Authorizes children who will be 18 or older on the date of a permanency hearing to apply to dispense with the provision of notice and copy of such hearing and to redact portions of the hearing report.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A11467
SPONSOR: Rules (Moreno) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the family court act, in relation to protection of the
confidentiality rights of youth over the age of 18 in foster care with
respect to permanency hearings
2.
SOURCE OF BILL
This bill is being introduced at the request of the Unified Court
System, on the recommendation of the Chief Administrative Judge's Family
Court Advisory and Rules Committee.
3. Purpose of bill
Recognizing that youth who have reached the age of 18 are deemed adults
under New York State law, this bill provides a procedural vehicle for
youth over 18 who are in foster care to protect their confidentiality
rights with respect to their foster care permanency planning hearings
and reports, while at the same time preserving the due process rights of
their parents and other necessary parties.
4.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
Section 1 of the bill amends Section 1089 of the Family Court Act to
provide that youth who will be 18 years old or older at the time of
their next permanency hearing may apply by motion or order to show cause
at least 45 days in advance of the scheduled hearing date for an order
dispensing with the provision of notice and a copy of the permanency
report to the parents, other persons legally responsible and the foster
parents, who would otherwise be necessary parties, as well as to pre-a-
doptive parents and relatives who may be providing care to the child.
The application may alternatively request that the permanency report be
sent to the other parties in redacted form and may request that the
determination apply as well to subsequent permanency hearings without
the necessity of repeated motions. The application must state the
grounds, including why the requested order would protect the confiden-
tiality of the information and would be in the youth's best interests.
It must be sent by mail or electronically to the other parties, who have
an opportunity to respond no later than 30 days in advance of the sched-
uled hearing date. The court is required to determine the application no
later than 20 days in advance of the hearing and the process would in no
event delay the permanency hearing beyond the deadlines contained in
Family Court Act 1089(a)(2).
Section 2 sets the effective date as the sixtieth day after the bill is
enacted.
5.
JUSTIFICATION
Acknowledging that upon reaching the age of 18, youth in foster care may
not be ready to live independently, New York State law allows such youth
to remain in care upon their consent or to reenter foster care after
they have been discharged. See Family Court Act ("FCA") 1055(e), 1091.
In all cases, the Family Court conducts permanency hearings to review
their care, first after eight months and thereafter at six-month inter-
vals, at which the youth have the right to participate. See FCA 1087,
1090-a. For older youth in care, the hearings provide vital assistance
in planning for their futures as independent adults. In accordance with
FCA 1089(b)(1) and (2), their parents (including non-respondent parents
in cases involving youth not freed for adoption), foster parents, pre-a-
doptive parents and relatives providing care for the youth and any other
individuals "legally responsible for the child's care" must be given
notice of all permanency hearings, along with copies of the permanency
hearing reports, which are detailed documents that may include otherwise
confidential medical, mental health and other information about the
youth.
In Matter of Parvati D., 227 AD3d 605 (1st Dept 2024), a foster youth
over the age of 18 requested that the Family Court dispense with notice
to her father of a permanency hearing regarding her foster care. The
Family Court denied the motion, holding that the father had an absolute
right under the clear language of Family Court Act 1089 to notice of the
hearing and a copy of the permanency hearing report. In its decision
affirming the Family Court's order, the Appellate Division, First
Department, acknowledged that the youth's asserted privacy concerns were
"reasonable," but indicated that the prejudice to the youth would be
limited, noting that confidential medical information is protected from
use or disclosure for any purpose other than the current litigation
under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(HIPAA) and may be made the subject of a protective order under section
3103(a) of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
By authorizing orders that are analogous to the protective orders that
may be available to civil litigants under CPLR 3103(a), this measure
provides a vehicle for youth in foster care who have reached the age of
majority to protect their rights to privacy, while at the same time
protecting the rights of their parents and other parties to their
permanency proceedings to be heard regarding any request for confiden-
tiality made by the youth.
6.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
This is a new bill.
7.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
This bill would have no fiscal impact on the State.
8.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This bill would take effect on the sixtieth day after enactment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11467
IN ASSEMBLY
May 20, 2026
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Moreno) --
(at request of the Unified Court System) -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to protection of the
confidentiality rights of youth over the age of 18 in foster care with
respect to permanency hearings
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions (b) and (e) of section 1089 of the family
2 court act, as added by section 27 of part A of chapter 3 of the laws of
3 2005, subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph 1 of subdivision (b) as
4 amended by chapter 573 of the laws of 2015, subparagraph (iii) of para-
5 graph 1 as amended and paragraph 1-a as added by chapter 14 of the laws
6 of 2016, and paragraph 2 of subdivision (b) as amended by section 8 of
7 part B of chapter 327 of the laws of 2007, are amended to read as
8 follows:
9 (b) Notice of permanency hearings. (1) No later than fourteen days
10 before the date certain for a permanency hearing scheduled pursuant to
11 this section, the local social services district shall serve the notice
12 of the permanency hearing and the permanency hearing report by regular
13 mail upon:
14 (i) except as provided in paragraph one-b of this subdivision, the
15 child's parent, including any non-respondent parent, unless the parental
16 rights of the parent have been terminated or surrendered, and any other
17 person legally responsible for the child's care at the most recent
18 address or addresses known to the local social services district or
19 agency, and the foster parent in whose home the child currently resides,
20 each of whom shall be a party to the proceeding;
21 (ii) the agency supervising the care of the child on behalf of the
22 social services district with whom the child was placed, the child's
23 attorney, and the attorney for the respondent parent; and
24 (iii) the attorney for the child.
25 (1-a) If the child is age ten or older, no later than fourteen days
26 before the date certain for a permanency hearing scheduled pursuant to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14966-01-6
A. 11467 2
1 this section, the local social services district shall serve the notice
2 of the permanency hearing by regular mail upon the child. Nothing herein
3 shall be deemed to prevent an attorney for the child from consulting
4 with the child about the child's participation in the permanency hearing
5 as required by section one thousand ninety-a of this article prior to
6 the service of the notice required pursuant to this paragraph.
7 (1-b) (i) If the child will be eighteen years of age or older on the
8 date certain of the permanency hearing scheduled pursuant to this
9 section, no later than forty-five days before such date certain, the
10 child or the child's attorney may apply to the court by motion or order
11 to show cause for an order dispensing with provision of the notice and
12 copy of the permanency hearing report in accordance with subparagraph
13 (i) of paragraph one and paragraph two of this subdivision and/or for an
14 order redacting portions of the permanency hearing report prior to
15 dissemination of the report to the individual or individuals named in
16 such subparagraph. The application shall set forth grounds as to why
17 the provision of such notice and permanency report or unredacted
18 portions of the report to such individual or individuals would violate
19 the confidentiality of medical or other information and would not be in
20 the child's best interests. The motion or order to show cause may also
21 request a court order on confidentiality that would apply prospectively
22 to any future permanency hearings that may be scheduled during the
23 remainder of the child's stay in foster care.
24 (ii) The motion or order to show cause filed pursuant to this para-
25 graph shall be served by mail or by electronic means upon such individ-
26 ual or individuals and the agency supervising the care of the child,
27 each of whom shall have an opportunity to be heard in person or in writ-
28 ing no later than thirty days before the date certain for the permanency
29 hearing.
30 (iii) The court shall determine the application no later than twenty
31 days before the date certain for the permanency hearing and shall
32 provide its determination forthwith to the agency supervising the care
33 of the child, the child and the child's attorney, such that the agency
34 can provide notices and permanency reports, if any, in compliance with
35 paragraph one of this subdivision. In no event shall an application
36 under this paragraph delay the permanency hearing beyond the deadlines
37 specified in paragraph two of subdivision (a) of this section.
38 (2) [The] Except as provided in paragraph one-b of this subdivision,
39 notice and the permanency hearing report shall also be provided to any
40 pre-adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child and shall
41 be submitted to the court. The notice of the permanency hearing only
42 shall be provided to a former foster parent in whose home the child
43 previously had resided for a continuous period of twelve months in
44 foster care, if any, unless the court, on motion of any party or on its
45 own motion, dispenses with such notice on the basis that such notice
46 would not be in the child's best interests. However, such pre-adoptive
47 parent, relative, or former foster parent, on the basis of such notice,
48 shall have the right to be heard but shall not be a party to the perman-
49 ency hearing. The failure of such pre-adoptive parent, relative or
50 former foster parent to appear at a permanency hearing shall constitute
51 a waiver of the right to be heard. Such failure to appear shall not
52 cause a delay of the permanency hearing nor be a ground for the invali-
53 dation of any order issued by the court pursuant to this section.
54 (e) Service of court order and permanency hearing report. [A] Except
55 as provided in paragraph one-b of subdivision (b) of this section, a
56 copy of the court order which includes the date certain for the next
A. 11467 3
1 permanency hearing and the permanency hearing report as approved,
2 adjusted, or modified by the court, shall be given to the parent or
3 other person legally responsible for the child.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
5 have become a law.
