What's happening
This bill limits the number of cases assigned to any foster care worker in New York to sixteen at one time.
Why it matters
Improved Worker Focus. By capping the caseload at sixteen, each foster care worker can devote more time and attention to each child and family, potentially improving the quality of care and oversight.
Burnout and Turnover Prevention. Lower caseloads can help reduce stress, emotional exhaustion, and job dissatisfaction among foster care workers, which may lead to better retention and greater workforce stability.
Better Outcomes for Children. Research often links manageable caseloads with improved safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children in foster care, as workers are better able to monitor and advocate for their needs.
Resource Implications. The mandate could require agencies to hire more staff or reallocate resources, possibly increasing costs for foster care providers and state/local budgets, but may lead to long-term savings by reducing negative outcomes associated with overwhelmed staff.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Foster Worker Caseloads
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to children and families
- Referred to children and families
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6118
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. MONTGOMERY -- 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 limitations on the number of cases handled by child welfare personnel
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The section heading of section 409-g of the social services law, as added by chapter 611 of the laws of 1979, is amended to read as follows:
Training of child welfare personnel; limitation on caseloads.
§ 2. Section 409-g of the social services law is amended by adding a new closing paragraph to read as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of cases under the supervision of any foster care worker shall not exceed sixteen at any one time.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11899-01-9
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 limitations on the number of cases handled by child welfare personnel
Purpose
This bill will limit the number of cases that a foster care caseworker can have at anyone time to sixteen cases.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends section 409-g of the social services law to limit the number of cases on a foster care worker's caseload to a maximum of 16.
Section 2 provides for an effective date of 60 days after the bill becomes law.
Existing law
Currently there are no limits on the number of cases that a foster care worker can have on the case load.
Justification
According to the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA), caseworkers in New York State handle an average of 25-30 cases at a time. This overload of cases seriously undermines the effectiveness of their work, keeps them from providing adequate services to the families they serve, and places the foster children in harm's way. There have been a number of recent cases where foster children have languished in the system because of the worker's inability to get the cases in order. Most of the time the reason for this is not the caseworker's ineptness, but the overwhelming number of services they need to coordinate for so many families. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NA8W) the maximum number of cases a foster care worker can adequately serve is 16.
Legislative history
2003/04: S.5705/A.3798 A.1984/S.3160 of 2006-08
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.