Senate Bill S2170

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S2170

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to prohibiting
the condition of benefits and services received by victims of domestic
abuse on the cooperation of the perpetrator of such abuse


 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
The bill would amend the Social Services Law by adding a new Section
459-g. The section provides that neither the state nor any political
subdivision thereof, public authority or employee thereof shall compel
a victim of domestic violence to contact his or her abuser. The
section further provides that in the event such contact must be made,
the governmental entity shall provide an intermediary to make such
contact on behalf of the victim in a manner that will protect the
privacy confidentiality and current location of the victim.

 PURPOSE & JUSTIFICATION :
To ensure the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence.

Presently, there are excessively stringent screening processes
regarding the criminal records of all tenants in public housing.
While this is an admirable goal, this policy is putting many battered
women at risk and has even denied public housing apartments up to
3,500 women who have been victims of domestic violence. There are also
              

other occasions where a victim of domestic violence may be forced to
contact their abuser in order to gain benefits or enforce rights to
which they are entitled.

According to one screening process, for example, applicants must prove
that they have lived separately from their former ex-boyfriends or
husbands that have been previously convicted of a crime. The screening
process requires that the applicant produce three pieces of
identification (such as a utility bill or credit card statement)
stating that the person convicted of a crime does not live with the
applicant at the present time. This is putting many domestic violence
survivors at risk, causing them to come in contact with their former
abusers, the same ones that they are trying to separate themselves
from.

In the case of the domestic violence victim, confidentiality and
separation is essential for survival. Requiring men or women to make
contact with their former abusers is endangering their well being.
This bill will ensure that any agency or authority cannot compel a
domestic violence victim to contact his or her abuser.

Recognizing that at times contact must be made to comply with state or
federal mandates, the bill requires such contact through a
confidential intermediary to be provided by the governmental entity
that requires such information in a way that protects the victim.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
2008 - S.2963-A/A.620-A -- CHILD & FAM/Social Services
2007 - S.2963-A/A/620-A -- CHILD & FAM/Social Services
2006 - S.6608/A.10685 -- CHILD & FAM/Social Services
2004 - S.6128/A.4608 -- CHILD & FAM/Social Services
2003 - A.4608 -- Social Services
2000 - S.4814/A.1605 -- CHILD & FAM/Social Services
1999 - S.4814/A.1605 -- CHILD & FAM/Codes
1998 - S.4875/A.4503-A -- CHILD & FAM/Social Services
1997 - S.4875/A.4503-A -- CHILD & FAM/Codes

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.