Bill Text: NY A08060 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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-Introduced.html
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-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8060 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 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 20 conducted pursuant to title six of article six of the social services 21 law has determined that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13104-01-9A. 8060 2 1 evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment, that the subject of the 2 report has been notified that the report is indicated. In addition, if 3 such report has been reviewed by the state commissioner of social 4 services or his designee and has been determined to be unfounded, it 5 shall not be admissible in evidence. If such report has been so reviewed 6 and has been amended to delete any finding, each such deleted finding 7 shall not be admissible. If the state commissioner of social services or 8 his designee has amended the report to add any new finding, each such 9 new finding, together with any portion of the original report not 10 deleted by the commissioner or his designee, shall be admissible if it 11 meets the other requirements of this section and is otherwise admissible 12 as a business record. If such a report, or portion thereof, is admissi- 13 ble in evidence but is uncorroborated, it shall not be sufficient to 14 make a fact finding of abuse or maltreatment in such proceeding. Any 15 other evidence tending to support the reliability of such report shall 16 be sufficient corroboration. 17 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 421 of the social 18 services law, as amended by chapter 718 of the laws of 1986, is amended 19 to read as follows: 20 (c) issue guidelines to assist local child protective services in the 21 interpretation and assessment of reports of abuse and maltreatment made 22 to the statewide central register described in section four hundred 23 twenty-two of this article. Such guidelines shall include information, 24 standards and criteria for the identification of [credible] fair prepon- 25 derance of evidence of alleged abuse and maltreatment required to deter- 26 mine whether a report may be indicated. 27 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of 28 section 422 of the social services law, as amended by section 7 of part 29 D of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 30 Unless an investigation of a report conducted pursuant to this title 31 determines that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of 32 evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment, all information identify- 33 ing the subjects of the report and other persons named in the report 34 shall be legally sealed forthwith by the central register and any local 35 child protective services or the state agency which investigated the 36 report. Such unfounded reports may only be unsealed and made available: 37 § 5. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 5 of section 422 of the social 38 services law, as added by chapter 555 of the laws of 2000, is amended to 39 read as follows: 40 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office of children 41 and family services may, in its discretion, grant a request to expunge 42 an unfounded report where: (i) the source of the report was convicted of 43 a violation of subdivision three of section 240.55 of the penal law in 44 regard to such report; or (ii) the subject of the report presents clear 45 and convincing evidence that affirmatively refutes the allegation of 46 abuse or maltreatment; provided however, that the absence of [credible] 47 a fair preponderance of evidence supporting the allegation of abuse or 48 maltreatment shall not be the sole basis to expunge the report. Nothing 49 in this paragraph shall require the office of children and family 50 services to hold an administrative hearing in deciding whether to 51 expunge a report. Such office shall make its determination upon review- 52 ing the written evidence submitted by the subject of the report and any 53 records or information obtained from the state or local agency which 54 investigated the allegations of abuse or maltreatment.A. 8060 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. Reports conditionally sealed 15 pursuant to this subdivision shall be maintained in the statewide 16 central register, however such reports shall not be made available 17 except to: (a) entities included in subdivision five of this section; 18 (b) head start programs which are funded pursuant to title V of the 19 federal economic opportunity act of 1964, early intervention services 20 established pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty of the public 21 health law, preschool services established pursuant to section forty- 22 four hundred ten of the education law, child day care providers as 23 defined in section three hundred ninety of this article for purposes of 24 determining employment; (c) authorized agencies that are considering 25 licensing the subject of the report to become a foster or adoptive 26 parent; and (d) child protective services that are considering recom- 27 mending the subject of the report as a custodial or visitation resource. 28 In the case of a child in residential care the record of the report to 29 the statewide central register shall be expunged ten years after the 30 reported child's eighteenth birthday. In any case and at any time, the 31 commissioner of the office of children and family services may amend any 32 record upon good cause shown and notice to the subjects of the report 33 and other persons named in the report. 34 § 7. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 8 of section 422 of the social 35 services law, as amended by chapter 12 of the laws of 1996, and subpara- 36 graph (ii) as amended by chapter 323 of the laws of 2008, is amended to 37 read as follows: 38 (a) (i) At any time subsequent to the completion of the investigation 39 [but in no event later than ninety days after the subject of the report40is notified that the report is indicated] the subject may request the 41 commissioner to amend the record of the report. [If] Where a proceeding 42 pursuant to article ten of the family court act based on the same alle- 43 gations that were indicated is pending, the request to amend shall be 44 stayed until the disposition of such family court proceeding or, if the 45 petition is dismissed at the conclusion of an adjournment in contem- 46 plation of dismissal or suspensed judgment, at such time of the dismiss- 47 al, whichever is later. Unless such request has been stayed, if the 48 commissioner does not amend the report in accordance with such request 49 within ninety days of receiving the request, the subject shall have the 50 right to a fair hearing, held in accordance with paragraph (b) of this 51 subdivision, to determine whether the record of the report in the 52 central register should be amended on the grounds that it is inaccurate 53 or it is being maintained in a manner inconsistent with this title. 54 (ii) Upon receipt of a request to amend the record of a child abuse 55 and maltreatment report the office of children and family services shall 56 immediately send a written request to the child protective service orA. 8060 4 1 the state agency which was responsible for investigating the allegations 2 of abuse or maltreatment for all records, reports and other information 3 maintained by the service or state agency pertaining to such indicated 4 report. The service or state agency shall as expeditiously as possible 5 but within no more than twenty working days of receiving such request, 6 forward all records, reports and other information it maintains on such 7 indicated report to the office of children and family services, includ- 8 ing a copy of any petition or court order based on the allegations that 9 were indicated. [The] Unless such request to amend has been stayed, the 10 office of children and family services shall as expeditiously as possi- 11 ble but within no more than fifteen working days of receiving such mate- 12 rials from the child protective service or state agency, review all such 13 materials in its possession concerning the indicated report and deter- 14 mine, after affording such service or state agency a reasonable opportu- 15 nity to present its views, whether there is a fair preponderance of the 16 evidence to find that the subject committed the act or acts of child 17 abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indicated report and whether, 18 based on guidelines developed by the office of children and family 19 services pursuant to subdivision five of section four hundred twenty- 20 four-a of this title, such act or acts could be relevant and reasonably 21 related to employment of the subject of the report by a provider agency, 22 as defined by subdivision three of section four hundred twenty-four-a of 23 this title, or relevant and reasonably related to the subject of the 24 report being allowed to have regular and substantial contact with chil- 25 dren who are cared for by a provider agency, or relevant and reasonably 26 related to the approval or disapproval of an application submitted by 27 the subject of the report to a licensing agency, as defined by subdivi- 28 sion four of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this title. 29 (iii) If it is determined at the review held pursuant to this para- 30 graph [(a)] that there is [no credible] not a fair preponderance of 31 evidence in the record to find that the subject committed an act or acts 32 of child abuse or maltreatment, the [department] office of children and 33 family services shall amend the record to indicate that the report is 34 "unfounded" and notify the subject forthwith. 35 (iv) If it is determined at the review held pursuant to this paragraph 36 [(a)] that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of evidence in 37 the record to find that the subject committed such act or acts but that 38 such act or acts could not be relevant and reasonably related to the 39 employment of the subject by a provider agency or to the subject being 40 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 41 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or disapproval of an 42 application which could be submitted by the subject to a licensing agen- 43 cy, the [department] office of children and family services shall be 44 precluded from informing a provider or licensing agency which makes an 45 inquiry to [the department] such office pursuant to the provisions of 46 section four hundred twenty-four-a of this title concerning the subject 47 that the person about whom the inquiry is made is the subject of an 48 indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment. The [department] office 49 of children and family services shall notify forthwith the subject of 50 the report of such determinations and that a fair hearing has been sche- 51 duled pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision. The sole issue at 52 such hearing shall be whether the subject has been shown by [some credi-53ble] a fair preponderance of evidence to have committed the act or acts 54 of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indicated report. 55 (v) If it is determined at the review held pursuant to this paragraph 56 [(a)] that there is [some credible] a fair preponderance of evidence inA. 8060 5 1 the record to prove that the subject committed an act or acts of child 2 abuse or maltreatment and that such act or acts could be relevant and 3 reasonably related to the employment of the subject by a provider agency 4 or to the subject being allowed to have regular and substantial contact 5 with children cared for by a provider agency or the approval or disap- 6 proval of an application which could be submitted by the subject to a 7 licensing agency, the [department] office of children and family 8 services shall notify forthwith the subject of the report of such deter- 9 minations and that a fair hearing has been scheduled pursuant to para- 10 graph (b) of this subdivision. 11 § 8. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 8 of 12 section 422 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 12 of the 13 laws of 1996, are amended to read as follows: 14 (i) If the [department] office of children and family services, [with-15in ninety days of] upon receiving a request from the subject that the 16 record of a report be amended, does not amend the record in accordance 17 with such request, [the department] such office shall schedule a fair 18 hearing and shall provide notice of the scheduled hearing date to the 19 subject, the statewide central register and, as appropriate, to the 20 child protective service or the state agency which investigated the 21 report. 22 (ii) The burden of proof in such a hearing shall be on the child 23 protective service or the state agency which investigated the report, as 24 the case may be. In such a hearing, the fact that there is a family 25 court finding of abuse or neglect against the subject in regard to an 26 allegation contained in the report shall create an irrebuttable presump- 27 tion that said allegation is substantiated by [some credible] a fair 28 preponderance of evidence. Where the petitioning child protective agen- 29 cy withdraws with prejudice an allegation in a petition, or a family 30 court finds on the merits that an allegation does not constitute abuse 31 or neglect or a petition has been dismissed at the conclusion of either 32 an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal or suspended judgment, or 33 was not supported by a fair preponderance of the evidence, the office of 34 children and family services shall amend such allegation to be 35 unfounded. 36 § 9. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 8 of 37 section 422 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 12 of the 38 laws of 1996, and the opening paragraph of subparagraph (ii) as amended 39 by chapter 323 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows: 40 (i) If it is determined at the fair hearing that there is [no credi-41ble] not a fair preponderance of evidence in the record to find that the 42 subject committed an act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment, the 43 [department] office of children and family services shall amend the 44 record to reflect that such a finding was made at the administrative 45 hearing, order any child protective service or state agency which inves- 46 tigated the report to similarly amend its records of the report, and 47 shall notify the subject forthwith of the determination. 48 (ii) Upon a determination made at a fair hearing [held on or after49January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six] scheduled pursuant to the 50 provisions of subparagraph (v) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision that 51 the subject has been shown by a fair preponderance of the evidence to 52 have committed the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving 53 rise to the indicated report, the hearing officer shall determine, based 54 on guidelines developed by the office of children and family services 55 pursuant to subdivision five of section four hundred twenty-four-a of 56 this title, whether such act or acts are relevant and reasonably relatedA. 8060 6 1 to employment of the subject by a provider agency, as defined by subdi- 2 vision three of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this title, or 3 relevant and reasonably related to the subject being allowed to have 4 regular and substantial contact with children who are cared for by a 5 provider agency or relevant and reasonably related to the approval or 6 disapproval of an application submitted by the subject to a licensing 7 agency, as defined by subdivision four of section four hundred twenty- 8 four-a of this title. 9 Upon a determination made at a fair hearing that the act or acts of 10 abuse or maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to employment 11 of the subject by a provider agency or the subject being allowed to have 12 regular and substantial contact with children who are cared for by a 13 provider agency or the approval or denial of an application submitted by 14 the subject to a licensing agency, the [department] office of children 15 and family services shall notify the subject forthwith. The [department] 16 office of children and family services shall inform a provider or 17 licensing agency which makes an inquiry to [the department] such office 18 pursuant to the provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this 19 title concerning the subject that the person about whom the inquiry is 20 made is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report. 21 The failure to determine at the fair hearing that the act or acts of 22 abuse and maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to the 23 employment of the subject by a provider agency or to the subject being 24 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 25 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or denial of an applica- 26 tion submitted by the subject to a licensing agency shall preclude the 27 [department] office of children and family services from informing a 28 provider or licensing agency which makes an inquiry to [the department] 29 such office pursuant to the provisions of section four hundred twenty- 30 four-a of this title concerning the subject that the person about whom 31 the inquiry is made is the subject of an indicated child abuse or 32 maltreatment report. 33 § 10. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 8 of section 422 of the social 34 services law, as added by chapter 12 of the laws of 1996, is amended to 35 read as follows: 36 (e) Should the [department] office of children and family services 37 grant the request of the subject of the report pursuant to this subdivi- 38 sion either through an administrative review or fair hearing to amend an 39 indicated report to an unfounded report[. Such], such report shall be 40 legally sealed and shall be released and expunged in accordance with the 41 standards set forth in subdivision five of this section. 42 § 11. Subparagraphs (ii), (iii), and (v) of paragraph (e) of subdivi- 43 sion 1 of section 424-a of the social services law, subparagraphs (ii) 44 and (iii) as amended by chapter 12 of the laws of 1996, and subparagraph 45 (v) as amended by chapter 634 of the laws of 1988, are amended and six 46 new subparagraphs (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) and (xi) are added to 47 read as follows: 48 (ii) If the subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreat- 49 ment has not requested an amendment of the record of the report [within50the time specified in subdivision eight of section four hundred twenty-51two of this title or if the subject had a fair hearing pursuant to such52section prior to January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six] and an 53 inquiry is made to the [department] office of children and family 54 services pursuant to this subdivision concerning the subject of the 55 report, [the department] such office shall, as expeditiously as possible 56 but within no more than ten working days of receipt of the inquiry,A. 8060 7 1 determine whether, in fact, the person about whom an inquiry is made is 2 the subject of an indicated report. Upon making a determination that the 3 person about whom the inquiry is made is the subject of an indicated 4 report of child abuse and maltreatment, the [department] office of chil- 5 dren and family services shall immediately send a written request to the 6 child protective service or state agency which was responsible for 7 investigating the allegations of abuse or maltreatment for all records, 8 reports and other information maintained by the service or state agency 9 on the subject. The service or state agency shall, as expeditiously as 10 possible but within no more than twenty working days of receiving such 11 request, forward all records, reports and other information it maintains 12 on the indicated report to the [department] office of children and fami- 13 ly services, including a copy of any petition or court order based on 14 the allegations that were indicated. [The department] Where a proceed- 15 ing pursuant to article ten of the family court act is pending based on 16 the same allegations that were indicated, the office of children and 17 family services shall defer determination of whether there is a fair 18 preponderance of the evidence to support the indication until the dispo- 19 sition of such family court proceeding or if the petition is dismissed 20 at the conclusion of an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal or 21 suspended judgment, at such time of the dismissal, whichever is later. 22 Unless such determination has been deferred, the office of children and 23 family services shall, within fifteen working days of receiving such 24 records, reports and other information from the child protective service 25 or state agency, review all records, reports and other information in 26 its possession concerning the subject and determine whether there is 27 [some credible] a fair preponderance of evidence to find that the 28 subject had committed the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment 29 giving rise to the indicated report. 30 (iii) If it is determined, after affording such service or state agen- 31 cy a reasonable opportunity to present its views, that there is [no32credible] not a fair preponderance of evidence in the record to find 33 that the subject committed such act or acts, the [department] office of 34 children and family services shall amend the record to indicate that the 35 report was unfounded and notify the inquiring party that the person 36 about whom the inquiry is made is not the subject of an indicated 37 report. [If the subject of the report had a fair hearing pursuant to38subdivision eight of section four hundred twenty-two of this title prior39to January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six and the fair hearing had40been finally determined by the commissioner and the record of the report41had not been amended to unfound the report or delete the person as a42subject of the report, then the department shall determine that there is43some credible evidence to find that the subject had committed the act or44acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indicated45report.] 46 (v) If it is determined after a review by the [department] office of 47 children and family services of all records, reports and information in 48 its possession concerning the subject of the report that there is [some49credible] a fair preponderance of evidence to prove that the subject 50 committed the act or acts of abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the 51 indicated report [and that such act or acts are relevant and reasonably52related to issues concerning the employment of the subject by a provider53agency or to the subject being allowed to have regular and substantial54contact with children cared for by a provider agency or the approval or55disapproval of an application which has been submitted by the subject to56a licensing agency, the department shall inform the inquiring party thatA. 8060 8 1the person about whom the inquiry is made is the subject of an indicated2report of child abuse and maltreatment; the department shall also notify3the subject of the inquiry of his or her fair hearing rights granted4pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section], the 5 office of children and family services shall notify the subject of the 6 determination of such report and of the subject's right to request a 7 fair hearing within ninety days. If the subject shall request a hearing 8 within ninety days, the office of children and family services shall 9 schedule a fair hearing and shall provide notice of the scheduled hear- 10 ing date to the subject, the statewide central register and, as appro- 11 priate, to the child protective service or state agency which investi- 12 gated such report. 13 (vi) The burden of proof in such a hearing shall be on the child 14 protective service or state agency which investigated the report. In 15 such a hearing, the fact that there is a family court finding of abuse 16 or neglect against the subject in regard to an allegation contained in 17 such report shall create an irrebuttable presumption that said allega- 18 tion is substantiated by a fair preponderance of evidence. Where the 19 petitioning child protective agency withdraws with prejudice an allega- 20 tion in a petition, or a family court finds on the merits that an alle- 21 gation does not constitute abuse or neglect or a petition has been 22 dismissed at the conclusion of either an adjournment in contemplation of 23 a dismissal or suspended judgment, or was not supported by a fair 24 preponderance of the evidence, the office of children and family 25 services shall amend that allegation to be unfounded. 26 (vii) If it shall be determined at the fair hearing that there is no 27 fair preponderance of evidence in the record to find that the subject 28 committed an act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment, the office of 29 children and family services shall amend the record to reflect that such 30 a finding was made at the administrative hearing, order any child 31 protective service or state agency which investigated the report to 32 similarly amend its records of such report, notify the subject of the 33 determination, and notify the inquiring party that the person about whom 34 such inquiry was made is not the subject of an indicated report. 35 (viii) Upon a determination at the fair hearing that the subject has 36 been shown, by a fair preponderance of the evidence, to have committed 37 the act or acts of child abuse or maltreatment giving rise to the indi- 38 cated report, the hearing officer shall determine, based on guidelines 39 developed by the office of children and family services pursuant to 40 subdivision five of this section, whether such act or acts are relevant 41 and reasonably related to the subject being allowed to have regular and 42 substantial contact with children who are cared for by a provider agen- 43 cy, or relevant and reasonably related to the approval or disapproval of 44 an application submitted by the subject to a licensing agency. 45 (ix) Upon a determination made at a fair hearing that the act or acts 46 of abuse or maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to the 47 employment of the subject by a provider agency, the subject being 48 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 49 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or denial of an applica- 50 tion submitted by the subject to a licensing agency, the office of chil- 51 dren and family services shall notify the subject and shall inform the 52 inquiring party that the person about whom such inquiry was made is the 53 subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment. 54 (x) The failure to determine at the fair hearing that the act or acts 55 of abuse and maltreatment are relevant and reasonably related to the 56 employment of the subject by a provider agency, the subject beingA. 8060 9 1 allowed to have regular and substantial contact with children who are 2 cared for by a provider agency or the approval or denial of an applica- 3 tion submitted by the subject to a licensing agency shall preclude the 4 office of children and family services from informing a provider or 5 licensing agency that such person is the subject of an indicated report 6 of child abuse or maltreatment. 7 (xi) Should the office of children and family services grant the 8 request of the subject of the report pursuant to this subdivision, 9 either through an administrative review or fair hearing, to amend an 10 indicated report to an unfounded report, such report shall be legally 11 sealed and shall be released and expunged in accordance with the stand- 12 ards set forth in subdivision five of section four hundred twenty-two of 13 this title. 14 § 12. Section 1039 of the family court act is amended by adding a new 15 subdivision (h) to read as follows: 16 (h) The petitioner shall notify the office of children and family 17 services, in accordance with sections four hundred twenty-two and four 18 hundred twenty-four-a of the social services law, of the outcome of an 19 adjournment in contemplation of dismissal pursuant to this section, 20 including dismissal of the petition upon expiration of such adjournment 21 or, where the proceeding has been restored to the calendar, of the 22 status and disposition of any proceedings under this article following 23 such restoration. 24 § 13. Section 1051 of the family court act is amended by adding a new 25 subdivision (g) to read as follows: 26 (g) The petitioner shall notify the office of children and family 27 services, in accordance with sections four hundred twenty-two and four 28 hundred twenty-four-a of the social services law, of any findings of 29 abuse or neglect and of any orders of dismissal entered pursuant to this 30 section. 31 § 14. Paragraph (iii) of subdivision (f) of section 1051 of the family 32 court act, as added by chapter 430 of the laws of 1994, is amended to 33 read as follows: 34 (iii) that the report made to the state central register of child 35 abuse and maltreatment upon which the petition is based will remain on 36 file until ten years after the eighteenth birthday of the youngest child 37 named in such report, that the respondent will be unable to obtain 38 expungement of such report, that if such report is for maltreatment, it 39 shall be legally conditionally sealed after eight years unless a deter- 40 mination is made to seal it earlier so long as such individual is not 41 named as the subject of the report in any subsequent indicated reports 42 of abuse or maltreatment, and that the existence of such [report] 43 reports which are not sealed may be made known to employers seeking to 44 screen employee applicants [in the field of child care,] for positions 45 involving potential contact with children, and that sealed reports may 46 be available to child protective services and law enforcement conducting 47 subsequent investigations and to [child care] authorized agencies if the 48 respondent applies to become a foster parent [or], adoptive parent or 49 seeks custody of or visitation with a child. 50 Any finding upon such an admission or consent made without such notice 51 being given by the court shall be vacated upon motion of any party. In 52 no event shall a person other than the respondent, either in person or 53 in writing, make an admission or consent to a finding of neglect or 54 abuse. 55 § 15. Section 1053 of the family court act is amended by adding a new 56 subdivision (d) to read as follows:A. 8060 10 1 (d) The petitioner shall notify the office of children and family 2 services, in accordance with sections four hundred twenty-two and four 3 hundred twenty-four-a of the social services law, of the outcome of a 4 suspended judgement pursuant to this section, including a dismissal of 5 the petition upon expiration of such suspended judgement, or where the 6 proceeding has been restored to the calendar, of the status and disposi- 7 tion of any proceedings under this article following such restoration. 8 § 16. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 9 sections six, eight and twelve of this act shall take effect on the one 10 hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law; and section 11 seven of this act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 12 have become a law.
