BILL NUMBER:  S6013

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the public health law and the
education law, in relation to certain immunization and education
responsibilities for minors

 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

This bill amends the Public Health Law Section 2164 and Education Law
Section 3212 to include non-parents who possess lawful orders of
custody in the definition of persons in parental relation who may make
certain health and education decisions for minors or incapacitated
persons in their care

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 2164 of this bill would amend the current Public Health Law §
2164 to include non-parents who possess lawful orders of custody as
persons in parental relation of minors or incapacitated person, with
limited authority under the public health law, to consent to certain
immunizations.

Section 3212 of this bill would amend the current Education Law § 3212
to include non-parents who have lawful orders of custody as persons in
parental relation of minors or incapacitated person, with limited
authority under the education law, to be responsible for school
              

attendance and certain schooling decisions.

 EXISTING LAW :

Public Health Law section 2164 permits a person in parental relation
to be responsible for providing consent to certain immunizations of
minors. Education law 3212 permits a person in parental relation to be
responsible for attendance at school and other schooling duties for
minors or incapacitated persons. Both provisions include a "father or
mother, by birth or adoption, his step-father or step-mother, his
legally appointed guardian, or his custodian. A person shall be
regarded as the custodian of another individual if he has assumed the
charge and care of such individual because the parents or legally
appointed guardian of such individual have died, are imprisoned, are
mentally ill, or have been committed to an institution, or because,
they have abandoned or deserted such individual or are living outside
the state or their whereabouts are unknown, or have designated the
person pursuant to title fifteen-A of article five of the general
obligations law as a person in parental relation to the child."

Notably, the definition of person in parental relations and
"custodian" omit persons possessing lawful orders of custody.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Public Health Law Section 2164 and Education Law Section 3212 must be
amended to include persons having lawful orders of custody as persons
in parental relation who may make certain health and schooling related
decisions for minors.

Public Health Law Section 2164 and Education Law Section 3212 define
who may be a "person in parental relation". Such persons have limited
powers regarding responsibility for schooling, school enrollment, and
immunizations of children in their care. The definitions do not
include persons possessing lawful orders of custody from a court of
competent jurisdiction. Since many non-parent caregivers have such
orders and since already Domestic Relations Law Section 74 and Family
Court Act Section 657 provide that guardians and legal custodians can
enroll children in school, there is a need to establish conformity of

powers for legal custodians in relation to certain health and
schooling duties.

According to the U.S. Census American Community Survey data, in New
York State, there are more than 130,000 grandparent "kinship"
families. Together with aunts, uncles and other family members,
estimates are as many as 200,000 kinship families are raising 300,000
children in New York State. Kinship caregivers are defined as
non-parents, including grandparents, blood relatives, and close family
friends who provide fulltime care and control of children in their
household. Studies show that children placed in care with relatives
fare much better emotionally and intellectually than children who go
into foster care with strangers (Marc Winokur, Amy Holtan, and Deborah
Valentine, "Kinship Care for the Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being of
Children Removed From the Home for Maltreatment," Campbell Systematic
Reviews 1 (2009), doi:10.4073/ csr.2009.1; Rubin, D., Springer, S. H.,
Zlotnik, S., & Kang-Yi, C. D.  (2017). Needs of Kinship Care Families
and Pediatric Practice.  Pediatrics, 139(4), e20170099.
doi:10.1542/peds.2017-0099; National Survey of Child and Adolescent
Well-Being (NSCAW), CPS Sample Component Wave 1 Data Analysis Report,
Washington, DC: U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, April 2005.)

While the Office of Court Administration does not maintain data on the
number of non-parent caregivers awarded legal custody or guardianship,
it is commonly acknowledged that in many family courts kinship
caregivers pursuant to Article Six section 651 are independently
awarded orders of legal custody. According to the Office for Children
and Family Services, it is also common practice that relatives are
often given orders of custody of children who are at risk of being
removed from their parents by Child Protective Services pursuant to
Family Court Act 1017(2)(a)(i), 1055(a) or 1089(b).

The omission of persons possessing lawful orders of custody from the
public health law definition of person in parental relation who may be
responsible for consenting to the certain immunizations of minors does
not comport with the realities of kinship care where many legal
custodians are responsible for routine health care and immunizations.

Family Court Act Section 657(a) and Domestic Relations Law Section
74(1)currently require that school districts permit parents,
guardians, and persons having lawful orders of custody to enroll a
minor child in school. However, the omission of persons possessing
lawful orders of custody from the Education Law definition of person
in parental relations omits such persons from having responsibility
for attendance at school and other schooling related duties.

By expanding the law to include caregivers possessing lawful orders of
custody, tens of thousands of legal custodians will have the
appropriate health and education responsibilities that comport with
the realities of caregiving.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is new bill.

 FISCAL IMPACT :

No anticipated budget implications.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
The bill would be effective immediately.