Establishes a six-month moratorium on aging out of foster care allowing such children and their foster parents or caregivers to continue receiving the benefits they were eligible for prior to such child aging out and also allows children who are eligible to return to foster care upon court approval to return to foster care without such court approval and waives requirements that such children participate in vocational and educational programs; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10510--B
IN ASSEMBLY
May 22, 2020
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Barrett,
Jaffee, Hevesi) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Children
and Families -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from
said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to establish a temporary moratorium on aging out of foster care
and allowing certain children to return to foster care; and providing
for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the
2 contrary, the state shall place a moratorium on the aging out of chil-
3 dren in the foster care system. Such moratorium shall continue for six
4 months after the governor has declared that the state of emergency
5 relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has ended. During such
6 moratorium:
7 1. children who reach the age of twenty-one while in foster care shall
8 not be removed from foster care and shall have the option to remain in
9 foster care, and no youth who is over the age of eighteen shall be
10 discharged from foster care without the express consent of the youth and
11 the youth's attorney, and the foster child and foster parents or other
12 caregivers shall continue to receive any benefits such child, parents or
13 caregivers were entitled to receive prior to such child reaching such
14 age, including, but not limited to, the provision of housing and mone-
15 tary benefits, for the duration of such moratorium.
16 2. any former foster youth who requests to return to foster care, as
17 provided for in Article 10-B of the Family Court Act, shall be permitted
18 to return to placement upon request without obtaining court approval,
19 and any requirement for participation in vocational or educational
20 programs shall be waived for the duration of the moratorium provided for
21 in this legislation.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
23 deemed repealed one hundred eighty days after the governor has declared
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16495-04-0
A. 10510--B 2
1 that the state of emergency relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
2 has ended; and provided, further, that the commissioner of social
3 services shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the
4 occurrence of the expiration of the state disaster emergency declared by
5 executive order number 202 and any further amendments or modifications,
6 and as may be further extended pursuant to section 28 of the executive
7 law, in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely
8 effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New
9 York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the
10 legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law.