Int. No. 8
By Council Members Ayala, Louis, Stevens, Gennaro, Gutiérrez, Hudson, Ung, Abreu, Schulman, Joseph (by request of the Queens Borough President)
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to enhanced reporting on the child welfare system
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Section 21-902 of the administrative code of the city of New York as added by local law 20 of 2006 is amended to read as follows:
Section 21-902. Quarterly Reports Regarding Child Welfare System. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Allegation. The term “allegation” means an accusation of any of the following: educational neglect, lack of medical care, inadequate food/clothing/shelter, inadequate guardianship, lack of supervision, malnutrition, failure to thrive, emotional neglect, inappropriate isolation/restraint, welling/discoloration/sprains, abandonment, child’s marijuana use, child’s drug use other than marijuana, child’s alcohol use, parent’s marijuana misuse, parent’s alcohol misuse, parent’s drug misuse other than marijuana, inappropriate custodial conduct, burns, scalding, choking/twisting/shaking, excessive corporal punishment, DOA/fatality, fractures, internal injuries, lacerations/bruises/welts, poisoning/noxious substances and sexual abuse, or other.
Indicated. The term “indicated” means an investigative finding that there is sufficient proof of the abuse or neglect of a child.
Preventive services. The term “preventive services” means supportive and rehabilitative services provided, in accordance with title four of the social services law, to children and their families for the purposes of: averting an impairment or disruption of a family which will or could result in the placement of a child in foster care; enabling a child who has been placed in foster care to return to his family at an earlier time than would otherwise be possible; or reducing the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from foster care would return to such care.
Unfounded. The term “unfounded” means an investigative finding that there is insufficient proof of the abuse or neglect of a child.
b. Beginning no later than July 31, [2006]2023 and no later than the last day of the month following each calendar quarter thereafter, ACS will furnish to the speaker of the city council and post on its website a report regarding New York City’s child welfare system that includes, at a minimum, [the following] information[:] regarding the number, case load, and experience of child protective services staff; the dispositions by type, zone and allegation of reports, cases and investigations; and family reunification data as follows:
1. Information regarding [C]child protective services staff[. The following information regarding child protective services shall be included in the quarterly report], disaggregated by zone:
[a.](a) number of case workers employed and number of vacancies in case work staff at the end of the reporting period;
-[b.](b) experience of case workers, broken down by years of experience in New York City's child welfare system as follows: 1-3 years of experience; 3-5 years of experience; 5-7 years of experience; 7-9 years of experience; 9 or more years of experience;
[c.](c) average caseload of case workers;
[d.](d) number of case workers with a caseload of more than 15 cases;
[e.](e) number of level one supervisors;
[f.](f) experience of level one supervisors, broken down by years of experience in New York City's child welfare system as follows: number with 1-5 years of experience; 5-10 years of experience; 10-15 years of experience; 15-20 years of experience; 20 or more years of experience;
[g.](g) number of level two supervisors;
[h.](h) experience of level two supervisors, broken down by years of experience in New York City's child welfare system as follows: number with 1-5 years of experience; 5-10 years of experience; 10-15 years of experience; 15-20 years of experience; 20 or more years of experience;
[i.](i) number of child protective managers;
[j.](j) experience of child protective managers, broken down by years of experience in New York City's child welfare system as follows: number with 1-5 years of experience; 5-10 years of experience; 10-15 years of experience; 15-20 years of experience; 20 or more years of experience;
2. Information on reports, cases and investigations, disaggregated by zone:
[k.]-a. number of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect referred to the zone for investigation, disaggregated by the type of case and allegation;
[l.]b. number of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect referred to the zone for investigation that were indicated during the reporting period, disaggregated by the type of case and allegation and whether the case was referred to preventive services, court mandated services, foster care placement or closed;
[m.]c. number of unfounded cases, disaggregated by allegation and whether or not the case was referred to preventive services;
[n.]d. number of investigations that resulted in closure without referral to preventive services, disaggregated by the type of case, allegation and whether the case was indicated or unfounded and the reason for closure;
[o.]e. number of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect referred to the zone that involved a family with respect to which ACS had received at least one prior report of suspected abuse or neglect within the past 24 months, disaggregated by the type of case and allegation;
[p.]f. number of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect referred to the zone that involved a family that had at least one child previously in the foster care system, disaggregated by the type of case and allegation;
[q.]g. number of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect referred to protective services for which protective services conducted a [72-hour] case conference, disaggregated by the type of case and allegation;
[r. number of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect referred to protective services for which an elevated risk conference was held, disaggregated by the type of case;]
[s.]h. number of IRT investigations commenced disaggregated by the type of case and allegation; and
[t.]i. number of entry orders sought and number of entry orders obtained disaggregated by the type of case and allegation.
[2.]3. Information regarding [F]family [R]reunification data[. The following information regarding family reunification shall be provided in the quarterly report]:
a. number of families reunited from foster care during the reporting period, disaggregated by zone, allegation, and by length of stay in foster care in six month intervals;
b. of all families reunited during the reporting period, the number of families receiving aftercare services, disaggregated by zone, allegation and by the type of services being received; and
c. number of children who entered foster care during the reporting period who had been in the custody of the child welfare system within the thirty-six months immediately preceding the reporting period, disaggregated by zone and allegation.
[3.]4. ACS may use preliminary data to prepare the report required by this [chapter]section to be delivered no later than July 31, [2006]2023 and may include an acknowledgement that any preliminary data used in the report is non-final and subject to change.
5. The department shall compile one to three allegations per case, report, or other individual reporting component required by this subdivision provided that the department has determined a reported allegation is a predominant factor in such case, report, or other individual reporting component.
c. Confidentiality. No information that is otherwise required to be reported pursuant to this section shall be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state or local law relating to the privacy of information respecting families or children receiving preventive services or that would interfere with law enforcement investigations or otherwise conflict with the interests of law enforcement.
§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.
Session 13
LS 1266 and 8970
1/19/2024
Session 12
ACK
LS 1266 and 8970
12/9/2022