 permanency legislation, with its
salutary provisions for continuing jurisdiction, was an important step,
but further legislation is necessary to ensure that information regard-
ing the most compelling of circumstances is conveyed to the Court, the
child's attorney and the parties on a timely basis in order to bring New
York State into compliance with ASFA.
This measure would supply the necessary reform. It would amend sections
1055 and 1089 of the Family Court Act, as well as section 358-a of the
Social Services Law, to require an agency with which a child has been
placed, either voluntarily or as a result of an abuse or neglect find-
ing, or to whom guardianship and custody has beeri transferred as a
result of the child being freed for adoption, to report to the attorney
for the child not later than ten days in advance of any change in the
child's placement status and not later than the next business day in any
case in which an emergency placement change has been made. These
provisions are consistent with the recently issued policy directives of
the State Office of Children and Family Services and the New York City
Administration for Children's Services, but would have the stronger
force of statute.**
The measure adds two important requirements not contained in the new
agency policies. First, it requires a report within five days of the
date that any report of abuse or maltreatment is found to be indicated.
Indicated reports include those naming the child and, where the subjects
of the reports involve the person or persons caring for the child,
reports naming other children in the home. It contains an important
proviso that such reports notify the recipients that the information
shall be kept confidential, shall be used only in connection with the
child protective, foster care or related proceedings under the Family
Court Act and may not be re-disclosed except as necessary for such
proceeding or proceedings and as authorized by law. Second, recognizing
that fairness also compels such notifications to be made to the attor-
neys for all parties, not simply the attorneys for the children, the
measure requires that both notices of changes in placement and indicated
child maltreatment reports be conveyed to attorneys for the birth
parents except in cases involving children freed for adoption. The two
types of reports, in fact, are related, as the existence of an indicated
report of maltreatment may bear directly upon the suitability o f a
planned status change. Indeed, there have been instances in which the
existence of indicated child abuse reports has not come to light until
the point of finalization of adoptions.
Significantly, this measure is fully responsive to concerns raised in
the Governor's Veto Message regarding A 8418, a bill requiring notifica-
tion to children's attorneys of changes in placement that passed both
houses of the Legislature in 2010. First, by explicitly authorizing
electronic transmittal of notices, the measure minimizes the burden
imposed upon placement agencies. Second, since notifications are sent to
the attorneys but not to the courts, the measure insures that court
intervention would only occur in the rare eases in which an application
is made by one of the attorneys.
In few areas of Family Court's functioning is its continuing jurisdic-
tion as critical as in child welfare, where complex decisions regarding
children must be adjusted to the dynamic of their constantly changing
needs and circumstances. Federal and State statutes emphasize that child
safety must be deemed the paramount consideration and that timely
achievement of permanence must be the central goal. Not only are these
matters of statutory imperative, but they are also determinative of the
State's eligibility for over $500 million of annual Federal foster care
aid. Prompt receipt by the Court, the parties and attorneys for children
of information regarding a child's ever-changing circumstances, both as
to any child maltreatment suffered by the child and as to changes in the
child's placement, is vital to the effective exercise of the Family
Court's continuing jurisdiction and is a critical component of the
State's ability to comply with the ASFA funding eligibility mandates.
Changes in placement covered by the notification requirement would
include, but not be limited to, cases in which the child has been moved
from the foster or pre-adoptive home or program into which he or she has
been placed, cases in which the foster or pre-adoptive parents move out
of state with the child and, with respect to children not freed for
adoption, cases in which a trial or final discharge of the child from
foster care has been made. The report of a change in placement must
provide enough information for litigants and Family Court to assess
whether further judicial intervention may be warranted. It must state
the reasons for the change, as well as the grounds for the agency's
conclusion that change is in the child's best interests. This notifica-
tion requirement does not contemplate court action in every case; nor
does it interfere with the discretion of social services agencies to
make necessary changes.
Both the Adoption and Safe Families Act and recent permanency legis-
lation increased the frequency of judicial reviews of children in foster
care, thus minimizing the problem of stale information. However, the
ability of the Family Court and of the litigants to respond effectively
is seriously impeded - and harm to children may be compounded - if
information regarding significant changes in status of the children,
and, importantly, indicated reports of neglect or abuse of the children,
is not conveyed to parties until the next permanency hearing, often a
delay of several months. This measure will facilitate timely, informed
responses to changes in children's placements and incidents of maltreat-
ment, thus prompting more expeditious and effective resolution of their
cases.
This measure, which would have no fiscal impact upon the State, would
take effect immediately, provided that sections one, three, four and
five of this act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day
after it shall have become a law; and provided further that section two
of this act shall be deemed to have taken effect on the same date as
section one of chapter 342 of the laws of 2010, took effect.
REPEAL NOTE:
Section 67 of chapter 41 of the laws of 2010 contains language incon-
sistent with language in chapter 342 of the laws of 2010.
2013-14 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate 4081-B (Sen. Felder) (ref to Children and Families)
Assembly 2599-13 (M. of A. Paulin) (Passed)
2011-12 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate 5456 (Sen. Savino) (committed to Rules)
Assembly 7598 (M. of A. Paulin) (Passed)
Assembly 2602-B (M. of A. Paulin) (Passed)
2012 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate 7581 (Sen. Gallivan) (Rules)
Assembly 10520 (Committee on Rules, at request of M. of A. Paulin, et
al) (Codes)
*As in 2001, New York State scored poorly in the time for children to
achieve permanency. See Final Report of the Child and Family Services
Review of New York State: Executive Summary, p. 2 (March,
2009)(available at
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/cwrp/executive/ny/html)
**N.Y.S. Office of Children and Family Services, "Notice of Placement
Change to Attorneys for Children," Administrative Directive
10-OCFS-ADM-16 (Dec. 14, 2010); Memorandum of John B. Mattingly,
Commissioner, N.Y.C. Administration for Children's Services, entitled
"Notice of Placement Change to Attorneys for Children," dated Aug. 30,
2010,
