New NY law requires training for mandatory reporters on disabled kids after Jordan Brooks’ death

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Syracuse, N.Y. — A law has passed that requires new training for mandatory reporters about disabled children after the death of Jordan Brooks.

The law, Senate Bill S6463A, requires training on identifying abuse and neglect in children with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

The new training comes after 17-year-old Jordan Brooks, who had cerebral palsy, died from sepsis and malnutrition in May 2021, authorities said. He weighed only 55 pounds when he died, an average weight for a kid half his age. He had open, bleeding sores.

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Under the law, mandated reporters — CPS caseworkers, teachers, police and a long list of others — must have training to make sure they have knowledge of abuse and neglect among disabled children. Part of the training will be about better communication, said state Sen. John Mannion, a sponsor of the bill.

Mannion has co-sponsored another bill, Senate Bill S4077, that establishes a caseload limit for each worker and covers all the cost of getting a county to that ratio.

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The bills are meant to be a change to make sure no child ever dies like Jordan, he said.

“If there’s anything that we can do, to make sure that something like this never happens again, that will be part of the legacy of this tragedy and the life of Jordan Brooks,” Mannion said.