STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2226
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 23, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
        AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to  training  require-
          ments  for  attorneys  appointed  to  represent  a  child  in  certain
          proceedings
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Paragraphs 2 and 3 of subdivision (a) of section 249-b of
     2  the family court act, paragraph 2 as added and paragraph 3 as amended by
     3  chapter 476 of the laws of 2009, are amended and a new  paragraph  4  is
     4  added to read as follows:
     5    2.  provide for the development of training programs with the input of
     6  and in consultation with the state office for the prevention of domestic
     7  violence. Such training programs must include an  overview  of  juvenile
     8  delinquency  law and procedure the dynamics of domestic violence and its
     9  effect on victims and on children, and  the  relationship  between  such
    10  dynamics  and  the  issues  considered  by the court, including, but not
    11  limited  to,  custody,  visitation  and  child  support.  Such  training
    12  programs  along  with the providers of such training must be approved by
    13  the office of court administration following consultation with and input
    14  from the state office for the prevention of domestic violence; and
    15    3. require that all attorneys for children, including new and  veteran
    16  attorneys,  receive initial training for a period of six hours and ongo-
    17  ing training as  prescribed  by  the  court  as  provided  for  in  this
    18  section[.]; and
    19    4.  encourage public defender offices and agencies that provide repre-
    20  sentation in proceedings under this section to provide training on juve-
    21  nile delinquency issues that the state bar has approved  for  continuing
    22  legal education credit.
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08150-01-9