What's happening
This bill requires the Department of Correctional Services to obtain and share foster care history records for incarcerated individuals with relevant correctional or juvenile detention facilities.
Why it matters
Connects foster care and correctional records. By mandating the collection and sharing of foster care histories for people entering prison or juvenile detention, the bill acknowledges the overlap between foster care experience and later justice involvement, potentially helping staff better understand and address individuals’ backgrounds.
Impacts individualized care and support. Access to foster care history may allow correctional or detention staff to tailor mental health, counseling, or reentry services, which could improve outcomes for people with histories of childhood instability or trauma.
Raises concerns about privacy and data use. Sharing sensitive foster care records among facilities introduces new questions about how this information will be protected, who will access it, and how it may affect treatment—both positively (more support) and negatively (possible bias or stigma).
Could inform broader policy and prevention efforts. Collecting this data systematically may also help the state analyze connections between foster care and incarceration, supporting policy changes aimed at breaking cycles of disadvantage and improving child welfare and criminal justice systems.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Send Foster Records to Prisons
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to correction
- Referred to correction
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.
Send Foster Records to Prisons
In Senate Committee · Crime Victims, Crime And Correction · Sponsor Velmanette Montgomery
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2162
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 22, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. RICHARDSON, HYNDMAN, BICHOTTE, AUBRY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to persons received into the custody of the department of correctional services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 71 of the correction law is amended by adding a new subdivision 9 to read as follows:
9. When a person is committed to the custody of the department and such person has a previous history of being in the foster care system pursuant to the social services law the department shall obtain a record of said foster care including but not limited to what age said person entered foster care and for what period of time he or she was under said care. A copy of said records shall be made available and delivered to any correctional facility where said person is incarcerated. A correctional facility for purposes of this subdivision shall include a juvenile detention facility.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04501-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.