NY State Senate Bill 2023-S901

Senate Bill S901

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires child protective services to orally and in writing disclose certain information to parents and caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investigation

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Children And Families Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to children and families
Jan 09, 2023	referred to children and families

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2023-S901 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1980
Current Committee:: Senate Children And Families
Law Section:: Social Services Law
Laws Affected:: Add §424-c, Soc Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S7553, A9841
2021-2022: S5484, A6792

2023-S901 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires child protective services to orally and in writing disclose certain information to parents and caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investigation; requires such oral and written disclosure to contain certain information regarding the rights of the person under investigation.

2023-S901 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S901

SPONSOR: BRISPORT
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child
protective services to disclose certain information to parents and care-
takers who are the subject of a child protective services investigation

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one adds a new section to the social services law to require a
child protective services investigator to orally and in writing inform
parents of their rights as it relates to the investigation.

Section two sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Although child protective services (CPS) has evolved in order to ensure
that the rights of children are protected, many have criticized current
practices for not having the requisite checks and balances to ensure

that investigations are performed properly. At the crux of the problem
lie the parents who are often unaware of their legal rights when faced
with CPS.

New York law is clear that, absent a true emergency, CPS cannot enter a
home and interview children without either a court order or a parent's
permission. Caseworkers, however, often do not communicate these basic
rights to parents. Instead, they often tell parents that if they fail to
cooperate with CPS's demands immediately, their children will be
removed. The families who are pressured to allow CPS investigators into
their homes without full knowledge of their legal rights and without the
chance to speak with an attorney are overwhelmingly people of color from
low-income communities.

Current practices have led to litigation, uncertainty, and the needless
trauma that comes with invasive investigations. Parents are often left
feeling powerless, frustrated, and as if their privacy has been violated
as CPS workers check every room, searching through their cabinets, draw-
ers, and refrigerators, for what more often than not is a false or
meritless report (which may have even originated with an anonymous
complaint). This legislation would simply require that every parent who
happens to be the subject of an investigation has the knowledge of his
or her rights, through a plain-language "Parental Bill of Rights."

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-22: S5484.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S901 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    901
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 9, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  BRISPORT, JACKSON, MYRIE, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR,
   SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when  printed  to  be
   committed to the Committee on Children and Families
 
 AN  ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child
   protective services to disclose certain  information  to  parents  and
   caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investi-
   gation
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new  section
 424-c to read as follows:
   § 424-C. INFORMATION REGARDING PARENT OR CARETAKER'S RIGHTS.  A PARENT
 OR  CARETAKER  HAS  THE  RIGHT  TO RECEIVE CERTAIN INFORMATION REGARDING
 THEIR RIGHTS AT THE INITIAL POINT OF CONTACT DURING A  CHILD  PROTECTIVE
 INVESTIGATION.
   1.  AT  THE INITIAL POINT OF CONTACT WITH A PARENT OR CARETAKER, CHILD
 PROTECTIVE SERVICES SHALL ORALLY AND  IN  WRITING  DISSEMINATE,  IN  THE
 PARENT  OR  CARETAKER'S  PREFERRED  LANGUAGE,  INFORMATION REGARDING THE
 PARENT OR CARETAKER'S RIGHTS DURING SUCH INVESTIGATION AND  SHALL  DOCU-
 MENT  IN  THE CASE RECORD THAT SUCH INFORMATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO THE
 PARENT OR CARETAKER. SUCH INFORMATION SHALL INCLUDE,  BUT  NEED  NOT  BE
 LIMITED TO, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
   (A)  THE PARENT OR CARETAKER IS NOT REQUIRED, UNLESS COURT ORDERED, TO
 PERMIT THE CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE TO ENTER  THE  RESI-
 DENCE OF THE PARENT OR CARETAKER;
   (B) THE PARENT OR CARETAKER WHO IS THE SUBJECT OF THE INVESTIGATION IS
 ENTITLED TO BE INFORMED OF THE ALLEGATIONS BEING INVESTIGATED;
   (C)  THE PARENT OR CARETAKER IS NOT REQUIRED, UNLESS COURT ORDERED, TO
 SPEAK WITH THE CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE, AND ANY  STATE-
 MENT  MADE  BY  THE PARENT, CARETAKER OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBER MAY BE USED
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03741-01-3
 S. 901                              2

 
 AGAINST THE PARENT OR CARETAKER IN AN ADMINISTRATIVE OR  COURT  PROCEED-
 ING;
   (D)  THE  PARENT  OR  CARETAKER  IS  ENTITLED TO SEEK THE ADVICE OF AN
 ATTORNEY AND TO HAVE AN ATTORNEY PRESENT WHEN THE PARENT OR CARETAKER IS
 QUESTIONED BY A CHILD PROTECTIVE REPRESENTATIVE;
   (E) THE PARENT OR CARETAKER IS NOT REQUIRED, UNLESS COURT ORDERED,  TO
 ALLOW A CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE TO INTERVIEW OR EXAMINE
 A CHILD;
   (F)  THE PARENT OR CARETAKER IS NOT REQUIRED, UNLESS COURT ORDERED, TO
 AGREE TO ANY REQUESTS MADE BY  A  CHILD  PROTECTIVE  SERVICES  REPRESEN-
 TATIVE,  INCLUDING,  BUT  NOT  LIMITED TO, REQUESTS TO SIGN A RELEASE OF
 INFORMATION, TO TAKE A DRUG OR ALCOHOL TEST, OR TO  SUBMIT TO  A  MENTAL
 HEALTH EVALUATION;
   (G)  CONTACT  INFORMATION  FOR  RESOURCES  WHICH  MAY  BE AVAILABLE TO
 PARENTS AND CARETAKERS DURING A CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES INVESTIGATION,
 INCLUDING LEGAL SERVICES FROM A DESIGNATED ORGANIZATION.
   2. IF AT THE INITIAL POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE PARENT OR CARETAKER THE
 CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES WORKER HAS REASONABLE CAUSE  TO  BELIEVE  THAT
 EXIGENT  CIRCUMSTANCES  EXIST  THAT  PRESENT  AN  IMMINENT DANGER TO THE
 CHILD'S LIFE OR HEALTH AND THERE IS NO TIME TO SEEK A COURT ORDER  UNDER
 SECTION  ONE  THOUSAND  TWENTY-FOUR  OF  THE FAMILY COURT ACT, THE CHILD
 PROTECTIVE SERVICES WORKER SHALL TAKE ALL LAWFUL MEASURES  NECESSARY  TO
 PROTECT  THE  CHILD'S  LIFE OR HEALTH PRIOR TO DISSEMINATING INFORMATION
 REGARDING THE PARENT OR  CARETAKER'S  RIGHTS  DURING  THE  INVESTIGATION
 PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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