Requires child protective services to orally and in writing disclose certain information to parents and caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investigation; requires such oral and written disclosure to contain certain information regarding the rights of the person under investigation.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1980A
SPONSOR: Walker TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child
protective services to disclose certain information to parents and care-
takers who are the subject of a child protective services investigation
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one adds a new section to the social services law to require a
child protective services investigator to orally and in writing inform
parents of their rights as it relates to the investigation.
Section two sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York law is clear that, absent a true emergency, CPS cannot enter a
home and interview children without either a court order or a parent's
permission. Caseworkers, however, often do not communicate these basic
rights to parents. Instead, they often tell parents that if they fail to
cooperate with CPS's demands immediately, their children will be
removed. The families who are pressured and coerced to allow CPS inves-
tigators into their homes without full knowledge of their legal rights
and without the chance to speak with an attorney are overwhelmingly
people of color from low-income communities.
Current practices have led to litigation, uncertainty, and the needless
trauma that comes with invasive investigations. Parents are often left
feeling powerless, frustrated, and as if their privacy has been violated
as CPS workers check every room, searching through their cabinets, draw-
ers, and refrigerators, for what more often than not is a false or
meritless report (which may have even originated with an anonymous
complaint). This legislation would simply require that every parent who
happens to be the subject of an investigation is provided with informa-
tion regarding of his or her rights, through a plain-language "Parental
Bill of Rights."
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: S5484/A.6792A
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1980--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALKER, COOK, SAYEGH, TAYLOR, SIMON, EPSTEIN,
JACKSON, CRUZ, BURGOS, JEAN-PIERRE, DICKENS, L. ROSENTHAL, ANDERSON,
GIBBS, MEEKS, DE LOS SANTOS, HEVESI, SEPTIMO, FORREST, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
ALVAREZ, SOLAGES, LUNSFORD, PRETLOW, LUCAS, REYES, DAVILA, STECK,
CUNNINGHAM, MITAYNES, CHANDLER-WATERMAN, TAPIA -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Children and Families -- reported and
referred to the Committee on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on
Codes in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child
protective services to disclose certain information to parents and
caretakers who are the subject of a child protective services investi-
gation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section
2 424-c to read as follows:
3 § 424-c. Information regarding parent or caretaker's rights. A parent
4 or caretaker has the right to receive certain information regarding
5 their rights at the initial point of contact during a child protective
6 services investigation.
7 1. Upon receiving a report of alleged maltreatment or abuse of a child
8 pursuant to section four hundred fifteen of this title child protective
9 services shall, at the initial point of contact with a parent or care-
10 taker, orally and in writing disseminate, in plain language of the
11 parent or caretaker's preferred language, information regarding the
12 parent or caretaker's rights during such investigation and shall docu-
13 ment in the case record that such information has been provided to the
14 parent or caretaker. Such information shall include, but need not be
15 limited to, the following information:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03741-05-4
A. 1980--A 2
1 (a) The parent or caretaker is not required to permit the child
2 protective services representative to enter the residence of the parent
3 or caretaker;
4 (b) The parent or caretaker who is the subject of the investigation is
5 entitled to be informed of the allegations being investigated;
6 (c) The parent or caretaker is not required to speak with the child
7 protective services representative, and any statement made by the
8 parent, caretaker or other family member may be used against the parent
9 or caretaker in an administrative or court proceeding;
10 (d) The parent or caretaker is entitled to seek the advice of an
11 attorney and to have an attorney present when the parent or caretaker is
12 questioned by a child protective services representative, including at
13 any meeting conducted with the parent or caretaker to determine whether
14 the parent or caretaker's child should be removed from the home;
15 (e) The child protective services representative is not an attorney
16 and cannot provide legal advice to the parent or caretaker;
17 (f) The parent or caretaker is not required to allow a child protec-
18 tive services representative to interview or examine a child;
19 (g) The parent or caretaker is not required to sign any document or
20 accept any services presented by a child protective services represen-
21 tative, and is entitled to have an attorney review any such document
22 before agreeing to sign it;
23 (h) Contact information for resources which may be available to
24 parents and caretakers during a child protective services investigation,
25 including legal services from a designated organization; and
26 (i) The parent or caretaker is entitled to exercise any and all
27 rights. Regardless of whether the parent or caretaker exercises their
28 rights, child protective services is required to determine how best to
29 assess the safety of the child or children. The parent or caretaker may
30 wish to speak with an attorney or advocate before they determine how to
31 proceed.
32 2. The child protective services representative shall make reasonable
33 efforts to ensure that the notice and all information required to be
34 provided to a parent or caretaker pursuant to subdivision one of this
35 section is written in a manner which will be understood by the parent or
36 guardian, including, but not limited to, ensuring that the notice and
37 information is written in the preferred language of the parent or care-
38 taker. In the event the preferred language of the parent or caretaker is
39 unknown prior to the initial contact, a child preventive services repre-
40 sentative may provide the information orally utilizing a translation
41 service.
42 3. The child protective services representative shall sign and date
43 the notice described in subdivision one of this section as evidence of
44 having provided the notice at the first point of contact. The child
45 protective services representative shall provide the parent or caretaker
46 with a copy of the signed notice at the time.
47 4. If at the initial point of contact with the parent or caretaker the
48 child protective services representative has reasonable cause to believe
49 that exigent circumstances exist that present an imminent danger to the
50 child's life or health and there is no time to seek a court order under
51 section one thousand twenty-four of the family court act, the child
52 protective services representative shall take all lawful measures neces-
53 sary to protect the child's life or health prior to disseminating infor-
54 mation regarding the parent or caretaker's rights during the investi-
55 gation pursuant to subdivision one of this section.
A. 1980--A 3
1 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
2 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
3 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
4 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
5 on or before such effective date.
