Senate Bill S3953

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3953

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the family court act, in relation to an order of
protection

 PURPOSE :
This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his Family
Court Advisory and Rules Committee.

 JUSTIFICATION :
Reflecting the need to provide due process to parents in all
proceedings in which their children may be placed in foster care, the
Adoption and Safe Families Act, as implemented in New York State
pursuant to chapter 7 of the Laws of 1999, requires that petitions and
orders regarding voluntary foster care placements and reviews contain
a notice in conspicuous print informing the parents that "if the child
remains in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the agency
may be required by law to file a petition to terminate parental
rights. See. Social Services Law § 358-a((2) (a), 358-a(3), 392(6)).
Prior to accepting an admission in a child abuse or neglect case, the
Family Court is required to give a similar notice and such a notice
must also be included in conspicuous print on any orders of placement
issued in such cases. See Family Court Act §§1051(f) (ii), 1055(b)
(vi) (8). However, the provisions of law regarding initial summonses
              

and petitions in child abuse and neglect proceedings do not clearly
require this notice; nor is the notice that is given to parents, who
are not named as respondents in these cases, as complete as it should
be with respect to the possible consequences of prolonged foster care.
Accordingly, on the advice of our Family Court Advisory and Rules
Committee, we propose this measure to remedy this gap by amending
section 1035 of the Family Court Act.  In order to harmonize the
notice required to be affixed to child abuse summonses prior to
enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act with the ASFA notice
regarding prolonged foster care, this measure would amend subdivision
(b) of section 1035 of the Family Court Act.  It also would amend
subdivisions (d) and (e) of that section to clarify that
non-respondent parents in child abuse and neglect proceedings would be
required to be notified of their standing to appear, to participate
and to request custody of the children. The parents would also have to
be notified that if the children are placed in foster care for a
period of 15 months in a 22-month period, the parents may be the
subjects of proceedings to terminate their parental rights, whether or
not they were respondents in the child neglect or abuse case.  The
notice would further provide that the court, upon good cause, would
have discretion to order the child protective agency to investigate
whether the non-respondent parents should be added to petitions as
respondents. Finally, the notice would provide that if the court
determines that children must be removed from the home, the court may
order an investigation to determine whether the non-respondent parents
would be suit able custodians for the children.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
03/27/07 REFERRED TO SOCIAL SERVICES, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
01/09/08 REFERRED TO SOCIAL SERVICES, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately.