Bill Text: NY A03619 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Expands the duties of the office of children and family services concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender runaway and homeless youth.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 33-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-11 - signed chap.361 [A03619 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A03619-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3619--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 29, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ, JAFFEE, DE LA ROSA, AUBRY, REYES, DICKENS,
          SIMOTAS,  EPSTEIN,  TAYLOR,  M. G. MILLER,  CRUZ,  JEAN-PIERRE, SIMON,
          GRIFFIN, D'URSO, FALL, COOK, ARROYO, SAYEGH, QUART,  O'DONNELL,  BRON-
          SON,  LAVINE,  STECK,  GOTTFRIED,  GLICK,  MOSLEY,  FERNANDEZ, RIVERA,
          WILLIAMS, FRONTUS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. SEAWRIGHT --  read
          once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families -- commit-
          tee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
          mitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to expanding  the  duties
          of the office of children and family services concerning lesbian, gay,
          bisexual, and transgender runaway and homeless youth

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 532-e of the executive law, as amended  by  chapter
     2  182 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 532-e. Powers  and  duties  of  the  office  of  children and family
     4  services. The office of children and family services shall:    [(a)]  1.
     5  visit,  inspect  and make periodic reports on the operation and adequacy
     6  of approved runaway programs and transitional independent living support
     7  programs;
     8    [(b)] 2. certify residential  facilities  providing  care  to  runaway
     9  and/or homeless youth, provided, however, that no certification shall be
    10  issued  or  renewed until it can be demonstrated that a program operated
    11  pursuant to this article  has  consistent  with  appropriate  collective
    12  bargaining  agreements  and  applicable  provisions of the civil service
    13  law, developed and implemented a procedure for reviewing and  evaluating
    14  the  backgrounds  of and the information supplied by any person applying
    15  to be an employee, volunteer or consultant, which shall include but  not
    16  be  limited to the following requirements: that the applicants set forth
    17  his or her employment history, provide personal  and  employment  refer-
    18  ences  and  sign  a sworn statement indicating whether the applicant, to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07077-02-9

        A. 3619--A                          2

     1  the best of his or her knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime  in
     2  this state or any other jurisdiction;
     3    [(c)]  3.  maintain  a  register of approved runaway programs, transi-
     4  tional independent living support  programs  and  runaway  and  homeless
     5  youth service coordinators;
     6    [(d)]  4.  submit  to  the  governor  and legislature an annual report
     7  detailing the numbers and characteristics of runaway and otherwise home-
     8  less youth throughout the state and their problems and service needs;
     9    [(e)] 5. develop and promulgate  in  consultation  with  county  youth
    10  bureaus  and  organizations  or  programs which have had past experience
    11  dealing with runaway and  homeless  youth,  regulations  concerning  the
    12  coordination  and  integration  of  services  available  for runaway and
    13  otherwise homeless youth and prohibiting the disclosure or transferal of
    14  any records  containing  the  identity  of  individual  youth  receiving
    15  services  pursuant  to  this section, without the written consent of the
    16  youth; [and]
    17    [(f)] 6. develop and promulgate regulations in consultation  with  the
    18  office  of  temporary and disability assistance concerning the provision
    19  of services by transitional independent living support programs consist-
    20  ent with the provisions of this article[.];
    21    [(g)] 7.  require all employees of approved programs providing care to
    22  runaway and/or homeless youth to complete training as set forth in regu-
    23  lations promulgated by the  office.  Such  training  shall  require  all
    24  employees of such residential facilities to receive instruction as spec-
    25  ified  by  the  office  in the regulations, except where an employee has
    26  already received training which would  satisfy  such  requirements,  and
    27  shall,  at a minimum, include instruction in issues pertaining to lesbi-
    28  an, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth with particular emphasis on:
    29    (a) appropriate terminology;
    30    (b) particular challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and  transgender
    31  runaway  and  homeless  youth, including why lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
    32  transgender youth are disproportionately homeless;
    33    (c) how to address homophobia or transphobia from other youth  at  the
    34  shelter;
    35    (d) confidentiality in the cases of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-
    36  gender youth; and
    37    (e)  how to address the families of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-
    38  gender youth; and
    39    8. in conjunction with the  commissioner  of  education,  develop  and
    40  annually  review  a  plan to ensure coordination and access to education
    41  for homeless children, in accordance  with  the  provisions  of  section
    42  thirty-two  hundred nine of the education law, and monitor compliance of
    43  residential programs for runaway and homeless youth with such plan.
    44    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    45  ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.
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