Relates to mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse or maltreatment at summer day camps; includes college coaches, athletic directors, professors, graduate assistants and college presidents among those required to report such suspected abuse or maltreatment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
542
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. TEDISCO, WALCZYK -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and
Families
AN ACT to amend the social services law and the public health law, in
relation to mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse or maltreat-
ment by certain persons
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 413 of the social
2 services law, as amended by section 7 of part C of chapter 57 of the
3 laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) The following persons and officials are required to report or
5 cause a report to be made in accordance with this title when they have
6 reasonable cause to suspect that a child coming before them in their
7 professional or official capacity is an abused or maltreated child, or
8 when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is an abused or
9 maltreated child where the parent, guardian, custodian or other person
10 legally responsible for such child comes before them in their profes-
11 sional or official capacity and states from personal knowledge facts,
12 conditions or circumstances which, if correct, would render the child an
13 abused or maltreated child: any physician; registered physician assist-
14 ant; surgeon; medical examiner; coroner; dentist; dental hygienist;
15 osteopath; optometrist; chiropractor; podiatrist; resident; intern;
16 psychologist; registered nurse; social worker; emergency medical techni-
17 cian; licensed creative arts therapist; licensed marriage and family
18 therapist; licensed mental health counselor; licensed psychoanalyst;
19 licensed behavior analyst; certified behavior analyst assistant; hospi-
20 tal personnel engaged in the admission, examination, care or treatment
21 of persons; a Christian Science practitioner; school official, which
22 includes but is not limited to college coach, athletic director, profes-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01852-01-5
S. 542 2
1 sor, graduate assistant, college administrator, college president,
2 school teacher, school guidance counselor, school psychologist, school
3 social worker, school nurse, school administrator or other school
4 personnel required to hold a teaching or administrative license or
5 certificate; full or part-time compensated school employee required to
6 hold a temporary coaching license or professional coaching certificate;
7 social services worker; employee of a publicly-funded emergency shelter
8 for families with children; director or any paid staff member of a chil-
9 dren's overnight camp, summer day camp or traveling summer day camp, as
10 such camps are defined in section thirteen hundred ninety-two of the
11 public health law, such paid staff members shall include, but not be
12 limited to, any individuals who may interact with children through
13 employment at such camps or employment at premises where such camps are
14 located; day care center worker; school-age child care worker; provider
15 of family or group family day care; employee or volunteer in a residen-
16 tial care facility for children that is licensed, certified or operated
17 by the office of children and family services; or any other child care
18 or foster care worker; mental health professional; substance abuse coun-
19 selor; alcoholism counselor; all persons credentialed by the office of
20 alcoholism and substance abuse services; employees, who are expected to
21 have regular and substantial contact with children, of a health home or
22 health home care management agency contracting with a health home as
23 designated by the department of health and authorized under section
24 three hundred sixty-five-l of this chapter or such employees who provide
25 home and community based services under a demonstration program pursuant
26 to section eleven hundred fifteen of the federal social security act who
27 are expected to have regular and substantial contact with children;
28 peace officer; police officer; district attorney or assistant district
29 attorney; investigator employed in the office of a district attorney; or
30 other law enforcement official.
31 § 1-a. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 413 of the social
32 services law, as amended by chapter 733 of the laws of 2023, is amended
33 to read as follows:
34 (a) The following persons and officials are required to report or
35 cause a report to be made in accordance with this title when they have
36 reasonable cause to suspect that a child coming before them in their
37 professional or official capacity is an abused or maltreated child, or
38 when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is an abused or
39 maltreated child where the parent, guardian, custodian or other person
40 legally responsible for such child comes before them in their profes-
41 sional or official capacity and states from personal knowledge facts,
42 conditions or circumstances which, if correct, would render the child an
43 abused or maltreated child: any physician; registered physician assist-
44 ant; surgeon; medical examiner; coroner; dentist; dental hygienist;
45 osteopath; optometrist; chiropractor; podiatrist; resident; intern;
46 athletic trainer; psychologist; registered nurse; social worker; emer-
47 gency medical technician; licensed creative arts therapist; licensed
48 marriage and family therapist; licensed mental health counselor;
49 licensed psychoanalyst; licensed behavior analyst; certified behavior
50 analyst assistant; hospital personnel engaged in the admission, examina-
51 tion, care or treatment of persons; a Christian Science practitioner;
52 school official, which includes but is not limited to, college coach,
53 athletic director, professor, graduate assistant, college administrator,
54 college president, school teacher, school guidance counselor, school
55 psychologist, school social worker, school nurse, school administrator
56 or other school personnel required to hold a teaching or administrative
S. 542 3
1 license or certificate; full or part-time compensated school employee
2 required to hold a temporary coaching license or professional coaching
3 certificate; social services worker; employee of a publicly-funded emer-
4 gency shelter for families with children; director or any paid staff
5 member of a children's overnight camp, summer day camp or traveling
6 summer day camp, as such camps are defined in section thirteen hundred
7 ninety-two of the public health law; such paid staff members shall
8 include, but not be limited to, any individuals who may interact with
9 children through employment at such camps or employment at premises
10 where such camps are located; day care center worker; school-age child
11 care worker; provider of family or group family day care; employee or
12 volunteer in a residential care facility for children that is licensed,
13 certified or operated by the office of children and family services; or
14 any other child care or foster care worker; mental health professional;
15 substance abuse counselor; alcoholism counselor; all persons creden-
16 tialed by the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services; employ-
17 ees, who are expected to have regular and substantial contact with chil-
18 dren, of a health home or health home care management agency contracting
19 with a health home as designated by the department of health and author-
20 ized under section three hundred sixty-five-l of this chapter or such
21 employees who provide home and community based services under a demon-
22 stration program pursuant to section eleven hundred fifteen of the
23 federal social security act who are expected to have regular and
24 substantial contact with children; peace officer; police officer;
25 district attorney or assistant district attorney; investigator employed
26 in the office of a district attorney; or other law enforcement official.
27 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 1392 of the public health law, as
28 amended by chapter 439 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as
29 follows:
30 2. "Summer day camp" shall mean a property consisting of a tract of
31 land and any tents, vehicles, buildings or other structures that may be
32 pertinent to its use, any part of which may be occupied on a scheduled
33 basis at any time between June first and September fifteenth in any year
34 by children under sixteen years of age under general supervision, for
35 the purpose of any indoor or outdoor organized group activities, involv-
36 ing one or more: (i) nonpassive recreational activities with significant
37 risk of injury, as such activities are defined by the department in
38 rules and regulations, or (ii) educational programs or activities, for a
39 period of less than twenty-four hours on any day the property is so
40 occupied, and on which no provisions are made for overnight occupancy by
41 such children. The commissioner shall have the power to except by rule
42 from this article and the sanitary code a place, facility or activity
43 that is not within the intent of this definition, provided that no
44 exception may be granted to a summer day camp which is dedicated to a
45 single activity if that activity meets the criteria of a nonpassive
46 recreational activity with significant risk of injury or is an educa-
47 tional program or activity.
48 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
49 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments to
50 paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 413 of the social services law
51 made by section one-a of this act shall take effect on the same date and
52 in the same manner as section 12 of chapter 733 of the laws of 2023,
53 takes effect. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
54 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
55 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
56 on or before such date.
