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- Referred to children and families
- Referred to children and families
Companion bill
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Prohibits the making of decisions concerning guardianship, custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness
In Assembly Committee · Judiciary · Sponsor Jo Anne Simon
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4264
Title of bill
An act to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in relation to prohibiting the making of decisions concerning guardianship, custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness; and to amend the social services law, in relation to prohibiting the department of social services from denying, deciding or opposing a petition or request for guardianship, custody or visitation solely because the petitioner is blind and to prohibiting a local social services agency from taking actions solely because a parent, custodian or guardian is blind
Purpose or general idea of bill
An act to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in relation to prohibiting the making of decisions concerning guardianship, custody or visitation or adoption petitions solely on the basis of a parent's, guardian's or custodian's blindness; and to amend the social services law, in relation to prohibiting the department of social services from denying, deciding or opposing a petition or request for guardianship, custody or visitation solely because the petitioner is blind and to prohibiting a local social. services agency from taking actions solely because a parent, custodian, or guardian is blind.
Justification
All blind Americans have the right to found a family, to freely and responsibly decide on the number and spacing of their children, and to retain the custody of their offspring on an equal basis with others. This right to parent is rooted in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; however, blind people are often stripped of these constitutional rights when statutes, judicial decisions, and child welfare practices are based on the presumption that blindness automatically means parental incompetence.
The presumption that blindness automatically means parental incompetence is a misconception. Given the proper tools and education, blindness can be reduced to a physical nuisance. Because many sighted people do not understand the techniques that blind people use to accomplish everyday tasks, sighted judges, social workers, and state officials assume that those tasks cannot be completed by a blind person. Using alternative techniques, blind people are capable of living independent, productive lives, which include providing safe and loving homes for their children.
Prior legislative history
None
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.