Rpld §1, ren §§2 & 3 to be §§1 & 2, amd §1, Chap of 2023 (as proposed in S.4266-A & A.5088-A)
Directs the division of criminal justice services to establish a task force on missing women and girls who are black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8545
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend a chapter of the laws of 2023 establishing a task force
on missing women and girls who are black, indigenous and people of
color, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4266-A and A. 5088-A,
in relation to directing the division of criminal justice services to
establish a task force on missing women and girls who are black, indige-
nous and people of color; and to repeal certain provisions of such law
related thereto
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to make minor changes to Chapter 734 of the
Laws of 2023 in relation to the composition of the Task Force on Missing
Women and Girls who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) it
establishes as well as its duties.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill would repeal section one, the legislative
intent, of Chapter 734 of the Laws of 2023.
Section two would provide that the Division of Criminal Justice
Services, in conjunction with the Office for the Prevention of Domestic
violence, shall convene the task force on Missing BIPOC Women and Girls.
Further, it would add representatives to the task force, including from
the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, the Department of
Health, the Office of Victim Services, the Office of Mental Health, the
Department of Labor, and the Department of Transportation. It would also
add two governor appointees. Finally, it would make changes to the
duties of the task force, stating that the task force shall commission a
study, and based on the study, the task force shall prepare and submit a
report with findings and recommendations. It lists objectives to be
included in such report.
Section three would establish the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Oftentimes, cases of missing and murdered BIPOC women and girls are
handled with a lack of concern, attention, and competency. According to
a 2020 report by the Women's Media Center there are approximately 75,000
missing Black women and girls across the United States. Another report
released by the Sovereign Bodies Institute documents 2,306 missing
Native American women and girls in the U.S.
Advocates and families point to insufficient attention, lack of cultural
awareness and the historical underreporting and general scarcity of
statistics of missing and murdered women of color, and procedures that
result in misclassification, poor record keeping, and adverse
community/tribal relationships.
The tens of thousands of these missing BIPOC women and girls include
abductees, sex trafficking victims, and runaways: These girls experience
the intersection of racism and sexism, which unfortunately results in
pervasive social and economic barriers.
Missing BIPOC girls are categorized as runaways which leaves cases to be
pushed aside and treated with a lack of urgency. BIPOC women and girls
are easily erased from public discussion. We must not let these women
and girls fall victim to the systemic failures that they are not respon-
sible for. This bill seeks to make clarifying changes to effectuate the
intent of Chapter 349 of the Laws of 2023, which established a missing
BIPOC women and girls task force.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a
chapter of the laws of 2023 establishing a task force on missing women
and girls who are black, indigenous and people of color, as proposed in
legislative bills numbers S. 4266-A and A. 5088-A, takes effect,
provided, however, that the amendments to section 1 of a chapter of the
laws of 2023 establishing a task force on missing women and girls who
are black, indigenous and people of color, as proposed in legislative
bills numbers S. 4266-A and A. 5088-A, made by section two of this act
shall be subject to the expiration of such section and shall expire and
be deemed repealed therewith.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8545
IN ASSEMBLY
January 8, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend a chapter of the laws of 2023 establishing a task force
on missing women and girls who are black, indigenous and people of
color, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4266-A and A.
5088-A, in relation to directing the division of criminal justice
services to establish a task force on missing women and girls who are
black, indigenous and people of color; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law related thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1 of a chapter of the laws of 2023 establishing a
2 task force on missing women and girls who are black, indigenous and
3 people of color, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4266-A and
4 A. 5088-A, is REPEALED.
5 § 2. Sections 2 and 3 of a chapter of the laws of 2023 establishing a
6 task force on missing women and girls who are black, indigenous and
7 people of color, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4266-A and
8 A. 5088-A, are renumbered sections 1 and 2 and section 1 is amended to
9 read as follows:
10 Section 1. a. [There is hereby established] The division of criminal
11 justice services, in conjunction with the office for the prevention of
12 domestic violence, shall convene a task force on missing women and girls
13 who are black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). Such task force
14 shall be composed of the commissioner of the office of family and chil-
15 dren's services, the commissioner of the division of criminal justice
16 services, the executive director of the office for the prevention of
17 domestic violence, the superintendent of state police, the commissioner
18 of the office of temporary and disability assistance, the commissioner
19 of the department of health, the director of the office of victim
20 services, the commissioner of the office of mental health, the commis-
21 sioner of the department of labor, and the commissioner of the depart-
22 ment of transportation or [the] their designees [of such commissioners
23 and superintendent]. Additional members shall be appointed as follows,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05565-04-4
A. 8545 2
1 two shall be appointed by the governor, two shall be appointed by the
2 temporary president of the senate, two shall be appointed by the speaker
3 of the assembly, one shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
4 senate, and one shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem-
5 bly. Members shall be representative of the communities experiencing
6 this crisis, including directly impacted individuals, reflect the diver-
7 sity of New York state, and have experience in cultural competency.
8 b. Task force members shall receive no compensation for their services
9 but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
10 the performance of their duties.
11 c. [The task force shall:
12 (i) develop policy changes that will work to address the lack of care
13 and concern for missing and murdered BIPOC women and girls with New York
14 state governmental agencies, including identifying policies to ensure
15 first responders are culturally competent;
16 (ii) advance the knowledge of communities on the severity of BIPOC
17 women and girls who are missing and murdered;
18 (iii) ensure BIPOC communities are educated and trained on the
19 prevention, protection, and protocols relating to missing BIPOC women
20 and girls as it relates to social media;
21 (iv) develop a strategy to collect statistics, demographics, surveys,
22 oral histories, and data analysis;
23 (v) recommend preventive programming and ideas to advance the safety
24 of women and girls, including policies that address the overlapping
25 forms of oppression faced by BIPOC women and girls;
26 (vi) identify major traffic hubs, highways, and resource extraction
27 sites that lead to or are responsible for the facilitation of the abduc-
28 tion of BIPOC women and girls; and
29 (vii) create a state-wide awareness campaign.
30 d. In carrying out the duties of the task force, such task force shall
31 seek public input by holding public hearings in each region of the state
32 and accepting public input in writing.] The task force shall commission
33 a study on ways to reduce disparities in attention, resources and
34 commitment to finding missing girls and women who are black, indigenous
35 and people of color (BIPOC). The study, which shall include conclusions
36 and recommendations based on stakeholder input, shall be provided to the
37 task force upon completion.
38 d. Based upon the study, the task force shall prepare a final report
39 outlining its findings and recommendations providing ways for New York
40 state to:
41 (i) improve cultural responsiveness and alleviate a lack of care and
42 concern for missing and murdered BIPOC women and girls within New York
43 state;
44 (ii) enhance community awareness of the severity of the number of
45 BIPOC women and girls who are missing and murdered, including the
46 creation of a statewide public awareness campaign;
47 (iii) provide communities of black, indigenous and people of color
48 with education and training on the prevention, protection, and protocols
49 relating to missing BIPOC women and girls, including as it relates to
50 social media;
51 (iv) developing strategies to collect statistics, demographics,
52 surveys, oral histories, and data analysis;
53 (v) recommend preventative programming and ideas to advance the
54 safety of BIPOC women and girls, including policies that address the
55 overlapping forms of oppression faced by women and girls who are BIPOC;
56 and
A. 8545 3
1 (vi) identify major traffic hubs, highways, and resource extraction
2 sites that lead to or are responsible for the facilitation of the abduc-
3 tion of women and girls who are BIPOC.
4 e. On or before two years after the effective date of this act, the
5 task force shall submit to the temporary president of the senate, the
6 speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the senate and the
7 minority leader of the assembly a report containing its findings and
8 recommendations. [Such reports] The report shall be made available to
9 the public.
10 § 3. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
11 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023 establishing a task force on
12 missing women and girls who are black, indigenous and people of color,
13 as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4266-A and A. 5088-A, takes
14 effect, provided, however, that the amendments to section 1 of a chapter
15 of the laws of 2023 establishing a task force on missing women and girls
16 who are black, indigenous and people of color, as proposed in legisla-
17 tive bills numbers S. 4266-A and A. 5088-A, made by section two of this
18 act shall be subject to the expiration of such section and shall expire
19 and be deemed repealed therewith.
