Bill Text: NY S00222 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to reporting of youth placed in foster care settings and recruitment of foster parents; requires information including the total number of youth placed in foster care, the reasons why such youth were placed and the efforts the state has taken to recruit and retain foster parents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 37-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-15 - approval memo.31 [S00222 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S00222-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relates to reporting of youth placed in foster care settings and recruitment of foster parents; requires information including the total number of youth placed in foster care, the reasons why such youth were placed and the efforts the state has taken to recruit and retain foster parents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 37-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-15 - approval memo.31 [S00222 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S00222-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 222 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. BENJAMIN, BAILEY, CARLUCCI, COMRIE, GIANARIS, HOYL- MAN, KAMINSKY, KAVANAGH, KENNEDY, KRUEGER, MAYER, PARKER, PERSAUD, RIVERA, SAVINO, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to reporting of unaccompanied alien children by authorized agencies The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known as and may be cited as the "SCAR 2 Act" or the "Separation of Children Accountability Response Act". 3 § 2. Section 372 of the social services law is amended by adding a new 4 subdivision 9 to read as follows: 5 9. (a) An authorized agency as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of 6 subdivision ten of section three hundred seventy-one of this title shall 7 be required to report the following information to the commissioner 8 every fifteen days: 9 (i) the number of unaccompanied alien children newly accepted into the 10 authorized agency's care within the previous fifteen days under a 11 contract, grant, or other agreement with the federal government; 12 (ii) the number of unaccompanied alien children released from the 13 authorized agency's care within the previous fifteen days under a 14 contract, grant, or other agreement with the federal government; 15 (iii) the number of unaccompanied alien children currently under the 16 authorized agency's care under a contract, grant, or other agreement 17 with the federal government at the time of the report; 18 (iv) the median and mean number of days unaccompanied alien children 19 have spent in the care of the authorized agency under a contract, grant, 20 or other agreement with the federal government and the total number of 21 days spent in the custody of the federal government, if known; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01765-01-9S. 222 2 1 (v) (1) the number of unaccompanied alien children in the authorized 2 agency's care who were removed from the care or custody of their parents 3 by an official, agent or agency of the federal government while entering 4 or attempting to enter the United States or after having entered the 5 United States, and (2) the number of unaccompanied alien children previ- 6 ously removed from the custody of their parents and placed in the 7 authorized agency's care that have been restored to the custody of their 8 parents; 9 (vi) the number of unaccompanied alien children in the authorized 10 agency's care whose primary language is not English, including the 11 number of children speaking each language and the primary language 12 spoken by such children; 13 (vii) the number of unaccompanied alien children placed into partic- 14 ular types of care or custody including, but not limited to, transi- 15 tional foster care, long-term foster care, secure care or staff-secure 16 care; and 17 (viii) any other information the commissioner deems necessary. 18 (b) Reports to the commissioner shall not reveal identifying informa- 19 tion about specific cases or individuals, and the commissioner shall 20 ensure that all reporting requirements comply with federal laws, regu- 21 lations, and policies. A person who knowingly submits false information 22 required by this subdivision shall be guilty of offering a false instru- 23 ment for filing under article one hundred seventy-five of the penal law. 24 (c) The commissioner may deny, revoke, or terminate an authorized 25 agency's existing licensures or registrations for failure to provide 26 such information in the prescribed time frame. 27 (d) The commissioner shall compile such data utilizing the office of 28 children and family services' bureau of research, evaluation and 29 performance analytics (hereinafter referred to as the "bureau"). The 30 bureau, or its successor agency, shall supply such information to the 31 commissioner and government officials upon request, and shall make such 32 information available to the public in a manner accessible to the public 33 in real-time. 34 (e) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "alien" is defined as 35 any person not a citizen or national of the United States, the term 36 "child" shall have the same meaning as defined in section three hundred 37 seventy-one of this title, and the term "unaccompanied" with regard to 38 an alien child is defined consistent with federal law and shall include 39 children who were unaccompanied when they crossed the border and chil- 40 dren who were not accompanied when they crossed the border but were 41 rendered unaccompanied by removal from the care or custody of their 42 parent or guardian. 43 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.