Directs court to consider barring parent who has threatened harm from home

2 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Gustavo Rivera

BILL NUMBER:S3533

Title of bill

An act to amend the family court act, in relation to an order of protection

Purpose

This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee.

Justification

Reflecting the need to provide due process to parents in all proceedings in which their children may be placed in foster care, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, as implemented in New York State pursuant to chapter 7 of the Laws of 1999, requires that petitions and orders regarding voluntary foster care placements and reviews contain a notice in conspicuous print informing the parents that "if the child remains in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the agency may be required by law to file a petition to terminate parental rights. See. Social Services Law § 358-a((2) (a), 358-a(3), 392(6)). Prior to accepting an admission in a child abuse or neglect case, the Family Court is required to give a similar notice and such a notice must also be included in conspicuous print on any orders of placement issued in such cases. See Family Court Act §§1051(f) (ii), 1055(b) (vi) (8). However, the provisions of law regarding initial summonses and petitions in child abuse and neglect proceedings do not clearly require this notice; nor is the notice that is given to parents, who are not named as respondents in these cases, as complete as it should be with respect to the possible consequences of prolonged foster care. Accordingly, on the advice of our Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee, we propose this measure to remedy this gap by amending section 1035 of the Family Court Act. In order to harmonize the notice required to be affixed to child abuse summonses prior to enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act with the ASFA notice regarding prolonged foster care, this measure would amend subdivision (b) of section 1035 of the Family Court Act. It also would amend subdivisions (d) and (e) of that section to clarify that non-respondent parents in child abuse and neglect proceedings would be required to be notified of their standing to appear, to participate and to request custody of the children. The parents would also have to be notified that if the children are placed in foster care for a period of 15 months in a 22-month period, the parents may be the subjects of proceedings to terminate their parental rights, whether or not they were respondents in the child neglect or abuse case. The notice would further provide that the court, upon good cause, would have discretion to order the child protective agency to investigate whether the non-respondent parents should be added to petitions as respondents. Finally, the notice would provide that if the court determines that children must be removed from the home, the court may order an investigation to determine whether the non-respondent parents would be suit able custodians for the children.

Legislative history

03/27/07 REFERRED TO SOCIAL SERVICES, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES 01/09/08 REFERRED TO SOCIAL SERVICES, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES 04/07/09 REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES 01/06/10 REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Immediately.