NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9733A
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the correction law, the education law
and the social services law, in relation to making technical changes to
the protection of people with special needs act
PURPOSE OF BILL: This bill would make technical corrections to the
Protection of People with Special Needs Act (PPSNA) (Chapter 501, Laws
of 2012), which created the Justice Center for the Protection of People
with Special Needs (Justice Center).
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Correction Law § 401-a to delete an obsolete reference
to Article 45 of the Mental Hygiene Law, which was repealed in the
PPSNA, and to instead reference Article 20 of the Executive Law, the
Justice Center's enabling statute.
Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 amend Education Law §§ 4212 (which applies to
education programs for students who are deaf or blind), 4314 (which
applies to the New York State School for the Blind), 4358 (which applies
to the New York State School for the Deaf), and 4403 (which applies to
children with handicapping conditions) to make conforming changes to
reflect that: (1) the Justice Center only substantiates reports of abuse
or neglect, and not reports of "significant incidents," and (2) the
standard for substantiation by the Justice Center is a "preponderance of
the evidence". Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the bill also amend Education Law
§§ 4314, 4358 and 4403 to add language identical to the language already
contained in the analogous provision in Education Law § 4212. This
language relates to the State Education Department promulgating regu-
lations to assure that a person who is on the register of substantiated
category one cases of abuse and neglect cannot be hired in a position in
which he or she would have regular and substantial contact with a
vulnerable person.
Section 6 amends Social Services Law § 413 to correct a provision of the
PPSNA, which removed staff at residential facilities for children that
are licensed, certified or operated by the Office of Children and Family
Services from the list of mandated reporters who are required to report
abuse and neglect to the Statewide Central Register (SCR).
Sections 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the bill amend Social Services Law §§
424-a(1)(a), (2)(a), (4) and 425(2) to delete mistaken references to
Articles 13-a and 13-c of the Public Health Law when referring to the
overnight, summer day and traveling summer day camps for children with
developmental disabilities that are covered by the PPSNA. in addition,
section 9 omits a reference to family care homes "which will serve chil-
dren" in Social Services Law § 424-a(4), because the PPSNA mandated that
all family care homes must undergo SCR checks on operators, not just
those homes that serve children.
Section 11 amends Social Services Law § 488(4)(d), to add a comma to the
definition of the types of camps covered by the PPSNA to clarify that an
overnight camp for children with developmental disabilities is different
than a summer day or traveling summer day camp for such children.
Section 12 amends Social Services Law § 491(4) to clarify that vendors
or contractors of facilities and provider agencies under the jurisdic-
tion of the Justice Center shall not take retaliatory action against a
person who reports an incident to the Justice Center or cooperates in an
investigation of such an incident. This amendment would allow these
persons to be covered by the provision of the statute providing for
injunctive relief to a victim of such retaliation.
Section 13 provides for an immediate effective date.
EXISTING LAW: The Justice Center is a new State agency with oversight
over certain facilities and programs serving people with special needs
that are operated by six different State agencies: the Office for People
With Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Mental Health, the Office
of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the Office of Children and
Family Services, the Department of Health and the State Education
Department. In the PPSNA, the Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy
for Persons with Disabilities was eliminated, and most of its functions
were merged into the Justice Center.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT: A number of the State agencies whose facilities
and programs are under the oversight of the new Justice Center have
recommended conforming changes and technical amendments to various stat-
utes so that the provisions of the PPSNA can be implemented in the
manner intended. This bill would make the requested changes.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS: This bill would be implemented within existing
resources.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This bill takes effect immediately.
