Bill Text: NY S04536 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Prohibits the making of decisions concerning guardianship, custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness; prohibits the department of social services from denying, deciding or opposing a petition or request for guardianship, custody or visitation solely because the petitioner is blind and prohibits the department of social services from taking actions solely because a parent, custodian or guardian is blind.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-3)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES [S04536 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S04536-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4536
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     March 14, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens.  PARKER,  ADDABBO,  CARLUCCI,  GRIFFO, MONTGOMERY,
          RANZENHOFER, SAVINO, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed,  and
          when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
        AN  ACT to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in
          relation to prohibiting the making of decisions  concerning  guardian-
          ship,  custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis
          of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness; and to  amend  the
          social  services  law,  in  relation  to prohibiting the department of
          social services from denying,  deciding  or  opposing  a  petition  or
          request  for  guardianship,  custody  or visitation solely because the
          petitioner is blind and to prohibiting a local social services  agency
          from  taking actions solely because a parent, custodian or guardian is
          blind
          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 and may be cited as the "blind
     2  persons right to parent act".
     3    § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature finds the following:
     4    a. All blind Americans have the right to found a family, to freely and
     5  responsibly decide on the number and spacing of their children,  and  to
     6  retain  the  custody  of  their offspring on an equal basis with others.
     7  This right to parent is rooted in the due process clause  of  the  Four-
     8  teenth  Amendment;  however,  blind  people  are often stripped of these
     9  constitutional rights when state statutes, judicial decisions, and child
    10  welfare practices are based on the presumption that  blindness  automat-
    11  ically means parental incompetence.
    12    b.  The presumption that blindness automatically means parental incom-
    13  petence is a misconception. Given the proper tools and education, blind-
    14  ness can be reduced to a physical nuisance. Because many sighted  people
    15  do  not  understand  the  techniques that blind people use to accomplish
    16  everyday tasks, sighted  judges,  social  workers,  and  state  official
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01687-01-9

        S. 4536                             2
     1  assume  that  those  tasks cannot be completed by a blind person.  Using
     2  alternative techniques, blind people are capable of living  independent,
     3  productive  lives,  which  include  providing  safe and loving homes for
     4  their  children.  For  example, blind people put small tactile dots over
     5  markers on stoves, washing machines, and other  flat  surfaces  so  that
     6  they  can independently operate those devices. Specific to raising chil-
     7  dren, blind parents may have their young children wear a small  bell  on
     8  their  shoes so the child's location can be known to the parents.  Blind
     9  parents will also pull a stroller  behind  them  rather  than  push  the
    10  stroller  in  front  of  them so their long white cane or guide dog will
    11  find obstacles or enter an intersection before the child and stroller.
    12    c. When sighted parents are involved in  a  guardianship,  custody  or
    13  visitation  proceeding,  their parental capabilities and how those capa-
    14  bilities affect the best interest of the child are thoroughly  evaluated
    15  through a careful review of evidence. Too often, however, judges summar-
    16  ily  dismiss  a blind parent's capabilities under the misconception that
    17  blind people are incapable of most anything, despite evidence on  record
    18  proving  otherwise.  Blind  parents  involved  in these proceedings must
    19  first overcome any bias or low expectations of the judge, and then  also
    20  provide  evidence  negating  those  misconceptions  above and beyond the
    21  normal burden placed on sighted parents.
    22    d. Widespread misconceptions about blindness  often  trigger  a  state
    23  agency to act, unsolicited, against the wishes of a blind parent. One of
    24  many  countless, devastating reports of discrimination occurred in 2010,
    25  when the state of Missouri wrongfully deemed a blind  couple  unable  to
    26  care  for  their  2-day old daughter, who remained in protective custody
    27  until the family was reunited after a 57-day battle. These  parents  had
    28  done  nothing  to demonstrate parental incompetence other than happening
    29  to have had a child and been blind, and yet the agency solely considered
    30  their blindness and decided to take action. In fact, the  Missouri  case
    31  and  many  others,  the parents had voluntarily contacted social service
    32  officials themselves in order to  seek  advice  and  assistance  and  to
    33  ensure that all of their child's needs were being met, but instead found
    34  themselves stripped of custody. Thus, hasty actions on the part of state
    35  social  welfare  officials  can  discourage  blind  parents from seeking
    36  services and assistance for which they and their children are eligible.
    37    e. During custody proceedings in cases of divorce, where one parent is
    38  blind and the other is sighted, the sighted parent will often try to use
    39  the other parent's blindness as a tool to deny the blind  parent  custo-
    40  dial  rights. Because custody proceedings related to a divorce are often
    41  hostile, the court should demand that each party demonstrate evidence of
    42  the other party's incompetence. However, courts often  assume  that  the
    43  sighted party is accurate in portraying the blind parent as incompetent,
    44  and  make custody and visitation decisions based solely on the fact that
    45  one parent is blind. These decisions can range from limiting or  denying
    46  visitation  unless  a  sighted  person is present at all times to simply
    47  denying the blind parent all custodial rights. This is not only  discri-
    48  minatory;  it denies the blind parent a fair chance at custody and opens
    49  courts to manipulation.
    50    § 3. The domestic relations law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
    51  75-m to read as follows:
    52    §  75-m.  Consideration  of  blindness during guardianship, custody or
    53  visitation proceedings.  1. The court may not deny or decide a  petition
    54  for  guardianship,  custody  or  visitation solely on the basis that the
    55  petitioner is blind. The blindness of the petitioner shall be considered
    56  relevant only to the extent that the court finds, based on  evidence  in

        S. 4536                             3
     1  the  record,  that the blindness affects the best interests of the child
     2  whose guardianship, custody or visitation is the subject  of  the  peti-
     3  tion.
     4    2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
     5    a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
     6    b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
     7  the best corrected eye.
     8    §  4.  The  domestic  relations law is amended by adding a new section
     9  111-d to read as follows:
    10    § 111-d. Consideration of blindness during  adoption  proceedings.  1.
    11  The  court  may not deny or decide a petition for adoption solely on the
    12  basis that the petitioner is blind.  The  blindness  of  the  petitioner
    13  shall  be  considered  relevant only to the extent that the court finds,
    14  based on evidence in the record, that the  blindness  affects  the  best
    15  interests of the child whose adoption is the subject of the petition.
    16    2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
    17    a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
    18    b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
    19  the best corrected eye.
    20    §  5.  The  family court act is amended by adding a new section 643 to
    21  read as follows:
    22    § 643. Consideration of blindness during adoption proceedings. 1.  The
    23  court may not deny or decide a petition for adoption solely on the basis
    24  that the petitioner is blind. The blindness of the petitioner  shall  be
    25  considered  relevant  only  to the extent that the court finds, based on
    26  evidence in the record, that the blindness affects the best interests of
    27  the child whose adoption is the subject of the petition.
    28    2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
    29    a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
    30    b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
    31  the best corrected eye.
    32    § 6. The family court act is amended by adding a new  section  658  to
    33  read as follows:
    34    §  658.  Consideration  of  blindness  during guardianship, custody or
    35  visitation proceedings. 1. The court may not deny or decide  a  petition
    36  for  custody  or  visitation  under this part or guardianship under part
    37  four of this article solely on the basis that the petitioner  is  blind.
    38  The blindness of the petitioner shall be considered relevant only to the
    39  extent  that  the court finds, based on evidence in the record, that the
    40  blindness affects the best interests of the  child  whose  guardianship,
    41  custody or visitation is the subject of the petition.
    42    2. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
    43    a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
    44    b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
    45  the best corrected eye.
    46    § 7. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 393 to
    47  read as follows:
    48    §  393.  Consideration  of  blindness  during guardianship, custody or
    49  adoption proceedings. 1. The department may not deny, decide or oppose a
    50  petition or request for guardianship, custody or visitation  under  this
    51  article  solely  on  the  basis that the petitioner, parent, guardian or
    52  custodian is blind. The blindness of the petitioner, parent, guardian or
    53  custodian shall be considered relevant  only  to  the  extent  that  the
    54  blindness  affects  the  best interests of the child whose guardianship,
    55  custody or visitation is the subject of the petition.

        S. 4536                             4
     1    2. The department shall not seek custody or guardianship  of  a  child
     2  solely  because  the child's parent, guardian or custodian is blind. The
     3  blindness of the parent, guardian or custodian shall be considered rele-
     4  vant only to the extent that the blindness affects the best interests of
     5  the  child  whose  guardianship, custody or visitation is the subject of
     6  the petition.
     7    3. As used in this section, "blind" or "blindness" means:
     8    a. vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
     9    b. vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in
    10  the best corrected eye.
    11    § 8. The commissioner of social services is authorized and directed to
    12  promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of the
    13  provisions of this act on or before its effective date.
    14    § 9. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    15  have become a law.
feedback