Requires certain entities to check the justice center's register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect and prohibits certain providers of services from hiring employees who are on the register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7938--B
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 28, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FERNANDEZ, GUNTHER -- (at request of the Justice
Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs) -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Mental Health -- reported and
referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the requirement
to check the justice center's register of substantiated category one
cases of abuse or neglect
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 495 of the social services
2 law, as added by section 1 of part B of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012,
3 are amended to read as follows:
4 2. (a) All facility and provider agencies, other providers of services
5 to vulnerable persons in programs licensed, certified or funded by any
6 state oversight agency, overnight, summer day and traveling summer day
7 camps for children subject to the provisions of article thirteen-B of
8 the public health law, any provider defined in paragraph (a) of subdivi-
9 sion six of section twenty-eight hundred ninety-nine of the public
10 health law and, except for a state or local governmental official who
11 receives an application for a permit to operate a camp that is subject
12 to the provisions of article thirteen-B of the public health law, other
13 provider and licensing agencies as defined in subdivision three or four
14 of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this chapter shall check the
15 register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect before
16 determining whether to hire or otherwise allow any person as an employ-
17 ee, administrator, consultant, intern, volunteer or contractor who will
18 have the potential for regular and substantial contact with a service
19 recipient or before approving an applicant for a license, certificate,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09221-06-9
A. 7938--B 2
1 permit or other approval to provide care to a service recipient. (For
2 state entities bound by collective bargaining, such action established
3 by collective bargaining shall govern.)
4 (b) An inquiry regarding any current employee, administrator, consult-
5 ant, intern, volunteer or contractor who will have the potential for
6 regular and substantial contact with a service recipient may be made
7 only once in any six-month period.
8 3. If a person is listed on the register of substantiated category one
9 cases of abuse or neglect, a facility or provider agency and all other
10 providers of services to vulnerable persons in programs licensed or
11 certified by any state oversight agency shall not hire such a person to
12 have regular and substantial contact with a service recipient in any
13 such facility or program. Other providers of services defined in subdi-
14 vision two of this section, except providers or licensing agencies as
15 defined in subdivision three or four of section four hundred twenty-
16 four-a of this chapter, shall not hire such a person for any position in
17 which the person would have the potential for regular and substantial
18 contact with persons to whom they would be providing care, if the
19 prospective employee is listed on the register of substantiated category
20 one cases of abuse or neglect. Other providers or licensing agencies as
21 defined in subdivision three or four of section four hundred twenty-
22 four-a of this chapter shall determine whether to hire or allow such a
23 person to have regular or substantial contact with a service recipient
24 in accordance with the provisions of subdivision five of section four
25 hundred twenty-four-a of this chapter.
26 § 2. Subdivision 7 of section 424-a of the social services law, as
27 added by section 8 of part D of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is
28 amended to read as follows:
29 7. Any facility[,] or provider agency, [or program] as defined in
30 subdivision four of section four hundred eighty-eight of this chapter,
31 that is required to conduct an inquiry pursuant to section four hundred
32 ninety-five of this chapter before determining whether to hire or other-
33 wise allow any person as an employee, administrator, consultant, intern,
34 volunteer or contractor who will have the potential for regular and
35 substantial contact with a service recipient shall first conduct the
36 inquiry required under such section. If the result of the inquiry under
37 section four hundred ninety-five of this chapter is that the person
38 about whom the inquiry is made is on the register of substantiated cate-
39 gory one cases of abuse or neglect and [the] such facility or provider
40 agency is required to deny the application in accordance with article
41 eleven of this chapter, the facility or provider agency shall not be
42 required to make an inquiry of the office under this section.
43 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that
44 section one of this act shall take effect one year after it shall have
45 become a law and shall apply to any person who is a prospective employ-
46 ee, administrator, consultant, intern, volunteer, or contractor consid-
47 ered for any position in which they would have regular and substantial
48 contact with persons to whom they would be providing care, on or after
49 such date.
