What's happening
The bill prevents a parent's immigration removal proceedings or detention from being the sole reason for terminating parental rights if they maintain a meaningful role in their child's life.
Why it matters
Protects Parental Rights for Immigrant Families. By prohibiting immigration detention or deportation from being the sole reason to terminate parental rights, the bill addresses a key way families can be separated due to immigration status, aiming to keep children with their parents whenever possible.
Promotes Family Stability Despite Legal Challenges. The amendment puts immigration removal proceedings on equal footing with incarceration and substance abuse treatment, recognizing that these legal circumstances alone shouldn't determine a parent's fitness if they remain actively involved in their child's life.
Requires Child Welfare Agencies to Demonstrate Additional Grounds. Agencies must now provide documented reasons beyond a parent's immigration status or detention to justify seeking termination of parental rights, adding a layer of accountability and reducing the risk of unjust family separations.
Shifts Focus to the Parent-Child Relationship. The law emphasizes whether the parent maintains a "meaningful role" in their child's life, shifting the focus from the parent's legal predicament to the quality of the parent-child bond, and potentially leading to more nuanced, child-centered decisions in family court.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Support Reuniting Separated Families
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to children and families
- Referred to children and families
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Keep Families Together in Foster Care
In Senate Committee · Children And Families · Sponsor Ron Kim
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2201
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 12, 2017
Introduced by Sens. PARKER, MONTGOMERY, PERALTA, PERKINS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to enacting the New York State Reuniting Families Act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York State Reuniting Families Act."
§ 2. Clause (D) of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (l) of subdivision 3 of section 384-b of the social services law, as amended by chapter 113 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
(D) the parent or parents are incarcerated, involved in immigration removal proceedings, including detention or deportation, or participating in a residential substance abuse treatment program, or the prior incarceration, involvement in immigration removal proceedings, including detention or deportation, or participation of a parent or parents in a residential substance abuse treatment program is a significant factor in why the child has been in foster care for fifteen of the last twenty-two months, provided that the parent maintains a meaningful role in the child's life based on the criteria set forth in subparagraph (v) of this paragraph and the agency has not documented a reason why it would otherwise be appropriate to file a petition pursuant to this section.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05196-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to enacting the New York State Reuniting Families Act
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill seeks to address the problems encountered when federal immigration enforcement intersects with the child welfare system. The New York State Reuniting Families Act prioritizes keeping children with their families and out of the public welfare system whenever possible and ensures that separated families receive appropriate care and due process.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 establishes the title of the legislation as the "New York State Reuniting Families Act".
Section 2 amends section 384-b of the Social Service law.
Section 3: Sets forward an effective date 90 days after enactment
Justification
Enforcement activities conducted by federal agencies too often result in unnecessary harm to children, families, and communities. When a parent has a child in the foster care system either prior to or because of immigration enforcement, it is very difficult for the parent to fulfill their court requirements to reunify with their child or in the alternative for child to be placed with relatives. Upon entering the detention system, parents frequently have tremendous difficulty navigating the system in order to visit their children, participate in family court proceedings, or fulfilling their required court mandated services.
When a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the local social services districts is required to file a petition to terminate parental rights unless certain exceptions exist. These exceptions are designed to recognize circumstances preventing a parent from reunification that may be outside his or her control, such as incarceration and participation in a drug rehabilitation program. Likewise, a parent involved in an immigration proceeding may be unable to resume custody despite efforts to do so. Upon conclusion of the proceeding, the parent may be fully able to care for his or her child with it being in the best interest of the child to return home. To terminate parental rights, in the midst of such proceeding, would prematurely and permanently separate the parent and child, resulting in trauma and hard- ship to the family. In such situations, the local social services district should have the flexibility to consider the circumstances and delay the filing of a petition to terminate parental rights.
Prior legislative history
2015-16: S.2516/A2432 - Referred to Children and Families 2013-14: S.4185B/A6377B - Referred to Children and Families
Fiscal implications
Minimal
Effective date
This act shall take 90 days after enactment.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.