S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                 11102--A
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               June 5, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Ortiz) --
   read once and referred 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 executive law, in relation to expanding  the  duties
   of the office of children and family services concerning youth who are
   disproportionately likely to be runaway and/or homeless youth
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 532-e of the executive law, as amended  by  chapter
 182 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
   § 532-e. Powers  and  duties  of  the  office  of  children and family
 services. The office of children and family services shall:    [(a)]  1.
 visit,  inspect  and make periodic reports on the operation and adequacy
 of approved runaway programs and transitional independent living support
 programs;
   [(b)] 2. certify residential  facilities  providing  care  to  runaway
 and/or homeless youth, provided, however, that no certification shall be
 issued  or  renewed until it can be demonstrated that a program operated
 pursuant to this article  has  consistent  with  appropriate  collective
 bargaining  agreements  and  applicable  provisions of the civil service
 law, developed and implemented a procedure for reviewing and  evaluating
 the  backgrounds  of and the information supplied by any person applying
 to be an employee, volunteer or consultant, which shall include but  not
 be  limited to the following requirements: that the applicants set forth
 his or her employment history, provide personal  and  employment  refer-
 ences  and  sign  a sworn statement indicating whether the applicant, to
 the best of his or her knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime  in
 this state or any other jurisdiction;
   [(c)]  3.  maintain  a  register of approved runaway programs, transi-
 tional independent living support  programs  and  runaway  and  homeless
 youth service coordinators;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16104-03-8
              

 A. 11102--A                         2
 
   [(d)]  4.  submit  to  the  governor  and legislature an annual report
 detailing the numbers and characteristics of runaway and otherwise home-
 less youth throughout the state and their problems and service needs;
   [(e)]  5.  develop  and  promulgate  in consultation with county youth
 bureaus and organizations or programs which  have  had  past  experience
 dealing  with  runaway  and  homeless  youth, regulations concerning the
 coordination and integration  of  services  available  for  runaway  and
 otherwise homeless youth and prohibiting the disclosure or transferal of
 any  records  containing  the  identity  of  individual  youth receiving
 services pursuant to this section, without the written  consent  of  the
 youth; [and]
   [(f)]  6.  develop and promulgate regulations in consultation with the
 office of temporary and disability assistance concerning  the  provision
 of services by transitional independent living support programs consist-
 ent with the provisions of this article[.];
   [(g)] 7.  REQUIRE ALL EMPLOYEES OF APPROVED PROGRAMS PROVIDING CARE TO
 RUNAWAY AND/OR HOMELESS YOUTH TO COMPLETE TRAINING AS SET FORTH IN REGU-
 LATIONS  PROMULGATED  BY  THE  OFFICE.  SUCH  TRAINING SHALL REQUIRE ALL
 EMPLOYEES OF SUCH RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION AS SPEC-
 IFIED BY THE OFFICE IN THE REGULATIONS AND SHALL, AT A MINIMUM,  INCLUDE
 INSTRUCTION  IN  ISSUES  PERTAINING  TO  DEMOGRAPHICS  OF  YOUTH WHO ARE
 DISPROPORTIONATELY LIKELY TO BE  RUNAWAY  AND/OR  HOMELESS  YOUTH,  WITH
 PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON:
   (A) CHALLENGES FACED BY RUNAWAY AND/OR HOMELESS YOUTH;
   (B)  HOW TO ADDRESS VARIOUS FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AT THE RESIDENTIAL
 FACILITIES;
   (C) MAINTAINING CONFIDENTIALLY IN SENSITIVE MATTERS;
   (D) HOW TO ADDRESS THE FAMILIES OF SUCH YOUTHS; AND
   (E) HOW TO COMMUNICATE  EFFECTIVELY  IN  A  MANNER  THAT  DEMONSTRATES
 SENSITIVITY  TO THE PARTICULAR BACKGROUND AND IDENTITIES OF THE AFFECTED
 YOUTHS.
   8. in conjunction with the  commissioner  of  education,  develop  and
 annually  review  a  plan to ensure coordination and access to education
 for homeless children, in accordance  with  the  provisions  of  section
 thirty-two  hundred nine of the education law, and monitor compliance of
 residential programs for runaway and homeless youth with such plan.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.