Provides for the care and custody of destitute children

Section 2 of the bill would amend the Social Services Law to create a legal mechanism for local social service districts to obtain an order of custody for a destitute child for whom the districts are providing care. This new provision would also provide for continued court review of the care provided to these children.

Sections 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 amend provisions in the Social Services Law and the Family Court Act to refer to the new procedure established for the local social services district to obtain an order of custody for destitute children.

Section 5 repeals a provision of the Social Services Law that authorized the local commissioner of social services to provide care in an institution or agency boarding home for destitute minors between 16 and 18 years of age.

Section 12 provides that the bill would take effect immediately.

Reasons for support

Under current Social Services Law, local social services districts have a variety of responsibilities with regard to destitute children, including, in some cases, taking destitute children into foster care. Destitute children include children whose parents have died, leaving no other family and friends to care for them; unaccompanied refugee children; children whose parents, through circumstances other than neglect, are unable to either care for children themselves or make alternative arrangements for their care; and child vIctims of human trafficking who are found within New York State without a family member to care for them.

There is now no statutory mechanism, however, to seek judicial approval for the taking a destitute child into foster care, or for the review of the status of a destitute child in foster care (other

than for former foster care youth returned to foster care pursuant to section 1091 of the Family Court Act). Though not its central intent, Chapter 3 of the Laws of 2005 repealed Social Services Law section 392, the statutory provision that provided for the periodic court review of children placed into foster care other than for reasons of abuse and neglect, persons in need of supervision, and juvenile delinquency petitions. As a result, Article 10-A of the Family Court Act does not currently identify destitute children as being among those children whose placement should be reviewed by the court.

This bill would provide a legal mechanism for local social service districts to obtain an order of custody for destitute children for whom districts are providing care. The bill will protect these children by requiring that an attorney be appointed to represent them and providing for continued court review of their care. Other children in foster care receive continued court review of their care, to which these children should be similarly entitled.

This measure would have no fiscal impact on the State but may provide for additional federal Title IV -E Foster Care Maintenance Payments to localities for the reimbursement of expenditures for some of these children.

Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consideration of this proposal by the Legislature.