S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
550--A
Cal. No. 1037
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
(PREFILED)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ,
GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, MURRAY, MYRIE, RAMOS,
RIVERA, ROLISON, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, WEBB -- read
twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the
Committee on Children and Families -- reported favorably from said
committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- reported favor-
ably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered
to a third reading, passed by Senate and delivered to the Assembly,
recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third reading, amended and
ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the adminis-
tration of the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreat-
ment
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 422 of the social
services law, as amended by section 6 of subpart A of part JJ of chapter
56 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The central register shall be capable of receiving telephone calls
alleging child abuse or maltreatment and of immediately identifying
prior reports of child abuse or maltreatment and capable of monitoring
the provision of child protective service twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week. To effectuate this purpose, but subject to the provisions
of the appropriate local plan for the provision of child protective
services, there shall be a single statewide telephone number that all
persons, whether mandated by the law or not, may use to make telephone
calls alleging child abuse or maltreatment and that all persons so
authorized by this title may use for determining the existence of prior
reports in order to evaluate the condition or circumstances of a child.
In addition to the single statewide telephone number, there shall be a
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00298-05-5
S. 550--A 2
special unlisted express telephone number and a telephone facsimile
number for use only by persons mandated by law to make telephone calls,
or to transmit telephone facsimile information on a form provided by the
commissioner of children and family services, alleging child abuse or
maltreatment, and for use by all persons so authorized by this title for
determining the existence of prior reports in order to evaluate the
condition or circumstances of a child. When any allegations contained in
such telephone calls could reasonably constitute a report of child abuse
or maltreatment, after utilizing protocols that would reduce implicit
bias from the decision-making process, such allegations, THE CALLER'S
NAME, THE CALLER'S CONTACT INFORMATION and any previous reports to the
central registry involving the subject of such report or children named
in such report, including any previous report containing allegations of
child abuse and maltreatment alleged to have occurred in other counties
and districts in New York state shall be immediately transmitted orally
or electronically by the office of children and family services to the
appropriate local child protective service for investigation. The
inability of the person calling the register to identify the alleged
perpetrator shall, in no circumstance, constitute the sole cause for the
register to reject such allegation or fail to transmit such allegation
for investigation. If the records indicate a previous report concerning
a subject of the report, the child alleged to be abused or maltreated, a
sibling, other children in the household, other persons named in the
report or other pertinent information, the appropriate local child
protective service shall be immediately notified of the fact. If the
report involves either (i) an allegation of an abused child described in
paragraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of subdivision (e) of section one thousand
twelve of the family court act or sexual abuse of a child or the death
of a child or (ii) suspected maltreatment which alleges any physical
harm when the report is made by a person required to report pursuant to
section four hundred thirteen of this title within six months of any
other two reports that were indicated, or may still be pending, involv-
ing the same child, sibling, or other children in the household or the
subject of the report, the office of children and family services shall
identify the report as such and note any prior reports when transmitting
the report to the local child protective services for investigation.
§ 2. Subdivision 2 of section 422 of the social services law is
amended by adding two new paragraphs (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(D) A CALLER MAKING A REPORT OF SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE OR MALTREATMENT
TO THE CENTRAL REGISTRY SHALL BE ASKED FOR THEIR NAME AND CONTACT INFOR-
MATION. NO REPORT SHALL BE TRANSMITTED TO A LOCAL CHILD PROTECTIVE
SERVICE FOR INVESTIGATION UNLESS THE CALLER'S NAME AND CONTACT INFORMA-
TION IS PROVIDED. EXCEPT FOR DISCLOSURES AUTHORIZED BY SUBPARAGRAPHS
(A) THROUGH (C) AND (E) THROUGH (BB) OF PARAGRAPH (A) OF SUBDIVISION
FOUR OF THIS SECTION, AND DISCLOSURE TO THE LOCAL CHILD PROTECTIVE
SERVICE AS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION,
NEITHER THE COMMISSIONER NOR THE CENTRAL REGISTER SHALL RELEASE THE NAME
AND CONTACT INFORMATION OF A CALLER WHO MADE A REPORT OF SUSPECTED CHILD
ABUSE OR MALTREATMENT UNLESS ORDERED BY AN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE OR A
COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THIS PROVISION
SHALL NOT APPLY TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE MANDATED TO REPORT SUSPECTED
CHILD ABUSE OR MALTREATMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION FOUR HUNDRED THIRTEEN OF
THIS TITLE. PRIOR TO THE ENTRY OF ANY SUCH ORDER, THE PETITIONER OR
SOCIAL SERVICES OFFICIAL MAY MOVE FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER TO WITHHOLD THE
IDENTITY OF SUCH INDIVIDUAL IF SUCH DISCLOSURE IS LIKELY TO ENDANGER THE
S. 550--A 3
LIFE OR HEALTH OF THE PERSON REPORTING SUCH SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE OR
MALTREATMENT.
(E) IF A CALLER DECLINES TO PROVIDE THEIR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMA-
TION, THEY WILL BE CONNECTED WITH A SUPERVISOR AT THE CENTRAL REGISTER,
WHO WILL INFORM THE CALLER OF THE STATUTORY PROVISIONS THAT PROTECT
CALLERS' CONFIDENTIALITY. IF THE CALLER DECLINES TO PROVIDE THEIR NAME
AND CONTACT INFORMATION TO THE SUPERVISOR, THE SUPERVISOR SHALL INFORM
THE CALLER THAT (I) CONCERNS OF SUSPECTED ABUSE OR MALTREATMENT MAY BE
ADDRESSED THROUGH SUPPORT SERVICES IF THE CALLER CONTACTS THE DEPART-
MENT'S HEARS FAMILY LINE OR COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE PROVIDERS AND (II)
KNOWINGLY REPORTING FALSE, RETALIATORY OR BASELESS ALLEGATIONS IS A
VIOLATION OF SUBDIVISION FOUR OF SECTION 240.50 OF THE PENAL LAW.
§ 3. Subdivision 7 of section 422 of the social services law, as
amended by chapter 434 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as
follows:
7. At any time, a subject of a report and other persons named in the
report may receive, upon request, a copy of all information contained in
the central register; provided, however, THAT THE OFFICE OF CHILDREN AND
FAMILY SERVICES SHALL NOT RELEASE INFORMATION IDENTIFYING A PERSON WHO
MADE A REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION FOUR HUNDRED FOURTEEN OF THIS TITLE
EXCEPT WITH THAT PERSON'S PERMISSION OR PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (B) OF
SECTION ONE THOUSAND THIRTY-EIGHT OF THE FAMILY COURT ACT OR PURSUANT TO
SECTION FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-FOUR-A OF THIS TITLE; AND that the commis-
sioner is authorized to prohibit the release of data that would identify
the person who made the report or who cooperated in a subsequent inves-
tigation or the agency, institution, organization, program or other
entity where such person is employed or with which [he] SUCH PERSON is
associated, which [he] THE COMMISSIONER reasonably finds will be detri-
mental to the safety or interests of such person.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
section one of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth
day after it shall have become a law.
Removing the general public's ability to be anonymous is not the answer and cause result in the detriment of many children's lives. This bill could completely eliminate the security that many public callers have when it comes to reporting child abuse and neglect. I understand some people abuse the system, but there are protocols to trace back to those people and get legal entities involved for criminal prosecution. Instead of completely eliminating people's right to report an anonymous tip on behalf of a child's life, investment should be made on improving the criminal prosecution of those who abuse the system. The amount of people who abuse the system appears to be far less compared to those reporting anonymously in good faith. If the anonymous caller option is removed for some people, this means detrimental consequences for many children who are being abused/neglected. Some of the consequences that border the line of life and death. Many people will just not report or take action at all out of fear of being discovered and the ramification associated with that. Many people do not report now because of that fear or will only report anonymously because if they are discovered that could result in consequences including some as severe as putting their lives at risk depending on the situation and area in which they live. It can be a domestic violence victim or someone that was previously threatened with a weapon by the family they are reporting on. They could be reporting anonymously out of fear of gang violence retaliation. These examples seem extreme but are the reasonings provided by anonymous callers. The issues presented in this bill, although valid are not the norm when it comes to the amount of anonymous callers that come through the system. The majority are valid and are an act of good faith. I have heard many stories of those anonymous callers not wanting to risk their own safety to potentially save the life of a child because of the risk to their own lives, which is very understandable. People can risk their jobs, livelihood and safety to report anonymously on behalf of a child. There can be very serious ramifications of outwardly denying someone the ability to make a report anonymously. Now for an alternative solution, if the state wants to minimize abuse of the system and enhance the way investigations pan out, the best route is not to strong arm people but rather reform what we already have in place. Enhancing the legal protocols and tracing for false child abuse reporting's, being harder and more consistent with those penalties for those specific people. For two, if you want to minimize anonymous callers but still be able to access those abuse/neglected children so they are not ignored, it would be best to develop another social services hotline where people can give anonymous tips or have the State Central Registry do a warm transfer/direct referral to Law Enforcement. It will then go to law enforcement to conduct a mandatory child welfare check. Law Enforcement can then circle back to the State Central Registry with filing a mandated report if any abuse/neglect is discovered during the welfare check. This will help ensure no gaps for these children. Also, the state should enforce more penalty when it comes to mandated reporters not actually reporting. So, when mandated reporters get information of child abuse/neglect and fail to report that then leaves a child's only option as either a concerned citizen reporting or someone who knows them personally reporting (i.e. most of the anonymous callers). I agree with the confidentiality component for those who do report and leave their information. Any intentional disclosure of a source reporting child abuse/neglect should not be tolerated and there should be legal consequences to follow to minimize those occurrences.