What's happening
This bill amends New York law to specifically include excessive corporal punishment as a form of child abuse or neglect.
Why it matters
Clarifies and strengthens child protection laws. by explicitly listing excessive corporal punishment as a distinct form of abuse or neglect, making it easier for authorities, courts, and child welfare agencies to act on such cases.
Removes ambiguity in legal standards. , ensuring that excessive corporal punishment cannot be downplayed or excluded in court as merely a form of “harm” or neglect, but is recognized specifically as actionable abuse or neglect.
May influence parental and caregiver behavior. by sending a clear legal and social message that excessive physical discipline is not acceptable, potentially reducing its prevalence and encouraging non-violent discipline methods.
Could affect outcomes in family court and child protective services. cases, as clearer statutory language may lead to more consistent interventions and rulings in situations where children are subjected to harsh physical punishment.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Excessive Child Punishment
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
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
651
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act and the social services law, in relation to the infliction of excessive corporal punishment on a child
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (iii) of subdivision (e) of section 1012 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 189 of the laws of 2018, is amended and a new paragraph (iv) is added to read as follows:
(iii) (A) commits, or allows to be committed an offense against such child defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law; (B) allows, permits or encourages such child to engage in any act described in sections 230.25, 230.30, 230.32 and 230.34-a of the penal law; (C) commits any of the acts described in sections 255.25, 255.26 and 255.27 of the penal law; (D) allows such child to engage in acts or conduct described in article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law; or (E) permits or encourages such child to engage in any act or commits or allows to be committed against such child any offense that would render such child either a victim of sex trafficking or a victim of severe forms of trafficking in persons pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 7102 as enacted by public law 106-386 or any successor federal statute; (F) provided, however, that (1) the corroboration requirements contained in the penal law and (2) the age requirement for the application of article two hundred sixty-three of such law shall not apply to proceedings under this article[.], or
(iv) inflicts or allows to be inflicted excessive corporal punishment upon such child.
§ 2. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph (i) of subdivision (f) of section 1012 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 984 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03470-01-9
S. 651 2
(B) in providing the child with proper supervision or guardianship, by unreasonably inflicting or allowing to be inflicted harm, or a substantial risk thereof[, including the infliction of excessive corporal punishment]; or by misusing a drug or drugs; or by misusing alcoholic beverages to the extent that he loses self-control of his actions; or by any other acts of a similarly serious nature requiring the aid of the court; provided, however, that where the respondent is voluntarily and regularly participating in a rehabilitative program, evidence that the respondent has repeatedly misused a drug or drugs or alcoholic beverages to the extent that he loses self-control of his actions shall not establish that the child is a neglected child in the absence of evidence establishing that the child's physical, mental or emotional condition has been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired as set forth in this paragraph [(i) of this subdivision]; or
§ 3. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph (i) of subdivision 4-a of section 371 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 984 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
(B) in providing the child with proper supervision or guardianship, by unreasonably inflicting or allowing to be inflicted harm, or a substantial risk thereof[, including the infliction of excessive corporal punishment]; or by misusing a drug or drugs; or by misusing alcoholic beverages to the extent that he loses self-control of his actions; or by any other acts of a similarly serious nature requiring the aid of the court; provided, however, that where the respondent is voluntarily and regularly participating in a rehabilitative program, evidence that the respondent has repeatedly misused a drug or drugs or alcoholic beverages to the extent that he loses self-control of his actions shall not establish that the child is a neglected child in the absence of evidence establishing that the child's physical, mental or emotional condition has been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired as set forth in this paragraph [(i) of this subdivision]; or
§ 4. Paragraph (iii) of subdivision 4-b of section 371 of the social services law, as added by chapter 782 of the laws of 1971, is amended and a new paragraph (iv) is added to read as follows:
(iii) commits, or allows to be committed, an act of sexual abuse against such child as defined in the penal law[.], or
(iv) inflicts or allows to be inflicted excessive corporal punishment upon such child.
§ 5. 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 family court act and the social services law, in relation to the infliction of excessive corporal punishment on a child
Purpose
This bill reclassifies excessive corporal punishment of a child as abuse, rather than neglect and thus, subjects more child protective services cases to further scrutiny to ensure the safety of New York's children.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: adds excessive corporal punishment to the definition of abuse in section 1012 of the family court act.
Section 2: removes excessive corporal punishment from the definition of neglect in section 1012 of the family court act.
Section 3: removes excessive corporal punishment from the definition of neglect from subparagraph (B) of paragraph (i) of subdivision 4-a of section 371 of the social services law
Section 4: adds a new paragraph (iv) to subdivision 4-b of section 371 of the social services law, defining excessive corporal punishment as abuse.
Section 5: sets the effective date.
Justification
Under current law, reports of child abuse are classified as either abuse or neglect - with cases of abuse receiving stricter scrutiny, more in-depth investigations and carrying stronger penalties than cases of neglect. This bill seeks to reclassify cases that involve excessive corporal punishment as abuse, rather than neglect. By reclassifying excessive corporal punishment which can often involve serious injury to the child as abuse, Child Protective Services will be able to more thor- oughly investigate certain cases of serious harm to young children.
Under New York State's current legal statutes, a report of a child who is violently, senselessly and/or repeatedly hit by a legal guardian, with bruises left behind in the wake of each strike, may still be clas- sified as neglect. Officials who work in the fields of child advocacy, child protection, parents' rights and law enforcement have long been clamoring for a change to this antiquated legal definition.
There have been numerous cases, including that of Eain Brooks and Abdi- fatah Mohamud from Erie County, where reports of excessive corporal punishment or abuse were made by either family members or those mandated to report abuse and maltreatment. Unfortunately, due to a gap in state law, many of these cases do not undergo the strictest of scrutiny as they are classified as neglect cases.
Tragically, in both Eain and Abdifatah's cases, these children were later killed by their abusers. By reclassifying excessive corporal punishment as abuse, New York State law will keep pace with numerous other states who currently classify excessive corporal punishment as abuse. Furthermore, Child Protective Services and law enforcement offi- cials will be better geared to investigate reports of abuse and protect children like Eain and Abdifatah throughout New York State.
Legislative history
2013-2014: S.6432/A.8428: Referred to Children and Families 2015-2016: S.2118/A.3029 Referred to Children and Families 2017-2018: S.2989/A.2330 Referred to Children and Families
Fiscal implications
None.
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.