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

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3619
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 29, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M. of A. ORTIZ, JAFFEE, DE LA ROSA -- Multi-Sponsored by
          -- M. of A.  SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the  Committee  on
          Children and Families
        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
    19  the  best of his or her knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime in
    20  this state or any other jurisdiction;
    21    [(c)] 3. maintain a register of  approved  runaway  programs,  transi-
    22  tional  independent  living  support  programs  and runaway and homeless
    23  youth service coordinators;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07077-01-9
        A. 3619                             2
     1    [(d)] 4. submit to the  governor  and  legislature  an  annual  report
     2  detailing the numbers and characteristics of runaway and otherwise home-
     3  less youth throughout the state and their problems and service needs;
     4    [(e)]  5.  develop  and  promulgate  in consultation with county youth
     5  bureaus and organizations or programs which  have  had  past  experience
     6  dealing  with  runaway  and  homeless  youth, regulations concerning the
     7  coordination and integration  of  services  available  for  runaway  and
     8  otherwise homeless youth and prohibiting the disclosure or transferal of
     9  any  records  containing  the  identity  of  individual  youth receiving
    10  services pursuant to this section, without the written  consent  of  the
    11  youth; [and]
    12    [(f)]  6.  develop and promulgate regulations in consultation with the
    13  office of temporary and disability assistance concerning  the  provision
    14  of services by transitional independent living support programs consist-
    15  ent with the provisions of this article[.];
    16    [(g)] 7.  require all employees of approved programs providing care to
    17  runaway and/or homeless youth to complete training as set forth in regu-
    18  lations  promulgated  by  the  office.  Such  training shall require all
    19  employees of such residential facilities to receive instruction as spec-
    20  ified by the office in the regulations and shall, at a minimum,  include
    21  instruction  in  issues pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-
    22  gender youth with particular emphasis on:
    23    (a) appropriate terminology;
    24    (b) particular challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and  transgender
    25  runaway  and  homeless  youth, including why lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
    26  transgender youth are disproportionately homeless;
    27    (c) how to address homophobia or transphobia from other youth  at  the
    28  shelter;
    29    (d) confidentiality in the cases of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-
    30  gender youth; and
    31    (e)  how to address the families of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-
    32  gender youth; and
    33    8. in conjunction with the  commissioner  of  education,  develop  and
    34  annually  review  a  plan to ensure coordination and access to education
    35  for homeless children, in accordance  with  the  provisions  of  section
    36  thirty-two  hundred nine of the education law, and monitor compliance of
    37  residential programs for runaway and homeless youth with such plan.
    38    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    39  ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.