Bill Text: NY A08060 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the standards of proof for unfounded and indicated reports of abuse or maltreatment and the admissibility of reports of child abuse and maltreatment and requires a fair preponderance of evidence of the alleged report; relates to the administration of the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment; makes related provisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-12-13 - VETOED MEMO.232 [A08060 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A08060-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8060--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 31, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JAFFEE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the standard of proof for unfounded and indicated reports of abuse or maltreatment and the admissibility of reports of child abuse and maltreatment; and to amend the social services law and the family court act, in relation to the administration of the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 6 and 7 of section 412 of the social services 2 law, as added by chapter 1039 of the laws of 1973 and as renumbered by 3 chapter 323 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows: 4 6. An "unfounded report" means any report made pursuant to this title 5 unless an investigation determines that [some credible evidence] a fair 6 preponderance of evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment exists; 7 7. An "indicated report" means a report made pursuant to this title if 8 an investigation determines that [some credible evidence] a fair prepon- 9 derance of evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment exists. 10 § 2. Section 651-a of the family court act, as amended by chapter 12 11 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows: 12 § 651-a. Reports of child abuse and maltreatment; admissibility. In 13 any proceeding brought pursuant to this section to determine the custody 14 or visitation of minors, a report made to the statewide central register 15 of child abuse and maltreatment, pursuant to title six of article six of 16 the social services law, or a portion thereof, which is otherwise admis- 17 sible as a business record pursuant to rule forty-five hundred eighteen 18 of the civil practice law and rules shall not be admissible in evidence, 19 notwithstanding such rule, unless an investigation of such report EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13104-05-9A. 8060--A 2 1 conducted pursuant to title six of article six of the social services 2 law has determined that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of 3 evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment, that the subject of the 4 report has been notified that the report is indicated. In addition, if 5 such report has been reviewed by the state commissioner of social 6 services or his designee and has been determined to be unfounded, it 7 shall not be admissible in evidence. If such report has been so reviewed 8 and has been amended to delete any finding, each such deleted finding 9 shall not be admissible. If the state commissioner of social services or 10 his designee has amended the report to add any new finding, each such 11 new finding, together with any portion of the original report not 12 deleted by the commissioner or his designee, shall be admissible if it 13 meets the other requirements of this section and is otherwise admissible 14 as a business record. If such a report, or portion thereof, is admissi- 15 ble in evidence but is uncorroborated, it shall not be sufficient to 16 make a fact finding of abuse or maltreatment in such proceeding. Any 17 other evidence tending to support the reliability of such report shall 18 be sufficient corroboration. 19 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 421 of the social 20 services law, as amended by chapter 718 of the laws of 1986, is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 (c) issue guidelines to assist local child protective services in the 23 interpretation and assessment of reports of abuse and maltreatment made 24 to the statewide central register described in section four hundred 25 twenty-two of this article. Such guidelines shall include information, 26 standards and criteria for [the identification of credible] assessing 27 whether a fair preponderance of evidence of alleged abuse and maltreat- 28 ment exists as required to determine whether a report may be indicated. 29 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of 30 section 422 of the social services law, as amended by section 7 of part 31 D of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 32 Unless an investigation of a report conducted pursuant to this title 33 determines that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of 34 evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment, all information identify- 35 ing the subjects of the report and other persons named in the report 36 shall be legally sealed forthwith by the central register and any local 37 child protective services or the state agency which investigated the 38 report. Such unfounded reports may only be unsealed and made available: 39 § 5. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 5 of section 422 of the social 40 services law, as added by chapter 555 of the laws of 2000, is amended to 41 read as follows: 42 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office of children 43 and family services may, in its discretion, grant a request to expunge 44 an unfounded report where: (i) the source of the report was convicted of 45 a violation of subdivision three of section 240.55 of the penal law in 46 regard to such report; or (ii) the subject of the report presents clear 47 and convincing evidence that affirmatively refutes the allegation of 48 abuse or maltreatment; provided however, that the absence of [credible] 49 a fair preponderance of evidence supporting the allegation of abuse or 50 maltreatment shall not be the sole basis to expunge the report. Nothing 51 in this paragraph shall require the office of children and family 52 services to hold an administrative hearing in deciding whether to 53 expunge a report. Such office shall make its determination upon review- 54 ing the written evidence submitted by the subject of the report and any 55 records or information obtained from the state or local agency which 56 investigated the allegations of abuse or maltreatment.A. 8060--A 3 1 § 6. Subdivision 6 of section 422 of the social services law, as 2 amended by section 7 of part D of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 6. In all other cases, the record of the report to the statewide 5 central register shall be expunged ten years after the eighteenth birth- 6 day of the youngest child named in the report. Provided however, in 7 cases where the report was indicated for maltreatment, the record of the 8 report to the statewide central register shall be conditionally sealed 9 eight years after the report is received by the statewide central regis- 10 ter, so long as there are no other indicated reports of abuse or 11 maltreatment with such individual named as the subject of the report. 12 Provided, further, that if such individual is named as the subject of a 13 report in any subsequent indicated abuse or maltreatment reports, such 14 record shall be immediately unsealed and the subsequent indicated report 15 shall be ineligible for conditional sealing. Reports conditionally 16 sealed pursuant to this subdivision shall be maintained in the statewide 17 central register, however such reports shall not be made available 18 except to: (a) entities included in paragraph (a) of subdivision five of 19 this section; (b) authorized agencies that are considering licensing the 20 subject of the report to become a foster or adoptive parent; (c) child 21 protective services that are considering recommending the subject of the 22 report as a custodial or visitation resource; (d) head start programs 23 which are funded pursuant to title V of the federal economic opportunity 24 act of 1964, early intervention services established pursuant to section 25 twenty-five hundred forty of the public health law, preschool services 26 established pursuant to section forty-four hundred ten of the education 27 law and child day care providers as defined in section three hundred 28 ninety of this article for the purposes of determining employment, but 29 only for an additional four years after such record is conditionally 30 sealed; and (e) the court, upon receiving a recommendation regarding a 31 potential foster or adoptive parent or a custodial or visitation 32 resource from a child protective service if such recommendation was 33 based in any part on the indicated report. In the case of a child in 34 residential care the record of the report to the statewide central 35 register shall be expunged ten years after the reported child's eigh- 36 teenth birthday. In any case and at any time, the commissioner of the 37 office of children and family services may amend any record upon good 38 cause shown and notice to the subjects of the report and other persons 39 named in the report. 40 § 7. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 8 of section 422 of the social 41 services law, as amended by chapter 12 of the laws of 1996, and subpara- 42 graph (ii) as amended by chapter 323 of the laws of 2008, is amended to 43 read as follows: 44 (a) (i) At any time subsequent to the completion of the investigation 45 [but in no event later than ninety days after the subject of the report46is notified that the report is indicated] the subject may request the 47 commissioner to amend the record of the report. [If] After an initial 48 request, subsequent requests may be made for the purpose of determining 49 whether, due to a change in the subject's circumstances, the indicated 50 case continues to be relevant and reasonably related pursuant to subpar- 51 agraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of this subdivision. Such evaluation shall 52 take place no more than biennially. Where a proceeding pursuant to 53 article ten of the family court act based on the same allegations that 54 were indicated is pending, the request to amend shall be stayed until 55 the disposition of such family court proceeding or, if the petition is 56 dismissed at the conclusion of an adjournment in contemplation ofA. 8060--A 4 1 dismissal or suspended judgment, at such time of the dismissal, whichev- 2 er is later. Unless such request has been stayed, if the commissioner 3 does not amend the report in accordance with such request within ninety 4 days of receiving the request, the subject shall have the right to a 5 fair hearing, held in accordance with paragraph (b) of this subdivision, 6 to determine whether the record of the report in the central register 7 should be amended on the grounds that it is inaccurate or it is being 8 maintained in a manner inconsistent with this title. 9 (ii) Upon receipt of a request to amend the record of a child abuse 10 and maltreatment report the office of children and family services shall 11 immediately send a written request to the child protective service or 12 the state agency which was responsible for investigating the allegations 13 of abuse or maltreatment for all records, reports and other information 14 maintained by the service or state agency pertaining to such indicated 15 report. The service or state agency shall as expeditiously as possible 16 but within no more than twenty working days of receiving such request, 17 forward all records, reports and other information it maintains on such 18 indicated report to the office of children and family services, includ- 19 ing a copy of any petition or court order based on the allegations that 20 were indicated. [The] Unless such request to amend has been stayed, the 21 office of children and family services shall as expeditiously as possi- 22 ble but within no more than fifteen working days of receiving such mate- 23 rials from the child protective service or state agency, review all such 24 materials in its possession concerning the indicated report and deter- 25 mine, after affording such service or state agency a reasonable opportu- 26 nity to present its views, whether there is a fair preponderance of the 27 evidence to find that the subject committed the act or acts of child 28 abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indicated report and whether, 29 based on guidelines developed by the office of children and family 30 services pursuant to subdivision five of section four hundred twenty- 31 four-a of this title, such act or acts could be relevant and reasonably 32 related to employment of the subject of the report by a provider agency, 33 as defined by subdivision three of section four hundred twenty-four-a of 34 this title, or relevant and reasonably related to the subject of the 35 report being allowed to have regular and substantial contact with chil- 36 dren who are cared for by a provider agency, or relevant and reasonably 37 related to the approval or disapproval of an application submitted by 38 the subject of the report to a licensing agency, as defined by subdivi- 39 sion four of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this title. 40 (iii) If it is determined at the review held pursuant to this para- 41 graph [(a)] that there is [no credible] not a fair preponderance of 42 evidence in the record to find that the subject committed an act or acts 43 of child abuse or maltreatment, the [department] office of children and 44 family services shall amend the record to indicate that the report is 45 "unfounded" and notify the subject forthwith. 46 (iv) If it is determined at the review held pursuant to this paragraph 47 [(a)] that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of evidence in 48 the record to find that the subject committed such act or acts but that 49 such act or acts could not be relevant and reasonably related to the 50 employment of the subject by a provider agency or to the subject being 51 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 52 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or disapproval of an 53 application which could be submitted by the subject to a licensing agen- 54 cy, the [department] office of children and family services shall be 55 precluded from informing a provider or licensing agency which makes an 56 inquiry to [the department] such office pursuant to the provisions ofA. 8060--A 5 1 section four hundred twenty-four-a of this title concerning the subject 2 that the person about whom the inquiry is made is the subject of an 3 indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment. The [department] office 4 of children and family services shall notify forthwith the subject of 5 the report of such determinations and that a fair hearing has been sche- 6 duled pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision. The sole issue at 7 such hearing shall be whether the subject has been shown by [some credi-8ble] a fair preponderance of evidence to have committed the act or acts 9 of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indicated report. 10 (v) If it is determined at the review held pursuant to this paragraph 11 [(a)] that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of evidence in 12 the record to prove that the subject committed an act or acts of child 13 abuse or maltreatment and that such act or acts could be relevant and 14 reasonably related to the employment of the subject by a provider agency 15 or to the subject being allowed to have regular and substantial contact 16 with children cared for by a provider agency or the approval or disap- 17 proval of an application which could be submitted by the subject to a 18 licensing agency, the [department] office of children and family 19 services shall notify forthwith the subject of the report of such deter- 20 minations and that a fair hearing has been scheduled pursuant to para- 21 graph (b) of this subdivision. 22 § 8. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 8 of 23 section 422 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 12 of the 24 laws of 1996, are amended to read as follows: 25 (i) If the [department] office of children and family services, [with-26in ninety days of] upon receiving a request from the subject that the 27 record of a report be amended, does not amend the record in accordance 28 with such request, [the department] such office shall schedule a fair 29 hearing and shall provide notice of the scheduled hearing date to the 30 subject, the statewide central register and, as appropriate, to the 31 child protective service or the state agency which investigated the 32 report. 33 (ii) The burden of proof in such a hearing shall be on the child 34 protective service or the state agency which investigated the report, as 35 the case may be. In such a hearing, the fact that there is a family 36 court finding of abuse or neglect against the subject in regard to an 37 allegation contained in the report shall create an irrebuttable presump- 38 tion that said allegation is substantiated by [some credible] a fair 39 preponderance of evidence. Where the petitioning child protective agen- 40 cy withdraws with prejudice an allegation in a petition, or a family 41 court finds on the merits that an allegation does not constitute abuse 42 or neglect or was not supported by a fair preponderance of the evidence, 43 or an allegation has been dismissed at the conclusion of either an 44 adjournment in contemplation of dismissal or suspended judgment, if such 45 allegation was the same as the allegation in an indicated report, the 46 office of children and family services shall amend such indicated report 47 to be unfounded. 48 § 9. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 8 of 49 section 422 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 12 of the 50 laws of 1996, and the opening paragraph of subparagraph (ii) as amended 51 by chapter 323 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows: 52 (i) If it is determined at the fair hearing that there is [no credi-53ble] not a fair preponderance of evidence in the record to find that the 54 subject committed an act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment, the 55 [department] office of children and family services shall amend the 56 record to reflect that such a finding was made at the administrativeA. 8060--A 6 1 hearing, order any child protective service or state agency which inves- 2 tigated the report to similarly amend its records of the report, and 3 shall notify the subject forthwith of the determination. 4 (ii) Upon a determination made at a fair hearing [held on or after5January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six] scheduled pursuant to the 6 provisions of subparagraph (v) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision that 7 the subject has been shown by a fair preponderance of the evidence to 8 have committed the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving 9 rise to the indicated report, the hearing officer shall determine, based 10 on guidelines developed by the office of children and family services 11 pursuant to subdivision five of section four hundred twenty-four-a of 12 this title, whether such act or acts are relevant and reasonably related 13 to employment of the subject by a provider agency, as defined by subdi- 14 vision three of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this title, or 15 relevant and reasonably related to the subject being allowed to have 16 regular and substantial contact with children who are cared for by a 17 provider agency or relevant and reasonably related to the approval or 18 disapproval of an application submitted by the subject to a licensing 19 agency, as defined by subdivision four of section four hundred twenty- 20 four-a of this title. 21 Upon a determination made at a fair hearing that the act or acts of 22 abuse or maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to employment 23 of the subject by a provider agency or the subject being allowed to have 24 regular and substantial contact with children who are cared for by a 25 provider agency or the approval or denial of an application submitted by 26 the subject to a licensing agency, the [department] office of children 27 and family services shall notify the subject forthwith. The [department] 28 office of children and family services shall inform a provider or 29 licensing agency which makes an inquiry to [the department] such office 30 pursuant to the provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this 31 title concerning the subject that the person about whom the inquiry is 32 made is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report. 33 The failure to determine at the fair hearing that the act or acts of 34 abuse and maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to the 35 employment of the subject by a provider agency or to the subject being 36 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 37 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or denial of an applica- 38 tion submitted by the subject to a licensing agency shall preclude the 39 [department] office of children and family services from informing a 40 provider or licensing agency which makes an inquiry to [the department] 41 such office pursuant to the provisions of section four hundred twenty- 42 four-a of this title concerning the subject that the person about whom 43 the inquiry is made is the subject of an indicated child abuse or 44 maltreatment report. 45 § 10. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 8 of section 422 of the social 46 services law, as added by chapter 12 of the laws of 1996, is amended to 47 read as follows: 48 (e) Should the [department] office of children and family services 49 grant the request of the subject of the report pursuant to this subdivi- 50 sion either through an administrative review or fair hearing to amend an 51 indicated report to an unfounded report[. Such], such report shall be 52 legally sealed and shall be released and expunged in accordance with the 53 standards set forth in subdivision five of this section. 54 § 11. Subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), and (v) of paragraph (e) of 55 subdivision 1 of section 424-a of the social services law, subparagraphs 56 (i), (ii) and (iii) as amended by chapter 12 of the laws of 1996, andA. 8060--A 7 1 subparagraph (v) as amended by chapter 634 of the laws of 1988, are 2 amended and six new subparagraphs (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and 3 (xi) are added to read as follows: 4 (i) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, 5 the department shall inform the provider or licensing agency, or child 6 care resource and referral programs pursuant to subdivision six of this 7 section whether or not the person is the subject of an indicated child 8 abuse and maltreatment report only if: (a) the time for the subject of 9 the report to request an amendment of the record of the report pursuant 10 to [subdivision eight of section four hundred twenty-two] subparagraph 11 (v) of this paragraph has expired without any such request having been 12 made; or (b) such request was made within such time and a fair hearing 13 regarding the request has been finally determined by the commissioner 14 and the record of the report has not been amended to unfound the report 15 or delete the person as a subject of the report. 16 (ii) If the subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreat- 17 ment has not requested an amendment of the record of the report [within18the time specified in subdivision eight of section four hundred twenty-19two of this title or if the subject had a fair hearing pursuant to such20section prior to January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six] and an 21 inquiry is made to the [department] office of children and family 22 services pursuant to this subdivision concerning the subject of the 23 report, [the department] such office shall, as expeditiously as possible 24 but within no more than ten working days of receipt of the inquiry, 25 determine whether, in fact, the person about whom an inquiry is made is 26 the subject of an indicated report. Upon making a determination that the 27 person about whom the inquiry is made is the subject of an indicated 28 report of child abuse and maltreatment, the [department] office of chil- 29 dren and family services shall immediately send a written request to the 30 child protective service or state agency which was responsible for 31 investigating the allegations of abuse or maltreatment for all records, 32 reports and other information maintained by the service or state agency 33 on the subject. The service or state agency shall, as expeditiously as 34 possible but within no more than twenty working days of receiving such 35 request, forward all records, reports and other information it maintains 36 on the indicated report to the [department] office of children and fami- 37 ly services, including a copy of any petition or court order based on 38 the allegations that were indicated. [The department] Where a proceed- 39 ing pursuant to article ten of the family court act is pending based on 40 the same allegations that were indicated, the office of children and 41 family services shall stay determination of whether there is a fair 42 preponderance of the evidence to support the indication until the dispo- 43 sition of such family court proceeding or if the petition is dismissed 44 at the conclusion of an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal or 45 suspended judgment, at such time of the dismissal, whichever is later. 46 Unless such determination has been stayed, the office of children and 47 family services shall, within fifteen working days of receiving such 48 records, reports and other information from the child protective service 49 or state agency, review all records, reports and other information in 50 its possession concerning the subject and determine whether there is 51 [some credible] a fair preponderance of evidence to find that the 52 subject had committed the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment 53 giving rise to the indicated report. 54 (iii) If it is determined, after affording such service or state agen- 55 cy a reasonable opportunity to present its views, that there is [no56credible] not a fair preponderance of evidence in the record to findA. 8060--A 8 1 that the subject committed such act or acts, the [department] office of 2 children and family services shall amend the record to indicate that the 3 report was unfounded and notify the inquiring party that the person 4 about whom the inquiry is made is not the subject of an indicated 5 report. [If the subject of the report had a fair hearing pursuant to6subdivision eight of section four hundred twenty-two of this title prior7to January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six and the fair hearing had8been finally determined by the commissioner and the record of the report9had not been amended to unfound the report or delete the person as a10subject of the report, then the department shall determine that there is11some credible evidence to find that the subject had committed the act or12acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indicated13report.] 14 (v) If it is determined after a review by the [department] office of 15 children and family services of all records, reports and information in 16 its possession concerning the subject of the report that there is [some17credible] a fair preponderance of evidence to prove that the subject 18 committed the act or acts of abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the 19 indicated report [and that such act or acts are relevant and reasonably20related to issues concerning the employment of the subject by a provider21agency or to the subject being allowed to have regular and substantial22contact with children cared for by a provider agency or the approval or23disapproval of an application which has been submitted by the subject to24a licensing agency, the department shall inform the inquiring party that25the person about whom the inquiry is made is the subject of an indicated26report of child abuse and maltreatment; the department shall also notify27the subject of the inquiry of his or her fair hearing rights granted28pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section], the 29 office of children and family services shall notify the subject of the 30 determination of such report and of the subject's right to request a 31 fair hearing within ninety days. If the subject shall request a hearing 32 within ninety days, the office of children and family services shall 33 schedule a fair hearing and shall provide notice of the scheduled hear- 34 ing date to the subject, the statewide central register and, as appro- 35 priate, to the child protective service or state agency which investi- 36 gated such report. 37 (vi) The burden of proof in such a hearing shall be on the child 38 protective service or state agency which investigated the report. In 39 such a hearing, the fact that there is a family court finding of abuse 40 or neglect against the subject in regard to an allegation contained in 41 such report shall create an irrebuttable presumption that said allega- 42 tion is substantiated by a fair preponderance of evidence. Where the 43 petitioning child protective agency withdraws with prejudice an allega- 44 tion in a petition, or a family court finds on the merits that an alle- 45 gation does not constitute abuse or neglect or was not supported by a 46 fair preponderance of the evidence, or a petition has been dismissed at 47 the conclusion of either an adjournment in contemplation of a dismissal 48 or suspended judgment, if such allegation was at the same time as the 49 allegation in an indicated report the office of children and family 50 services shall amend such indicated report to be unfounded. 51 (vii) If it shall be determined at the fair hearing that there is no 52 fair preponderance of evidence in the record to find that the subject 53 committed an act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment, the office of 54 children and family services shall amend the record to reflect that such 55 a finding was made at the administrative hearing, order any child 56 protective service or state agency which investigated the report toA. 8060--A 9 1 similarly amend its records of such report, notify the subject of the 2 determination, and notify the inquiring party that the person about whom 3 such inquiry was made is not the subject of an indicated report. 4 (viii) Upon a determination at the fair hearing that the subject has 5 been shown, by a fair preponderance of the evidence, to have committed 6 the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indi- 7 cated report, the hearing officer shall determine, based on guidelines 8 developed by the office of children and family services pursuant to 9 subdivision five of this section, whether such act or acts are relevant 10 and reasonably related to the subject being allowed to have regular and 11 substantial contact with children who are cared for by a provider agen- 12 cy, or relevant and reasonably related to the approval or disapproval of 13 an application submitted by the subject to a licensing agency. 14 (ix) Upon a determination made at a fair hearing that the act or acts 15 of abuse or maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to the 16 employment of the subject by a provider agency, the subject being 17 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 18 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or denial of an applica- 19 tion submitted by the subject to a licensing agency, the office of chil- 20 dren and family services shall notify the subject and shall inform the 21 inquiring party that the person about whom such inquiry was made is the 22 subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment. 23 (x) The failure to determine at the fair hearing that the act or acts 24 of abuse and maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to the 25 employment of the subject by a provider agency, the subject being 26 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 27 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or denial of an applica- 28 tion submitted by the subject to a licensing agency shall preclude the 29 office of children and family services from informing a provider or 30 licensing agency that such person is the subject of an indicated report 31 of child abuse or maltreatment. 32 (xi) Should the office of children and family services grant the 33 request of the subject of the report pursuant to this subdivision, 34 either through an administrative review or fair hearing, to amend an 35 indicated report to an unfounded report, such report shall be legally 36 sealed and shall be released and expunged in accordance with the stand- 37 ards set forth in subdivision five of section four hundred twenty-two of 38 this title. 39 § 12. Paragraph (iii) of subdivision (f) of section 1051 of the family 40 court act, as added by chapter 430 of the laws of 1994, is amended to 41 read as follows: 42 (iii) that the report made to the state central register of child 43 abuse and maltreatment upon which the petition is based will remain on 44 file until ten years after the eighteenth birthday of the youngest child 45 named in such report, that the respondent will be unable to obtain 46 expungement of such report[, and] that if such report is for maltreat- 47 ment, it shall be legally conditionally sealed after eight years unless 48 a determination is made to seal it earlier so long as such individual is 49 not named as the subject of the report in any subsequent indicated 50 reports of abuse or maltreatment. The court shall also inform the 51 respondent that the existence of such [report] reports which are not 52 conditionally sealed may be made known to employers seeking to screen 53 employee applicants [in the field of child care, and] for positions 54 involving potential contact with children, and that conditionally sealed 55 reports may be available to child protective services and law enforce- 56 ment conducting subsequent investigations, to [child care] authorizedA. 8060--A 10 1 agencies if the respondent applies to become a foster parent [or], adop- 2 tive parent or seeks custody of or visitation with a child, or for an 3 additional four years after the record has been conditionally sealed, to 4 head start programs which are funded pursuant to title V of the federal 5 economic opportunity act of 1964, early intervention services estab- 6 lished pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty of the public 7 health law, preschool services established pursuant to section forty- 8 four hundred ten of the education law and child care providers as 9 defined in section three hundred ninety of the social services law, for 10 the purposes of determining employment. 11 Any finding upon such an admission or consent made without such notice 12 being given by the court shall be vacated upon motion of any party. In 13 no event shall a person other than the respondent, either in person or 14 in writing, make an admission or consent to a finding of neglect or 15 abuse. 16 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however that 17 section one of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it 18 shall have become a law; provided, however, that sections six and eight 19 of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it 20 shall have become a law; and section seven of this act shall take effect 21 on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.