Bill Text: NY S03562 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes the social services department to terminate the subsidies that may be provided to a parent who adopts a disabled or hard to place child under certain circumstances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES [S03562 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03562-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3562 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 8, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. MONTGOMERY, PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered print- ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the adoption subsidies provided for disabled or hard to place children The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 453 of the social 2 services law, as amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, is amended 3 and four new paragraphs (c-2), (c-3), (c-4) and (c-5) are added to read 4 as follows: 5 (c) No payments may be made pursuant to this subdivision if the social 6 services official determines that the adoptive parents are no longer 7 legally responsible for the support of the child or the child is no 8 longer receiving any support from such parents. For purposes of this 9 section: 10 (i) "any support" shall be limited to support that is directly for the 11 benefit of the adopted child that meets the food, clothing, education, 12 medical and shelter needs of the adopted child and that has an identifi- 13 able value; 14 (ii) "no longer legally responsible for the support of the child" 15 means (A) the child has become legally emancipated, married or joined 16 the military; or (B) a court has ruled that the adoptive parent is no 17 longer legally responsible for the support of the child. 18 (c-1) The social services official on [a biennial] an annual basis 19 shall: 20 (i) require adoptive parents to certify that they are fulfilling their 21 obligations pursuant to any adoption subsidy agreement entered into in 22 accordance with this section, including their obligation to provide 23 support for the child; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01073-01-9S. 3562 2 1 (ii) remind the adoptive parents of [their obligation] the following 2 obligations, which shall also be included in any agreement entered into 3 with an adoptive parent concerning payments made for the care and main- 4 tenance of the child pursuant to this section: 5 (A) to support the child [and]; 6 (B) to notify the social services official if the adoptive parents are 7 no longer providing any support of the child or are no longer legally 8 responsible for the support of the child[.]; and 9 (C) to notify the social services official if: (I) another person has 10 been granted physical custody of the child; (II) another person has been 11 appointed guardian for the child; or (III) the child no longer resides 12 with the adoptive parent. 13 (c-2) If the adoptive parent fails to respond to an annual certif- 14 ication notice within thirty days of the receipt of the certification 15 notice from the social services official, the social services official 16 may: 17 (i)(A) contact the adoptive parent by letter, telephone or electronic 18 means; or (B) if other means of contact have not been successful, visit 19 the home of the adoptive parent; and 20 (ii) require the adoptive parent, as a condition for the continuation 21 of the subsidy payments, to produce evidence of the support that is 22 being provided on behalf of the adopted child. 23 (c-3) (i) If the social services official receives from any person 24 information that provides reasonable cause to suspect that the adoptive 25 parent is no longer providing any support to the child, the social 26 services official shall review whether the adoptive parents are legally 27 responsible for the support of the child and whether the child is 28 receiving any support from the adoptive parents. Circumstances in which 29 the social services official shall conduct this review include the 30 following: 31 (A) the child has been placed in foster care; 32 (B) a person alleges to the social services official that: 33 (I) a person other than the adoptive parent has been granted legal 34 custody of the child; 35 (II) another person has been appointed guardian for the child, or 36 (III) the child is found to no longer reside with the adoptive parent. 37 (ii) In conducting the review described in this paragraph, the social 38 services official may: 39 (A) contact the adoptive parent by letter, telephone, electronic, or 40 other means; 41 (B) visit the home of the adoptive parent; and 42 (C) require the adoptive parent, as a condition for the continuation 43 of the subsidy payments, to produce evidence of the support that is 44 being provided on behalf of the adopted child. 45 (iii) If the child is not in foster care and the social services offi- 46 cial determines that the adoptive parents are no longer legally respon- 47 sible for the support of the child or that the child is no longer 48 receiving any support from the adoptive parents, the social services 49 official shall terminate the assistance provided to the adoptive parents 50 pursuant to this section. The adoptive parents may appeal the termi- 51 nation of assistance to the department in accordance with section twen- 52 ty-two of this chapter. 53 (iv) If the child is in foster care and the social services official 54 determines that the child is no longer receiving any support from the 55 adoptive parents, the social services official may reduce, suspend, or 56 terminate the assistance provided to the adoptive parents pursuant toS. 3562 3 1 this section. The adoptive parents may appeal the termination of assist- 2 ance to the department in accordance with section twenty-two of this 3 chapter. If assistance is reduced, suspended or terminated pursuant to 4 this paragraph and the child is returned from foster care to the care of 5 the adoptive parents, the social services official shall resume assist- 6 ance effective from the date when the child was returned to the adoptive 7 parent's care. 8 (c-4) If the social services official terminates the adoption assist- 9 ance provided to adoptive parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of 10 this subdivision and the child resides with another person who has been 11 granted physical custody or appointed as guardian of the child, the 12 social services official shall enter into a written agreement to make 13 adoption assistance payments to the custodian or guardian. Such payments 14 shall be made retroactive from the termination of assistance to the 15 adoptive parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of this subdivision and 16 shall be made until the child's twenty-first birthday. A custodian or 17 guardian who receives adoption assistance payments pursuant to this 18 paragraph shall be subject to the same requirements that apply to adop- 19 tive parents under this section. 20 (c-5) If the social services official terminates the adoption assist- 21 ance provided to adoptive parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of 22 this subdivision after the eighteenth birthday and before the twenty- 23 first birthday of the adopted child, and no person other than the adop- 24 tive parents has legal custody or guardianship of the child, the social 25 services official shall make payments to the child: 26 (i) through direct payments to the child, if the social services offi- 27 cial determines the child demonstrates the ability to manage such direct 28 payments; or 29 (ii) to a representative payee certified by the social services offi- 30 cial in accordance with paragraph (g) of this subdivision. 31 § 2. Clause (B) of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (g) of subdivision 32 1 of section 453 of the social services law, as added by chapter 518 of 33 the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 34 (B) If the twenty-first birthday of the child occurs while awaiting 35 the certification of a representative payee, the child shall be entitled 36 to retroactive direct payment of subsidy payments since the death of the 37 adoptive parent or parents or the termination of assistance to the adop- 38 tive parent or parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of this subdivi- 39 sion after the eighteenth birthday of the child. 40 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 453 of the social services law, as 41 amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as 42 follows: 43 2. [The] Any agreement provided for in subdivision one of this section 44 shall be subject to the approval of the department upon the application 45 of the social services official; provided, however, that in accordance 46 with the regulations of the department, the department may authorize the 47 social services official to approve or disapprove the agreement on 48 behalf of the department. In either situation, if the agreement is not 49 approved or disapproved by the social services official within thirty 50 days of submission, the voluntary authorized agency may submit the 51 agreement directly to the department for approval or disapproval. If the 52 agreement is not disapproved in writing by the department within thirty 53 days after its submission to the department, it shall be deemed 54 approved. Any such disapproval shall be accompanied by a written state- 55 ment of the reasons therefor. 56 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
