Grants local social services districts access to criminal history information when acting within the scope of their duties under the social services law or the family court act.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7375
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 29, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the social services law, in
relation to access to court databases for local social services
districts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 835 of the executive law, as sepa-
2 rately amended by chapters 14 and 155 of the laws of 2012, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 9. "Qualified agencies" means courts in the unified court system, the
5 administrative board of the judicial conference, probation departments,
6 sheriffs' offices, district attorneys' offices, the state department of
7 corrections and community supervision, the department of correction of
8 any municipality, the financial frauds and consumer protection unit of
9 the state department of financial services, the office of professional
10 medical conduct of the state department of health for the purposes of
11 section two hundred thirty of the public health law, the [child protec-
12 tive services unit of a] local social services district when [conducting
13 an investigation pursuant to subdivision six of section four hundred
14 twenty-four of the social services law] acting within the scope of its
15 duties pursuant to the social services law or the family court act, the
16 office of Medicaid inspector general, the temporary state commission of
17 investigation, police forces and departments having responsibility for
18 enforcement of the general criminal laws of the state, the Onondaga
19 County Center for Forensic Sciences Laboratory when acting within the
20 scope of its law enforcement duties and the division of forensic
21 services of the Nassau county medical examiner's office when acting
22 within the scope of its law enforcement duties.
23 § 2. Subdivision 6 of section 398 of the social services law is
24 amended by adding a new paragraph (q) to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01035-01-9
A. 7375 2
1 (q) Investigate the criminal background of any person of or over the
2 age of eighteen who resides or is proposed to reside with or in the same
3 home as a child who is the subject of a court proceeding pursuant to
4 article three, six, seven, ten, ten-A or ten-C of the family court act.
5 For the purpose of these investigations, and subject to the rules and
6 regulations of the division of criminal justice services, local social
7 services districts may, acting through persons specifically designated
8 by the commissioner of the local social services district, access and
9 receive records maintained by the division of criminal justice services
10 pursuant to subdivision six of section eight hundred thirty-seven of the
11 executive law.
12 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 424 of the social
13 services law, as amended by chapter 281 of the laws of 2017, is amended
14 to read as follows:
15 (c) subject to rules and regulations of the division of criminal
16 justice services, a manager of the child protective services unit, or a
17 person with law enforcement background who is specifically designated by
18 the commissioner of the local social services district for this purpose,
19 shall have access to conviction records maintained by state law enforce-
20 ment agencies pertaining to persons of or over the age of eighteen years
21 who (1) are currently residing in the residence of any child who is
22 alleged to be or suspected of being abused, maltreated, or neglected or
23 who is proposed to live with such child, or (2) are named in any report
24 of suspected or alleged child abuse, maltreatment, or neglect; provided
25 that nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to contradict or
26 modify section one thousand forty-six of the family court act. Any crim-
27 inal history record provided by the division of criminal justice
28 services, and any summary of the criminal history record provided by the
29 office of children and family services to the child protective services
30 unit of a local social services district pursuant to this subdivision,
31 shall be kept confidential and shall not be made available for public
32 inspection. Child protective services units shall not indicate a report
33 solely based upon the existence of a conviction record;
34 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.