What's happening
This bill creates a pilot program to house incarcerated parents of minor children in prisons closer to their children to support family contact.
Why it matters
Focuses on supporting child-parent relationships. By prioritizing proximity when assigning incarcerated parents to facilities, the bill aims to increase physical contact between children and their parents, which research shows can lower recidivism and improve child well-being.
Voluntary and selective participation. Incarcerated parents must request to join the program, and eligibility is determined in consultation with child welfare agencies. Certain individuals—such as those convicted of crimes against children or parole violators—are excluded, ensuring child safety and program integrity.
Special attention to families at risk of separation. The program gives preference to parents involved in child welfare or foster care cases, especially those who were primary caregivers, with the goal of preventing loss of parental rights due to incarceration.
Data-driven approach for future policy. The bill mandates annual reporting on outcomes like family visitation frequency, inmate behavior, and cost savings, and requires a plan for potential expansion. This means the pilot could inform broader reforms if proven effective.
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Who cares
Incarcerated parents of minor children
The bill would let them volunteer for placement in the closest suitable prison to their children, with priority for parents who were primary caregivers and exclusions including crimes against children and incarceration for parole violations.
Children of incarcerated parents and their caregivers
The pilot would seek to increase parent-child contact through closer prison placements, with the department required to verify that children could visit periodically.
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
The department would run the pilot and report annually on inmate outcomes, visitation barriers, logistical challenges and cost savings.
Office of Children and Family Services and local social services districts
The department would consult them about barriers to participation, such as no-visitation orders, and give an eligibility preference to child welfare and foster care cases where parents risk losing parental rights.
Headline styles
Let Inmates Stay Near Family
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to correction
- Referred to correction
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4339
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN, D'URSO, GOTTFRIED, RIVERA, HYNDMAN, WRIGHT -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing the pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home".
§ 2. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and declares that research shows inmates who maintain family ties during incarceration have lower rates of recidivism than inmates who do not. Further, most inmates are parents, and more than 80,000 children in the state of New York have a parent incarcerated in the state prison system.
The legislature further finds that the department of corrections and community supervision should consider proximity to minor children among the key criteria of security and health and program needs when determining prison assignments and transfers of parents, and should support increased access of children to their incarcerated parents through the use of technology and programs currently available within the department.
The legislature therefore declares that there is a need to develop classification criteria that would place inmates in proximity to their family members and home communities, and in particular for those inmates who are parents of minor children in the appropriate correctional facility located closest to those children provided such placement is otherwise appropriate and suitable, and would facilitate increased contact between such inmate and his or her child or children.
§ 3. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 72-c to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07476-02-9
A. 4339 2
§ 72-c. Pilot project for the placement of inmates close to home. 1. The commissioner shall establish a pilot program for the purpose of housing inmates who are parents of minor children in the correctional facility which is located in closest proximity to the primary place of residence of any such inmate's minor child or children under eighteen years of age, provided that such placement is otherwise suitable and appropriate pursuant to the regulations of the department and would facilitate increased contact between such inmate and his or her child or children. For purposes of this pilot program, inmates who are parents of minor children on a voluntary basis, would request placement in the pilot program. In selecting such inmates the department shall consult with the office of children and family services and the local district of social services located in the county where such inmate's child resides to determine if any reasons exist, such as no visitation order, that may prevent the inmate from participating in the pilot program.
2. The commissioner, in consultation with appropriate community organizations, shall submit within one year of the effective date of this section and annually thereafter a report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on the effectiveness of this pilot project. Such reports shall include an analysis of the impact on the inmate, including factors such as institutional adjustment, behavior infractions, and program participation, among related relevant factors. The reports shall also include analysis of factors such as frequency of visits, barriers to visitation, logistical challenges and cost-savings to the department. The report shall further include any recommendations for additional legislative enactments that may be needed or required, to improve, enhance and subsequently expand the program as determined to be appropriate by the commissioner. The report following the third year of the pilot program shall include a plan for expansion and eventual incorporation of proximity into placement decisions for all inmate parents of minor children.
3. No person shall have the right to demand or require participation in the pilot project authorized by this section. The commissioner may revoke at any time participation in such project for any serious disciplinary infraction committed by the inmate or for any failure to continue to participate successfully in any assigned work and treatment program after placement in such pilot program.
4. An eligibility preference shall be granted for child welfare and foster care cases as parents are at risk of losing their parental rights. Admission shall be granted on a rolling basis and priority shall be given to inmates who were primary caregivers, although all inmate parents of minor children shall be considered. The department shall verify that the minor children of inmates participating in such pilot program will be able to come to the facility for periodic visitation. Any action by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be deemed a judicial function and shall not be reviewable if done in accordance with law. Inmates shall not be eligible for this program for a variety of factors, as listed in, but not limited to, those enumerated in this section. Inmates who are incarcerated for violating parole or conditional release shall be ineligible for this pilot program. Inmates who have committed a crime against a child shall be ineligible for this pilot program. Inmates for whom a closer location would not lead to more visitors shall not be eligible for this program. Mental health issues shall not be an issue of ineligibility with regard to this program, unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
A. 4339 3
§ 4. This act shall take effect six months after it shall have become a law and shall expire 3 years after it shall take effect when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.
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.