STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4549
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 17, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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, in relation to the availability
of information regarding day care services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 390 of the social services law is
2 amended by adding three new paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) to read as
3 follows:
4 (g) "Serious injury" shall mean a serious impairment of physical
5 condition, including, but not limited to, the following: loss of
6 consciousness; concussion; bone fracture; protracted loss or impairment
7 of function of any bodily member or organ; a wound requiring extensive
8 suturing; and serious disfigurement.
9 (h) "Summary day care service inspection report" shall mean a report
10 that includes, at a minimum, the following information:
11 (i) the name of the day care service;
12 (ii) the name of the day care service licensee;
13 (iii) the day care service license number and expiration date;
14 (iv) the address of the day care service;
15 (v) the date of the most recent inspection;
16 (vi) the maximum number of children authorized to be present at any
17 one time as specified in the day care service license;
18 (vii) any violations identified by the department during inspections
19 conducted over the past three years; and
20 (vii) whether a license has been ordered suspended or revoked in the
21 past twelve months; whether a day care service has, during the past
22 three years, been ordered closed because its continued operation repres-
23 ented a danger to the health or safety of children; and the terms and
24 conditions, if any, under which such day care service has been allowed
25 to reopen and is authorized to operate.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02235-01-7
S. 4549 2
1 (i) "Violation" shall mean a citation issued by the department which
2 alleges that a day care service has failed to comply with a provision of
3 applicable law, rule or regulation.
4 § 2. Section 390 of the social services law is amended by adding a new
5 subdivision 2-b to read as follows:
6 2-b (a) Every applicant for a new or renewal license to operate a day
7 care service shall disclose whether a serious injury or the death of a
8 child in its care, or the care of any of its owners, directors, employ-
9 ees, volunteers or agents, has occurred. Every such license applicant
10 shall further disclose any civil or criminal court verdicts holding that
11 the applicant, or any of its owners, directors, employees, volunteers or
12 agents, was responsible for such serious injury or death of a child, or
13 administrative agency decisions holding or finding that there is credi-
14 ble evidence that the applicant, or any of its owners, directors,
15 employees, volunteers or agents, was responsible for such serious injury
16 or death of a child, and whether any legal proceeding involving the
17 serious injury or death of a child is pending against the applicant, or
18 any of its owners, directors, employees, volunteers or agents. The
19 department shall deny such a license unless, on the basis of the appli-
20 cation and other papers submitted, including the information provided
21 pursuant to this subdivision, and on the basis of department investi-
22 gation, if any, it is satisfied that the provisions of the sanitary code
23 and other applicable law will be met. The death of a child or the occur-
24 rence of more than one incident resulting in a serious injury to a child
25 or children in the care of an applicant shall create a presumption in
26 any proceeding brought by the department to deny or revoke such a
27 license of the inability of the applicant to comply with the provisions
28 of said code or other applicable law. Nothing herein shall otherwise
29 limit the department's authority to deny the issuance or renewal of a
30 license or to revoke a permit.
31 (b) To the extent permissible by law, where the department has
32 received written notification that a person with responsibility for
33 oversight and direction of a day care service has a felony conviction at
34 any time for a sex offense, crime against a child, or a crime involving
35 violence, or a felony conviction within the past five years for a drug-
36 related offense, the department shall, when consistent with article
37 twenty-three-A of the correction law, deny the application for a permit
38 to operate such day care service.
39 § 3. Section 390 of the social services law is amended by adding a new
40 subdivision 3-a to read as follows:
41 3-a. (a) Following each inspection of a day care service, the depart-
42 ment shall post a summary day care service inspection report on the
43 department's website and shall make summary day care service inspection
44 reports.
45 (b) Every day care service must post a sign in a conspicuous place
46 near its public entrance or entrances stating that the most recent
47 summary day care service inspection report may be accessed through the
48 website of the department. The sign, whose form and content shall be
49 provided or approved by the department, shall be printed in clear and
50 legible type, in such a manner as to be readily visible to parents or
51 other persons entering the day care service and shall provide
52 instructions on how to gain access to the summary day care service
53 inspection reports through the department's website.
54 § 4. Subdivision 8 of section 390 of the social services law, as added
55 by chapter 750 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
S. 4549 3
1 8. (a) The department shall establish and maintain a list of all
2 current registered and licensed child day care programs and a list of
3 all programs whose license or registration has been revoked, rejected,
4 terminated, or suspended. Such information shall be available to the
5 public, pursuant to procedures developed by the department.
6 (b) The department shall report to an appropriate state agency any
7 serious injury or death of a child in day care services which has been
8 reported to the department in accordance with applicable law, rules and
9 regulations. Such report shall include the name of the day care service
10 and the day care service licensee of any day care service in which a
11 serious injury or death of a child has occurred.
12 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
13 it shall have become a law.