Assembly Bill A11467

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   11467
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 20, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Moreno) --
   (at request of the Unified Court System) -- read once and referred  to
   the Committee on Children and Families
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the family court act, in relation to protection of the
   confidentiality rights of youth over the age of 18 in foster care with
   respect to permanency hearings

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.    Subdivisions  (b) and (e) of section 1089 of the family
 court act, as added by section 27 of part A of chapter 3 of the laws  of
 2005,  subparagraphs  (i)  and (ii) of paragraph 1 of subdivision (b) as
 amended by chapter 573 of the laws of 2015, subparagraph (iii) of  para-
 graph  1 as amended and paragraph 1-a as added by chapter 14 of the laws
 of 2016, and paragraph 2 of subdivision (b) as amended by section  8  of
 part  B  of  chapter  327  of  the  laws of 2007, are amended to read as
 follows:
   (b) Notice of permanency hearings. (1) No  later  than  fourteen  days
 before  the  date certain for a permanency hearing scheduled pursuant to
 this section, the local social services district shall serve the  notice
 of  the  permanency hearing and the permanency hearing report by regular
 mail upon:
   (i) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH ONE-B  OF  THIS  SUBDIVISION,  the
 child's parent, including any non-respondent parent, unless the parental
 rights  of the parent have been terminated or surrendered, and any other
 person legally responsible for the  child's  care  at  the  most  recent
 address  or  addresses  known  to  the local social services district or
 agency, and the foster parent in whose home the child currently resides,
 each of whom shall be a party to the proceeding;
   (ii) the agency supervising the care of the child  on  behalf  of  the
 social  services  district  with  whom the child was placed, the child's
 attorney, and the attorney for the respondent parent; and
   (iii) the attorney for the child.
   (1-a) If the child is age ten or older, no later  than  fourteen  days
 before  the  date certain for a permanency hearing scheduled pursuant to
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14966-01-6
 A. 11467                            2
 
 this section, the local social services district shall serve the  notice
 of the permanency hearing by regular mail upon the child. Nothing herein
 shall  be  deemed  to  prevent an attorney for the child from consulting
 with the child about the child's participation in the permanency hearing
 as  required  by  section one thousand ninety-a of this article prior to
 the service of the notice required pursuant to this paragraph.
   (1-B) (I) IF THE CHILD WILL BE EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER  ON  THE
 DATE  CERTAIN  OF  THE  PERMANENCY  HEARING  SCHEDULED  PURSUANT TO THIS
 SECTION, NO LATER THAN FORTY-FIVE DAYS BEFORE  SUCH  DATE  CERTAIN,  THE
 CHILD  OR THE CHILD'S ATTORNEY MAY APPLY TO THE COURT BY MOTION OR ORDER
 TO SHOW CAUSE FOR AN ORDER DISPENSING WITH PROVISION OF THE  NOTICE  AND
 COPY  OF  THE  PERMANENCY HEARING REPORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBPARAGRAPH
 (I) OF PARAGRAPH ONE AND PARAGRAPH TWO OF THIS SUBDIVISION AND/OR FOR AN
 ORDER REDACTING PORTIONS OF  THE  PERMANENCY  HEARING  REPORT  PRIOR  TO
 DISSEMINATION  OF  THE  REPORT TO THE INDIVIDUAL OR INDIVIDUALS NAMED IN
 SUCH SUBPARAGRAPH.  THE APPLICATION SHALL SET FORTH GROUNDS  AS  TO  WHY
 THE  PROVISION  OF  SUCH  NOTICE  AND  PERMANENCY  REPORT  OR UNREDACTED
 PORTIONS OF THE REPORT TO SUCH INDIVIDUAL OR INDIVIDUALS  WOULD  VIOLATE
 THE  CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL OR OTHER INFORMATION AND WOULD NOT BE IN
 THE CHILD'S BEST INTERESTS.  THE MOTION OR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE MAY  ALSO
 REQUEST  A COURT ORDER ON CONFIDENTIALITY THAT WOULD APPLY PROSPECTIVELY
 TO ANY FUTURE PERMANENCY HEARINGS  THAT  MAY  BE  SCHEDULED  DURING  THE
 REMAINDER OF THE CHILD'S STAY IN FOSTER CARE.
   (II)  THE  MOTION  OR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FILED PURSUANT TO THIS PARA-
 GRAPH SHALL BE SERVED BY MAIL OR BY ELECTRONIC MEANS UPON SUCH  INDIVID-
 UAL  OR  INDIVIDUALS  AND  THE AGENCY SUPERVISING THE CARE OF THE CHILD,
 EACH OF WHOM SHALL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD IN PERSON OR IN WRIT-
 ING NO LATER THAN THIRTY DAYS BEFORE THE DATE CERTAIN FOR THE PERMANENCY
 HEARING.
   (III) THE COURT SHALL DETERMINE THE APPLICATION NO LATER  THAN  TWENTY
 DAYS  BEFORE  THE  DATE  CERTAIN  FOR  THE  PERMANENCY HEARING AND SHALL
 PROVIDE ITS DETERMINATION FORTHWITH TO THE AGENCY SUPERVISING  THE  CARE
 OF  THE  CHILD, THE CHILD AND THE CHILD'S ATTORNEY, SUCH THAT THE AGENCY
 CAN PROVIDE NOTICES AND PERMANENCY REPORTS, IF ANY, IN  COMPLIANCE  WITH
 PARAGRAPH  ONE  OF  THIS SUBDIVISION.   IN NO EVENT SHALL AN APPLICATION
 UNDER THIS PARAGRAPH DELAY THE PERMANENCY HEARING BEYOND  THE  DEADLINES
 SPECIFIED IN PARAGRAPH TWO OF SUBDIVISION (A) OF THIS SECTION.
   (2)  [The]  EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH ONE-B OF THIS SUBDIVISION,
 notice and the permanency hearing report shall also be provided  to  any
 pre-adoptive  parent  or relative providing care for the child and shall
 be submitted to the court. The notice of  the  permanency  hearing  only
 shall  be  provided  to  a  former foster parent in whose home the child
 previously had resided for a  continuous  period  of  twelve  months  in
 foster  care, if any, unless the court, on motion of any party or on its
 own motion, dispenses with such notice on the  basis  that  such  notice
 would  not  be in the child's best interests. However, such pre-adoptive
 parent, relative, or former foster parent, on the basis of such  notice,
 shall have the right to be heard but shall not be a party to the perman-
 ency  hearing.  The  failure  of  such  pre-adoptive parent, relative or
 former foster parent to appear at a permanency hearing shall  constitute
 a  waiver  of  the  right  to be heard. Such failure to appear shall not
 cause a delay of the permanency hearing nor be a ground for the  invali-
 dation of any order issued by the court pursuant to this section.
   (e)  Service  of court order and permanency hearing report. [A] EXCEPT
 AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH ONE-B OF SUBDIVISION (B)  OF  THIS  SECTION,  A
 copy  of  the  court  order which includes the date certain for the next
 A. 11467                            3
 
 permanency hearing  and  the  permanency  hearing  report  as  approved,
 adjusted,  or  modified  by  the  court, shall be given to the parent or
 other person legally responsible for the child.
   §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law.