What's happening
This bill requires child protective services to document home visits with photographs of the child, unless a parent objects.
Why it matters
Increases oversight and accountability. by requiring photographic documentation of every visit between child protective services (CPS) workers and children under their supervision, providing a more reliable record of child welfare checks.
Adds a safeguard for parental rights. by allowing parents or legal guardians to object to photographs, in which case a signed form must be completed by both the CPS worker and the parent, ensuring transparency and consent are documented.
May impact privacy and trust. between families and CPS, as photographing children during visits could raise concerns about children’s privacy and the potential for misuse of images, while also creating a more formalized and potentially adversarial interaction.
Could affect case management and evidence quality. by making photographic evidence a required part of confidential case records, which may help supervisors monitor the quality of visits and document a child’s well-being, but could also introduce new administrative burdens for caseworkers.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Photograph Child Welfare Visits
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to social services
- Referred to social services
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
574
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sens. KENNEDY, BRESLIN, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child protective services to document home visits with photographs
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 "Marchella Pierce's Law".
§ 2. Subdivision 3 of section 421 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 718 of the laws of 1986, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 110 of the laws of 1989 and the closing paragraph as amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
3. promulgate regulations setting forth requirements for the performance by local social services departments of the duties and powers imposed and conferred upon them by the provisions of this title and of article ten of the family court act. Such regulations shall establish uniform requirements for the investigation of reports of child abuse or maltreatment under this title. The department shall also issue guidelines which shall set forth the circumstances or conditions under which:
(a) personal contact shall be made with the child named in the report and any other children in the same household, including interviewing such child or children absent the subject of the report whenever possible and appropriate;
(b) photographs of visible physical injuries or trauma of children who may be the victims of abuse or maltreatment shall be taken or arranged for;
(c) medical examination of a child who may be a victim of abuse or maltreatment and documentation of findings of such examination, shall be required.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02609-01-9
S. 574 2
The department shall promulgate regulations to establish standards for intervention, criteria for case closings, criteria for determining whether or not to initiate a child protective proceeding, and criteria for the formulation of treatment plans and for the delivery of child protective services including specification of the services to be classified as child protective services, which shall also apply to any society for the prevention of cruelty to children which has entered into a currently valid contract with a local department of social services to investigate child abuse or maltreatment reports. The department shall promulgate regulations establishing minimum standards and practices for the delivery of child protective services in connection with monitoring and supervising respondents and their families as ordered by a family court pursuant to section ten hundred thirty-nine and paragraphs (i), (iii), (iv) and (v) of subdivision (a) of section ten hundred fifty-two of the family court act. The department shall require that every caseworker, child protective services employee or any person acting pursuant to a contract for services with a local social services department who has contact with a child as part of a treatment plan or supervision and monitoring, document each such contact with a photograph taken of the child during such visit or contact. Such photograph shall be part of the confidential case record for such child and shall be subject to periodic review by the supervisor of the case. Such photograph must be of sufficient quality to clearly identify the child, and contain accurate data with regard to the time and date of the photograph. Where the parent or legal guardian of the child objects to the caseworker taking a photograph of the child during the visit, the caseworker shall provide a form, supplied by the caseworker's agency of employment, stating that the caseworker conducted the visit with the child and verified the well being of the child. Such form shall be signed and dated by both the child's parent or legal guardian and the caseworker at each visit where a photograph is not taken. Such regulations shall also require local child protective services to comply with notification requirements of the family court act in connection with such monitoring and supervisory responsibilities.
§ 3. Section 372 of the social services law is amended by adding a new subdivision 4-c to read as follows:
4-c. The records maintained pursuant to this section by any caseworker, child protective services employee or authorized agency as defined in section three hundred seventy-one of this title who has contact with a foster child as part of a treatment plan or supervision and monitoring, shall document each such contact with a photograph taken of the child during such visit or contact consistent with the requirements set forth in subdivision three of section four hundred twenty-one of this article.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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 requiring child protective services to document home visits with photographs
Purpose or general idea of bill
To provide greater accountability and safety regarding caseworker visits to children in the child protective services and foster care system.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 states that this act shall be known and may be cited as "Marchella Pierce's Law".
Section 2 amends subdivision 3 of section 421 of the social services law to require that every caseworker and child protective services employee who has contact with a child as part of a treatment plan or supervision and monitoring, document each such contact with a photograph taken of the child during such visit or contact. Such photograph shall be part of the confidential case record for such child and shall be subject to periodic review by the supervisor of the case.
Section 3 amends Section 372 of the social services law by adding a new subdivision 4-c making the same provisions as in section 2 of this act.
Section 4 provides for the effective date.
Justification
Our child protective services (CPS) system is designed to afford protection by way of monitoring, for children at risk of abuse and neglect. Trained caseworkers are required to make routine visits to children in their homes or in the foster care system to ensure that they are not continuing to be abused or neglected.
Sadly, even under the watch of CPS, children "fall through the cracks" resulting in substantial harm and sometimes death. A case involving the death of Marchella Pierce, a medically fragile child in Brooklyn, high- lighted a situation where an immediate safeguard is absent. In many ways, this tragic case resembles the tragedy of Nixmary Brown, a 7-year-old Brooklyn girl killed by her mother and stepfather four years ago while she was being monitored by ACS.
Prosecutors are charging the Administration of Children's Services (ACS) caseworker in Marchella's death, contending he should have noticed the child's injuries and malnourishment and that he changed records after her death to make it seem like he visited her family when he did not make the visits for months leading up to death, months in which she was starved and abused by her mother who is being charged in connection with her death.
In order to prevent caseworkers from being delinquent with regard to the important responsibilities they are entrusted with and to assist case- worker supervisors with monitoring the visits of caseworkers, this legislation takes a common-sense approach toward providing a much-needed safeguard in child protection by increasing oversight and accountabil- ity.
Requiring that a simple photograph of the child under supervision be taken at each visit and that photograph be included as part of the caseworker's record for that visit will help ascertain if visits were actually made in the event of a tragedy. This action was taken by the State of Florida last year in response to an audit that discovered that more than 70 caseworkers fraudulently filed records that they had visit- ed children in the child protective system when in fact they had not.
Prior legislative history
2013-14: S.5943 Referred to Children and Families 2015-16: S.753 Reported and Committed to Finance 2017-18: S.1835/A.1028
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.