What's happening
This bill allows courts to grant post-termination visitation or contact for children after parental rights are terminated, considering the child's best interests.
Why it matters
Expands opportunities for maintaining important family connections. The bill allows courts to order ongoing visitation or contact between children and their parents, siblings, or other relatives even after parental rights are terminated, if it serves the child’s best interests. This helps preserve meaningful relationships that can support the child’s emotional well-being.
Creates a formal process for post-termination contact. Parties (including parents, children, foster parents, and kinship caregivers) are given notice and the right to participate in a hearing about post-termination contact. The applicant must prove that such contact benefits the child, introducing clear procedures and protections.
Allows for flexibility and future review. The bill permits modification of visitation or contact orders if there is a substantial change in circumstances, ensuring that arrangements can adapt to the child’s evolving needs and best interests over time.
Clarifies sibling rights. Even after parental rights are terminated or a child is adopted, siblings (including half-siblings) retain the ability to seek contact through other legal avenues, reaffirming the importance of sibling relationships in a child’s life.
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Who cares
Parents facing termination of parental rights
The bill would let them seek continued visitation or contact, with the applicant required to prove it is in the child's best interest.
Children in termination proceedings and their siblings
Courts could order post-termination contact with siblings or half siblings who are parties, while preserving existing sibling rights to seek contact after termination or adoption.
Foster parents and kinship caregivers
They would receive notice and have standing to participate in hearings on whether post-termination visitation or contact serves the child's best interest.
Adoptive parents, legal guardians and custodians
Those who subsequently take on these roles could seek enforcement or modification of a contact order, with modification requiring a substantial change in circumstances and the child's best interests.
Headline styles
Expand Post-Termination Visitation Rights
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
18 Co-sponsors
2 Multi-sponsors
History
- Substituted by S4203A
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.244
- Rules report cal.244
- Reported
- Reported referred to rules
- Print number 2199a
- Amend and recommit to codes
- Reported referred to codes
- Referred to judiciary
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.
Expand Child Visitation Rights
Vetoed · Sponsor Diane J. Savino
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2199--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 22, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. JOYNER, DAVILA, JAFFEE, WRIGHT, JEAN-PIERRE, WALKER, ARROYO, L. ROSENTHAL, EPSTEIN, SAYEGH, DICKENS, SIMON, WILLIAMS, LAVINE, HEVESI, CRUZ -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DE LA ROSA, PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the family court act and the social services law, in relation to orders committing guardianship and custody of a child
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 634 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 666 of the laws of 1976, is amended to read as follows:
§ 634. Commitment of guardianship and custody; further orders. The court may enter an order under section six hundred thirty-one committing the guardianship and custody of the child to the petitioner on such conditions, if any, as it deems proper, including but not limited to, an order of post-termination visitation and/or contact pursuant to section three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law.
§ 2. Section 384-b of the social services law is amended by adding three new subdivisions 14, 15 and 16 to read as follows:
14. Upon application by any party to a proceeding under this section, the court shall conduct a post-termination visitation and/or contact hearing, which may be held concurrently with a dispositional hearing.
(a) Parents and subject children who are parties to the termination proceeding under article six of the family court act or this section, as well as the subject child's foster parents, or kinship caregiver, shall have notice of and standing to participate in the best interest posttermination visitation and/or contact hearing.
(b) The applicant shall have the burden of proof that post-termination visitation and/or contact is in the child's best interest.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00489-02-9
A. 2199--A 2
(c) The court may grant the application and include in the order committing the guardianship and custody of a child pursuant to this section, the granting of visitation and/or contact to the parent, custodian, half sibling and/or sibling who is a party to the proceeding, provided such visitation and/or contact with the child is found by the court to be in the best interest of the child. If the application for post-termination contact is denied after this dispositional hearing, the applicant shall not have standing to bring the same application in any other proceeding regarding the same child. However, if the court grants any visitation and/or contact, an application to modify the order, upon a showing of substantial change in circumstances, may still be brought.
(d) The court shall have discretion, depending on the best interest of the child, to determine the level of supervision of any visitation and/or contact.
(e) The court in its order shall indicate such person or persons that were given notice of the proceeding and whether such person or persons appeared.
15. All parties to a post-termination visitation and/or contact order pursuant to subdivision fourteen of this section, as well as any person who subsequently becomes the child's legal guardian, custodian or adoptive parent, may move the court to enforce or modify the order. Any modification shall be based on a showing of a substantial change in circumstances and the best interests of the child.
16. Nothing in subdivision fourteen or fifteen of this section shall be construed to limit the rights of half siblings or siblings to seek contact pursuant to subdivision nine of this section or section seventy-one of the domestic relations law following a termination of parental rights or adoption.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
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.