What's happening
This bill requires the Office of Children and Family Services to record and retain all calls to the child abuse central register.
Why it matters
Creates a verifiable record of all calls to the child abuse central register, which can help resolve disputes or clarify what was reported and how calls were handled. This could be crucial for accountability in cases where there are questions about agency response or the accuracy of information provided.
Requires recordings of both substantiated and unsubstantiated calls to be retained for set periods (five years for reports, two years for non-reports), potentially aiding future investigations or reviews if patterns of concern emerge over time.
Mandates that local child protective services receive the actual voice recording along with the report, not just a written summary, which could improve the accuracy and context available for investigations and reduce miscommunication.
May have privacy and data security implications, as sensitive conversations will be stored and transmitted, necessitating robust safeguards to protect the confidentiality of children, families, and reporters.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Record Child Abuse Hotline Calls
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 59
History
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to children and families
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to children and families
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3169
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 20, 2017
Introduced by Sens. GALLIVAN, GOLDEN, KENNEDY, MARCHIONE, YOUNG -- 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 technological improvements to the central register
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 422 of the social services law is amended by adding a new paragraph (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no later than January first, two thousand nineteen, the office of children and family services as part of the central register shall:
(i) record all voice calls made to the central register and shall make such recording a part of any report of suspected child abuse or neglect;
(ii) immediately transmit such voice recording as part of the record of an allegation of child abuse and neglect to the appropriate local child protective services for investigation; and
(iii) maintain recordings of any call that did not constitute a report of child abuse or neglect for at least two years and any call that did constitute a report of child abuse or neglect for at least five years.
§ 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00357-01-7
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 technological improvements to the central register
Purpose
This bill would require the Office of Children and Family Services to record all phone calls made to the central register and include this recording in any report of suspected child abuse or neglect.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the social services law to require calls made to the central register be recorded and such recording made part of any report of suspected child abuse or neglect. This section also requires that all recordings that did not constitute a report of child abuse or neglect be maintained for at least two years and those that did constitute a report of child abuse or neglect be maintained for at least five years.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
Justification
The central register was established as part of the Child Protective Services Act of 1973 to encourage more complete reporting of child abuse and maltreatment. There have been few enhancements to the system in the forty years since its creation. This bill requires the Office of Children and Family Services to record all calls made to the central register. The recording must be transmitted as part of the record of an allegation of child abuse or neglect to the appropriate local child protective services agency for investigation. This will make it easier for child protection workers to investigate reports made to the central register.
This bill also requires the Office of Children and Family Services to maintain recordings of any call that did not constitute a report of child abuse or neglect for at least two years and any call that did constitute a report of child abuse or neglect for at least five years.
Legislative history
2015-16: S.399-A Referred to Children and Families 2013-14: S.7042 Referred to Children and Families
Fiscal implications
The Office of Children and Family Services would be required to invest resources into improvements to the central register.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on January 1, 2019.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.