S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
5565
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 13, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. V. LOPEZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act and the social services law, in
relation to the admissibility of reports of suspected abuse in child
protective proceedings
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (v) of subdivision (a) of section 1046 of the
family court act, as amended by chapter 64 of the laws of 1981, is
amended to read as follows:
(v) any report filed with the statewide central register of child
abuse and maltreatment WHICH WAS WRITTEN by a person or official
required to do so pursuant to section four hundred thirteen of the
social services law shall be admissible in evidence AS PROOF THAT SUCH A
REPORT WAS MADE; and
S 2. Section 415 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 323
of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
S 415. Reporting procedure. Reports of suspected child abuse or
maltreatment made pursuant to this title shall be made immediately by
telephone or by telephone facsimile machine on a form supplied by the
commissioner of the office of children and family services. Oral reports
shall be followed by a report in writing within forty-eight hours after
such oral report. Oral reports shall be made to the statewide central
register of child abuse and maltreatment unless the appropriate local
plan for the provision of child protective services provides that oral
reports should be made to the local child protective service. In those
localities in which oral reports are made initially to the local child
protective service, the child protective service shall immediately make
an oral or electronic report to the statewide central register. Written
reports shall be made to the appropriate local child protective service
except that written reports involving children in residential care, as
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08382-01-9
A. 5565 2
defined in subdivision four of section four hundred twelve-a of this
title, or being cared for in a home operated or supervised by an author-
ized agency, office of children and family services, or an office of the
department of mental hygiene, shall be made to the statewide central
register of child abuse and maltreatment which shall transmit the
reports to the agency responsible for investigating the report, in
accordance with paragraph (a) or (c) of subdivision eleven of section
four hundred twenty-two or section four hundred twenty-four-b of this
title, as applicable. Written reports shall be made in a manner
prescribed and on forms supplied by the commissioner of the office of
children and family services and shall include the following informa-
tion: the names and addresses of the child and his or her parents or
other person responsible for his or her care, if known, and, as the case
may be, the name and address of the residential care facility or program
in which the child resides or is receiving care; the child's age, sex
and race; the nature and extent of the child's injuries, abuse or
maltreatment, including any evidence of prior injuries, abuse or
maltreatment to the child or, as the case may be, his or her siblings;
the name of the person or persons alleged to be responsible for causing
the injury, abuse or maltreatment, if known; family composition, where
appropriate; the source of the report; the person making the report and
where he or she can be reached; the actions taken by the reporting
source, including the taking of photographs and x-rays, removal or keep-
ing of the child or notifying the medical examiner or coroner; and any
other information which the commissioner of the office of children and
family services may, by regulation, require, or the person making the
report believes might be helpful, in the furtherance of the purposes of
this title. Notwithstanding the privileges set forth in article forty-
five of the civil practice law and rules, and any other provision of law
to the contrary, mandated reporters who make a report which initiates an
investigation of an allegation of child abuse or maltreatment are
required to comply with all requests for records made by a child protec-
tive service relating to such report, including records relating to
diagnosis, prognosis or treatment, and clinical records, of any patient
or client that are essential for a full investigation of allegations of
child abuse or maltreatment pursuant to this title; provided, however,
that disclosure of substance abuse treatment records shall be made
pursuant to the standards and procedures for disclosure of such records
delineated in federal law. [Written reports from persons or officials
required by this title to report shall be admissible in evidence in any
proceedings relating to child abuse or maltreatment.]
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.