Senate Bill S2896

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S2896A

SPONSOR: RITCHIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to providing tax credit for
foster care placements

 
PURPOSE:

To provide a $2,500 credit against tax for every acceptance by a foster
care parent of a foster care placement.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends § 606 of the Tax Law by adding a new subsection estab-
lishing a credit for a foster care parent equal to $2,500 for each
foster care placement.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

              

 
EXISTING LAW:

Section 606 of the Tax Law, provides state credits against the personal
income tax. Currently, there are no state credits against tax specif-
ically for foster care parenting. At the federal level, the Child Tax
Credit is a tax credit offered by the federal government for taxpayers
raising dependent children under the age of 17.  Qualifying children
include foster children who are placed with the worker by an authorized
private or governmental placement agency.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Every year, over 2,000 children from families in crisis are taken into
custody or leave the custody of the Empire State's human services agen-
cies, joining 15,000 to 17,000 children already in New York's foster
care system. Of the 18,000 to 19,000 children, some are in care for a
few months, others may be in for years, waiting to return home, be
adopted into new families or to age out of the system.

Unfortunately, with only 8,000 to 11,000 foster care placements avail-
able from year to year, Social Service officials say they face a
constant shortage of homes where at risk infants, children and teens can
be placed, requiring New York State to pay for much more expensive resi-
dential care in institutions, group homes, and agency operated boarding
homes for thousands of children.

For families interested in foster care, New York State imposes strict
and extensive requirements they must meet before they can serve children
in crisis. Families must also undergo extensive training, obtain a
license and agree to participate in a regular monitoring program.

Foster families are not paid for undergoing the extensive training or an
hourly wage for providing 24-hour care for the children they take into
their home. They do receive financial compensation for room and boarding
costs to cover food, clothing, shelter, transportation and other needs.

A $2,500 per family tax credit would help demonstrate New York State's
appreciation to families who open their homes to these at-risk children,
while helping to reduce the costs of providing much more expensive resi-
dential care for children who currently cannot be placed in foster care
because of the continuing shortage.

Foster families are needed to help children from a wide variety of back-
grounds, including:

-Children who have lost their homes and families - Children who have
been physically, sexually or mentally abused - Children who have been in
residential treatment
-Children with developmental delays
- Children were severe physical, psychological or emotional disabilities
- Children whose families have failed to properly care for them
- Children whose families are wracked by alcohol or substance abuse Some
children are returned home after only a few months; others after a year
or more. Sometimes, children who can't go home become eligible for
adoption; others remain in foster care until age 21 when they age out of
the system.

Currently, the federal government provides a tax credit to encourage
adoptions, but foster care is currently ineligible for any tax credits.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2016: S.7272 Referred to Investigations and Government operations.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable years
beginning on or after January 1, 2018.