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S03938 Summary:

BILL NOS03938A
 
SAME ASSAME AS A00065-A
 
SPONSORHOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
COSPNSRBRISPORT, FERNANDEZ, ROLISON
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §398-f, Soc Serv L
 
Directs the office of victim services, in consultation with the office for the prevention of domestic violence, to establish a statewide supervised visitation initiative including culturally sensitive services that provide language access for those who need it and that are affordable for those with limited means to pay; requires the submission of regular assessments and reports.
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S03938 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         3938--A
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 30, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, BRISPORT, ROLISON -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Children  and  Families  -- reported favorably from said committee and
          committed to the Committee on Finance --  committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee
 
        AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to  the  establish-
          ment  of  a statewide supervised visitation initiative to support safe
          and structured parenting time
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section
     2  398-f to read as follows:
     3    § 398-f. Supervised visitation to support safe and structured  parent-
     4  ing  time.    1.  The legislature finds and declares that professionally
     5  supervised visitation programs are often  necessary  in  order  to  keep
     6  families safe, to foster healthy family relationships and to further the
     7  best  interests  of  children  in  family offense, child protective, and
     8  custody and visitation proceedings in supreme and family courts.  Recog-
     9  nizing  that  a  large  number of counties have no supervised visitation
    10  programs at all and, of those that have  such  programs,  the  need  far
    11  exceeds  the  availability  of  the  programs,  it is the intent of this
    12  section to provide state support for the establishment of at  least  one
    13  program  in  every county that does not have one and, for those counties
    14  and cities that have programs, to expand their reach to meet  the  need.
    15  Such  programs  may  be  essential  in  cases involving family violence,
    16  mental health, or other cases in which supervision is vital to meet  the
    17  needs of the parent and/or child.
    18    2.  Within grant funds appropriated by the state for this purpose, the
    19  office of victim services, in  consultation  with  the  office  for  the
    20  prevention  of domestic violence, shall establish a statewide supervised
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00032-03-5

        S. 3938--A                          2
 
     1  visitation initiative to support safe  and  structured  parenting  time,
     2  that  shall  include culturally sensitive services that provide language
     3  access for those who need it and that  are  affordable  for  those  with
     4  limited  means  to pay. The office of victim services shall require each
     5  county and New York City to submit annual assessments of the local needs
     6  for supervised visitation services, as well as  plans  for  meeting  the
     7  assessed needs and for collecting data regarding usage and effectiveness
     8  of  the  programs.  The  submissions  shall  specify  the services to be
     9  provided, the estimated number of children and families to be served  by
    10  the programs, the estimated number of fee waivers and the estimated cost
    11  of  the  programs.  The  submissions  may include plans to contract with
    12  private non-profit organizations for services  and  may  include  multi-
    13  county  programs if geographically accessible for families utilizing the
    14  programs. The plan for such programs shall be included in the  district-
    15  wide child welfare services plan pursuant to section four hundred nine-d
    16  of this article.
    17    3.  Such  programs  shall be made available to comply with supreme and
    18  family court temporary and final orders requiring such supervision as  a
    19  condition  of access to children and shall include provisions for waiver
    20  of fees for users of such programs  who  cannot  afford  to  pay.  Where
    21  directed  by  the court, the programs shall provide reports to the court
    22  at the end of the visitation period and as the court otherwise directs.
    23    4. The office of victim services shall promulgate  regulations  neces-
    24  sary to implement this section and shall submit a report to the legisla-
    25  ture  and governor one year after the effective date of this section and
    26  annually  thereafter.  The  report  shall  provide  data  regarding  the
    27  programs  in each county, shall evaluate the effectiveness of the state-
    28  wide initiative in meeting local needs and shall include recommendations
    29  for enhancing the initiative.
    30    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    31  it shall have become a law.
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