Requires child protective services to orally and in writing disclose certain information to parents and caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investigation and requires such oral and written disclosure to contain certain information regarding the rights of the person under investigation.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7553--A
IN SENATE
January 24, 2020
___________
Introduced by Sen. MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child
protective services to disclose certain information to parents and
caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investi-
gation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section
2 424-c to read as follows:
3 § 424-c. Information regarding parent or caretaker's rights. At the
4 initial point of contact with a parent or caretaker who is the subject
5 of a child protective services investigation, child protective services
6 shall orally and in writing disseminate in plain language to the parent
7 or caretaker information regarding the parent or caretaker's rights
8 during such investigation and shall document in the case record that
9 such information has been provided to the parent or caretaker. Such
10 information shall include, but need not be limited to, the following
11 information:
12 1. The parent or caretaker is not required, unless court ordered, to
13 permit the child protective services representative to enter the resi-
14 dence of the parent or caretaker;
15 2. The parent or caretaker is entitled to be informed of the allega-
16 tions being investigated;
17 3. The parent or caretaker is not required, unless court ordered, to
18 speak with the child protective services representative, and any state-
19 ment made by the parent, caretaker or other family member may be used
20 against the parent or caretaker in an administrative or court proceed-
21 ing;
22 4. The parent or caretaker is entitled to seek the advice of an attor-
23 ney and to have an attorney present when the parent or caretaker is
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14759-02-0
S. 7553--A 2
1 questioned by a child protective services or administration for chil-
2 dren's services representative;
3 5. The parent or caretaker is not required, unless court ordered, to
4 allow a child protective services representative to interview or examine
5 a child;
6 6. The parent or caretaker is not required, unless court ordered, to
7 agree to any requests made by a child protective services represen-
8 tative, including, but not limited to, requests to sign a release of
9 information, to take a drug or alcohol test, or to submit to a mental
10 health evaluation;
11 7. Contact information for resources which may be available to parents
12 and caretakers during a child protective services investigation, includ-
13 ing legal services from a designated organization.
14 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.